Page 173 - The Building Conservation Directory 2013

T w e n t i e t h a N N i v e r s a r y E D I T I O N t h e b u i l d i n g c o n s e r vat i o n d i r e c t o r y 2 0 1 3 1 7 3
5
INTERIORS 19th-century Radiators
and Heating Systems
Brian Roberts
This article provides an illustrated
outline of heating systems during
Victorian and Edwardian times. Its
aim is to provide a simple guide to help
investigators of historic buildings recognise
some of the types of early heating equipment
which may still exist.
The investigation of historical heating
equipment generally starts on site when
the building itself is being altered, restored
or demolished. A major problem is often
to understand what survives, assess its
significance and make informed decisions
about what to do next. Options range from
reuse, retention in situ, to removal to a safer
site or, regrettably in some circumstances, to
thoroughly record before destruction.
Investigators faced with this choice may
include the owner or occupier, architects,
builders, services consultants or contractors,
and local government officers (especially
conservation officers), none of whom may
have the necessary specialist expertise. One
possible solution is to seek advice from a
person or organisation knowledgeable in
this field, where such a person can be found.
The other approach, often restricted by
commercial and time constraints, is to search
for all related documents and drawings.
Information may be available locally,
regionally or at national level, in libraries,
record offices or specialist websites.
The following sources may assist in
identifying the age, type, manufacturer and
importance of various heating equipment:
• architectural and engineering design,
construction or record drawings
• documents relating to tender
specifications and enquiries, cost
sheets, site reports and correspondence,
commissioning records, and operating
and maintenance instructions
• nameplate details – maker and
serial numbers with reference to
manufacturers’ catalogues
• patent numbers – refer to
Patent Office records
• contemporary photographs
which, on close inspection, may
reveal important details
• transactions, proceedings, magazines
and journals of relevant professional
institutions such as The Chartered
Institution of Building Services
Engineers (CIBSE), trade associations
such as The Heating & Ventilating
Contractors’ Association (which in
March 2012 became the Building &
Engineering Services Association)
and various industry publications
• companies’ histories which can be
rich sources of information on their
products, clients, projects and activities.
Heating equipment
The number of firms engaged in the
manufacture and installation of heating
equipment and accessories during the
Victorian and Edwardian periods was
considerable. The number of models or
patterns of a particular item, for example
radiators, often runs into many hundreds.
The most basic type of heating (other than
open fires) is the stove. The earliest Victorian
stoves were made of cast iron, with a door into
which a solid fuel, usually coal, could be fed.
A low-level ash pit door enabled ash, stones
and other residue to be removed. Smaller
stoves could be moved and placed in position
in one piece, requiring only the connection of
a flue pipe leading outdoors. These stoves were
freestanding within the space to be heated.
Larger stoves would be assembled in sections.
Other stoves were installed in a separate
chamber with a cold air inlet and with the
Catalogue featuring the saddle boiler, Hartley & Sugden, Halifax, 1872 (All illustrations: CIBSE Heritage
Group Archives)