Posted by David Bamford on December 05, 2006 at 18:53:31 from 220.253.0.3 user David.
In Reply to: Re: cooking in Mrs. Dixon's kitchen posted by Mike Field on December 05, 2006 at 06:23:55:
This takes me back to the farm labourer's house where my grandparents lived in Warwickshire. The 'kitchen' was the fireplace which heated the living room.Each side of the open fire there was a cast-iron oven box, much as in the illustration that Mike has provided, without the upper box. On the outer side of the ovens was a space used to store and dry firewood. One could cook gently on top of the the oven boxes, [the hob] or directly over the fire. I remember that a kettle was suspended over the fire from a hook which dangled from the arched lintel over the fireplace, behind which was the chimbley. My grandfather used to get secondhand creosoted pine railway sleepers to use in the fire. One end of the sleeper was put in the fire and the other on a fruit box further out in the room. We had to walk around this. As it burnt, it was fed into the fire. Lighting was a hurricane lamp until a Tilley lamp was bought. I remember the amazement at the brightness of the light.
David.