Working Arrangements of The Cornish Range

There were several methods of operation, the most common being the hot smoke passed over the top of the oven, down the far side, then underneath. From there it would travel into a central brick flue which was constructed centrally at the back and ran from the foot to the top of the range. Two thirds of the way up this flue there was a damper. This damper was pulled out to increase the draught and it was the main way of controlling the fire, albeit not very efficiently, hence the section of verse in a well-known Cornish folk song ‘you push the damper in and you pull the damper out and the smoke went up the chimney just the same’.

If there was insufficient room at the back, the range could be built so that after the smoke passed under the oven it went through a hole below the firebox and then up through a flue on the side. This was known as a side-damper. Some foundries, like Troys of Helston, had yet another arrangement with a damper at the bottom of the range.

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JW Engineering, Precision & General Engineers, Unit 1 Church Road, Pool, Cornwall, TR15 3PT
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