I’m a little in love with Twitter this week for helping me find a wonderfully preserved cast iron Scotia fireplace for our new guest bedroom. The chimney breast lost it’s original fireplace long before we moved in, as you can see above where the sad looking desk sits in front of it, but the room still has beautiful cornice which we’ve recently had restored. All the walls have been stripped back to brick now and framing for an ensuite put in that corner above. I wanted a reclaimed fireplace to add some character and glamour to the room. Chatting with a local developer over social media, he happened to mention he had removed one from a house literally five minutes away & was selling it, so we whizzed down there with measurements to take a look – it’s gorgeous isn’t it? 
Even better is that his and our houses would have been built at around the same time and so this *new* fireplace could well have ended up at Moregeous Mansions anyway – builders shopped local back then and there certainly wasn’t the choice there is now. I like the idea that it’s travelled less than a mile to it’s new home with us. The Scotia will take pride of place once it’s been thoroughly stripped it back & polished and we dropped it off yesterday at DipADoor as I’m too busy on site to be doing it myself. I found an image of a restored Scotia fireplace online yesterday with exactly the same patterning, it looks just beautiful.
I can’t wait to see it in place, isn’t it gorgeous? 🙂
Top Tips:
- Take measurements of your fireplace opening in inches and cmd and keep to hand or on your phone, plus I always take a picture to remind me exactly what the opening looks like. This helps when you’re looking at an actual fireplace somewhere so you can visualise it in situ.
- Do some research beforehand on the size and style you have in mind, so you know approximately what you should be paying.
- Make contact with other property people locally via social media or networking groups, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
- Scour eBay, Preloved, Gumtree and Freecycle for people getting rid of unwanted items
- Make a list of your local salvage and reclamation yards and call them up to ask what they have, or spend a day off visiting them with your measurements and photo.
- Get in touch with your local Dip-a-door business as they often have old reclaimed fireplaces for sale.
- Try sites like Salvo, an online directory showcasing lots of reclamation places from all over the UK in one site.
Good luck x
