Fireside Fashion

“Although the economy feels more buoyant now, many people have decided to put a house move on the back burner as it were, so they’re renovating instead,” says Martin Taylor, joint Director with Matt Cookman of Ottery St Mary’s Grandisson Stoves. “And what we’re finding is that they’re doing it to a really high standard.”

Grandisson has been supplying heating solutions for over 30 years, and Martin says he and Matt always find it fascinating to witness trends come and go. “Many of our customers this year have been getting excited about fitting stylish inset gas fireplaces. One of the most popular of those we supply are Bellfires gas fires.” The Bellfires brand is Dutch, suitably classy and beautifully on trend. 

Martin senses that Grandisson’s customers are less interested in wood-burning stoves at the moment, but adds that this can quickly change. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the Danish Jydepejsen range that includes some rather modish models with clean lines and quirky features. These are stoves that integrate into your living style instead of taking the emphasis in a room.” 

For a more traditional style of wood-burning stove, you can’t go far wrong talking to Dean Forge in Dean Prior on the edge of Dartmoor. Amongst the extensive product choices, you’ll find the Croft, Herrick and Dartmoor wood-burning and multi-fuel range, manufactured in Dean Forge’s own workshop. “This year, we’ve added a new model, the Dartmoor Baker, a stove with an oven that you can use for cooking as well as heating,” explains Dean Forge MD Simon Chew. Great news if you’re warming up after a bracing winter walk – you can have a piping hot casserole or even a baked Camembert ready to enjoy. The Dean Forge team has also experimented with cooking potatoes, biscuits, scones, a sausage plait and pizza using the stove – all with great success, they say. 

The forge makes many of the accessories you may need, including fireside companion sets, handmade pokers and contemporary log holders, and you can be assured that you will receive lots of advice, including which wood is best to use. Amongst the top performers are hawthorn, rowan and yew, but stay clear of spruce and willow. 

At Elaine’s Stoves & Flues in Okehampton, proprietor Elaine Ewer says she’s had a lot of interest in inset wood-burners. “These aren’t the big wood-burners that need a huge fireplace, but instead fit neatly into a standard British fireplace. They’re perfect for owners of modern homes who want to exploit an existing fireplace.” Even better, the brands she sells – Woodwarm with its Phoenix Fireblaze, and Arada Stratford Ecoboiler HE Inset – are both made in Devon. Elaine recommends pellets over logs for these models. “Pellets are clean, convenient and cost-effective; the stoves are electronically controlled and you just need to remember to pour in a bag of pellets every so often.” Elaine changed to pellets to heat her own showroom last year. “The difference was amazing: it cost £1.25 a day to heat the showroom by pellets; the winter before I was paying £6 per day for logs.”

Elaine gives a timely reminder that if you’re thinking of adding a boiler to the stove for central heating and hot water, your system could be eligible for payments through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. 

Finally, if you have a hankering for something unique, Pippa Unwin of Mewstone Masonry in Kingsbridge is a stonemason who makes bespoke fireplaces. Pippa, who trained at the City of Bath College and moved to Devon three years ago, mainly works in limestone. “Along with well-known limestone, Portland and Bath, I also use lesser known stone like Chicksgrove Stone from Tisbury, which was used to build Salisbury Cathedral, and Hamstone, an orangey stone from Somerset.” 

Pippa says that some customers like to be guided on design, but others have their own ideas, including a couple who had adopted two children from Venezuela and asked for the Venezuelan bird of paradise to be incorporated. Prices start from £750 for a basic fireplace but the price very much depends on size and intricacy of design. Pippa’s workshop is located in Aveton Gifford, near Kingsbridge.