51/163

A chimney crane like this was an important piece of equipment for cooking over an open hearth, from which a ratchet hanger would be hung, from which cooking pots would be suspended. It would have been fixed to the side of an open fire, and could be swivelled to the desired position. Some cranes were elaborately ornamented, but this iron crane, which comes from Bangrove Farm in Gloucestershire, is quite plain.

1 chimney crane: metal; good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'The round bottomed, three legged iron pots of various sizes, the large black kettle, the pot oven and the roasting spit, were in the past sufficient to satisfy the cooking needs of the farmhouse or cottage family. The old hearth was open, and the fire was at floor level, and the cooking utensils had to be suspended from a ratchet hanger, which was an essential part of the equipment of every household. This ratchet hanger, with its adjustable hook, either hanged from an iron bar, placed horizontally across the chimney, or it was suspended from a crane fixed to the side of the fire. The earliest cranes were made of wood, but later they were made of iron, very often by a local blacksmith. When fixed they could be swivelled to and fro, in a horizontal plane to the desired position. Some are very elaborately ornamented but others are plain, and utilitarian rather than ornamental. // This small, rather plain crane came from Bangrove Farm, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and was known in that county as a SWAY. It consists of a round upright bar 27.2 inches in length, the bottom of which is rounded and ringed with a projection of iron, and is set in the side of the hearth, in which it can work freely. The rounded top of the upright bar works in a socket or loop in a short iron clamp or socket fixed to the wall. 6.3 inches from the top and at right angles to the vertical, is a flattened iron bar 27 inches long, its front end upturned. From this bar the ratchet hanger or hook would hang; the whole thing revolves easily in a quarter of a circle forward and back. An ornamental curved brace, its ornamentation being the form of small twists for 5.6 inches of its length, supports the horizontal bar.', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, circa 1951] - 'Museum of English Rural Life // Equipment to be loaned to the Cotswold Tradition Exhibition // Cat Ref. No.: // 51/163 M // [tick] Hanger (for Kettle) and Bracket 254/255 ...', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, circa 1951] - '[insert] MASSINGHAM FILE [end insert] // THE COTSWOLD TRADITION // AN EXHIBITION AT CIRENCESTER PARK // MAY-SEPTEMBER 1951 ... // RECEIPT. // Received with gratitude the following articles, collected from Reading University on the 29th April, 1951: // ... Chimney Crane and Kettle. ... // Loaned by The Massingham Collection.', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/163 // NAME: CHIMNEY CRANE // NEG NO.: 60/880 // STORAGE: '