Designing a Jacobean Fireplace

Sam working on the sketch

It is the Spring semester of my Junior year and the assignment is to design and carve a limestone fireplace. My fellow student Sam and I were given the option to each produce our own small fireplace or alternatively collaborate on a more complicated design. An easy choice. We work really well together and both want to create something really special in the allotted time.

Draft of the overall design

We were conducting our research and came across this lovely fireplace from the keep of the castle in Tattershall a little to the southeast of Lincoln, UK. It appears that the fireplace was installed after 1560, squarely in the Jacobean period and the detailing is typical of the era. Sam is a talented designer and has taken the lead in the sketches you see here. We've designed it to be compatible with an Isokern Earthcore® modular firebox and are definitely on the lookout for a client. The interior width of the opening is a spacious 60". We'll be publishing details towards the end of next week.

We still have a few more details to work out including a final review of the profile and designing a small cymantium above. As with the Tattershall example we are designing the surround to fit into the wall. I think the integration conveys a deep feeling of solidity. Another attraction for us was the painted heraldry. We have 6 spaces above for ornamentation. Currently I'm researching how limestone was painted in the period and would like to incorporate similar ornamentation in the frieze, hopefully with the input of a client.

Contributed by Patrick Webb