Page 175 - 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 5
5
INTERIORS
converted to oil-firing can still be found in a
number of churches and chapels (above). The
small bore pipe was distributed around the
space to be heated, sometimes rising in banks
of concertinaed coils like a modern radiator.
Until 1892 numerous American
manufacturers produced a variety of designs,
many highly ornamental, but in that year
the three principal manufacturers merged
to form the American Radiator Company.
This firm, trading in Britain as the National
Radiator Company, opened a factory in Hull
in the early 1900s where they manufactured
Ideal radiators. During the 1890s, radiators of
American manufacture were imported into
Britain, but from the turn of the century the
domestic radiator manufacturing industry
became predominant. Radiators were often
housed in decorative casings (top right).
Early British patents for hot-water
radiators include those of Keith (1882 and
1884), Waters (1882), Cannon (1887) and
Heap (1887). At the end of the 19th century,
one expert claimed that British radiator design
had fallen behind the current American
offerings. However, this opinion was based on
external appearance and not on the technical
performance. British designs were generally
plain, although there were exceptions.
American ones were ornate. Gradually,
improvements in foundry technology enabled
more elaborate castings to be made. Radiators
having one, two and then three columns
became available. By 1917, radiators with four
columns were being used.
Although probably developed some
50 years earlier, it was not until the beginning
of the 20th century that the ventilating
radiator was gaining acceptance. The idea
was to remedy the lack of ventilation afforded
by the ordinary ‘direct’ radiator. Essentially,
the lower part of the radiator was blanked off
against the entry of room air, and fresh air was
fed into the base of the radiator by a channel
in the wall behind it. These were sometimes
termed ‘indirect’ radiators when located
outside the room being warmed.
In 1904, claims and counterclaims
relating to the introduction of radiators into
Britain abounded. Acknowledging that steam
radiators were of American origin, the firm of
Longden in Sheffield claimed to have played a
major part in introducing hot-water radiators
to the British market. Rosser & Russell of
London claimed to be the original inventors of
the ventilating radiator, but did not give a date.
Other claimants include The Thames Bank
Iron Company and Weekes & Company. The
case remains unproven, but one of the earliest
is the ventilating radiator introduced by
Walter Jones in 1881. His radiator design was
awarded a silver medal in the same year.
The number and variety of radiator styles
and pattern names available as the Victorian
era came to a close is overwhelming (bottom
left). In 1891, Keith was advertising both the
Universal and the Ornamental, while the
Coalbrookdale Co listed its Hydro-Caloric
(Heap’s Patent). By 1897, the American
Radiator Co was promoting in London their
National Single Column and Rococo designs.
H Munzing in London was importing a
variety of American radiators including Royal
Union, Coronet, Union, and Walworth Patent.
Cast-iron radiator enclosure with marble top at Lanhydrock House, Cornwall (Photo: Frank Ferris,
CIBSE Heritage Group)
Perkins system heating pipes in the parish church of
Bruton, Somerset (Photo: Jonathan Taylor)
Radiators, coils and coil-cases from the 1900
catalogue of Mackenzie & Moncur, Edinburgh
A hot-water heater with decorative vertical tubes by
Vincent Skinner found in a Bristol church (Photo:
Frank Ferris, CIBSE Heritage Group)
Longden of Sheffield featured the Sunbeam
(Leed’s Patent). Wontner-Smith Gray of London
had the Finsbury, while the Meadow Foundry
of Mansfield made the Count and the Peer.
Other British companies merely advertised
their radiators as ‘ornamental’ or ‘special,’
including firms like Haden of Trowbridge,
Williams of Reading, and Thames Bank Iron
and WG Cannon, both in London. Other early
British manufacturers include Beeston, Crane,
Hartley & Sugden, Lumbys, National Radiator
(later Ideal Standard), Vincent Skinner (bottom
right) and Wm Graham.
In 1906, the London catalogue for the
American Radiator Company listed: Astro
Hospital Swinging, Circular, Colonial Wall,
Corner, Curved, Detroit, Excelsior, Italian,
National, Peerless, Perfection, Primus, Rococo,
and Sanitary Pin. Many of these came in a
choice of heights, widths, column numbers/
arrangements, and in ‘flue’, ‘ventilating’ and
‘non-ventilating’ designs. (See Recommended
Reading for sources of further information on
makes and styles of Victorian and Edwardian
radiators and stoves).
Preservation
Early radiators and heating systems are of
special historic significance both in their