Inspired by Our Heritage

Inspired by our Heritage:

Camelot’s work has always been centred in history, specifically the history of both the fires we create and our business itself. Our work has always been immersed in the traditional methods, craftsmanship, materials, and design of historical open fires, from the inglenook space to the traditional fire grate. These designs and innovations date back centuries:

Open fires have been a central part of the development and survival of people: providing, heat, light and a way to prepare FOOD! The typical open fire with fire back, fire grate and andirons (dog irons) to prop up logs and allow for more efficient ventilation to the fire comes as one of the earliest developments of the open fire from the 15th century – around the same point these open fires became points of focus in the home: fire backs were decorated as early as the 15th century. Something we encompass in our creation of all types of open fire: the ability to provide a practical and efficient open fire whilst creating a beautiful point of decorative focus in any room – elegance and craftsmanship.

The Inglenook

The inglenook space (quite literally, the ‘chimney corner’) dates back to the 16th century in its earliest form as people began to move open fires from the centre of a room to the corner – then developing more efficient methods of smoke extraction through flues and chimneys and making a cosier environment. Many inglenooks would have benches on either side of the ‘nook’ to allow a family to cosy up around the warmth of the fire: something that still applies today! Many of our inglenook style fires are designed to fit perfectly into the corner fireplace areas in authentic British homes – continuing the beautiful history of open fires whilst advancing their efficiency and sophistication in design and appearance.

Even our most recent innovation: Paul Shaw’s own Thermovent design can be traced back to the mid-1800s in terms of the fundamentals of its design: extraction, heat efficiency and output: our Thermovent is an updated and more successful execution of that original concept.

Whilst we celebrate and utilise the rich history of our open fires heritage in skills, design and materials: as a modern business we like to offer a range of options for our customers: hence the development of our widely used Commissions service. This enables our customers to liaise with us and specifically explain/show to us their design wishes for their own open fire. Paul then designs every item produced in our workshop – both pre-designed and commissioned – and agrees with each individual customers the design of their commission before striking metal. This gives our customer control in design and appearance to create their perfect fire.

Commissions

Our traditional techniques and craftmanship are what allow us to create such unique commissions, through their traditional origins: this ranges from work in our traditional forge involving the perfected use of metal working and manipulation of metal sheets, to our close communication with the Black Country Foundry when working with cast iron.

However, whilst we embrace our historical origins, as a 21st Century business, we also pride ourselves on utilising the latest technologies to create the perfect open fire in terms of cutting and forming steel, for example the use of laser cutting to create sharp edges and intricate designs. This allows us to apply our traditional skills and craftsmanship on top of the latest technology to create the perfect fire we agreed with our customer.

If you’d like to experience in your own home the historical heritage of open fires, the abilities of the latest technology, or even both – please get in touch with Camelot Real Fires today  on 01905 820 181.