This involved carefully removing the bricked up front of the fireplace and digging out the infill, to reveal the inglenook. We found the existing beam to be unsuitable and the bricks above unstable. The next step was to replace the beam with a locally sourced oak beam full of character and re-construct the parts of the chimney that were damaged. The original bricks used in the fireplace were a real mix of what was available and were not the prettiest bricks so it was decided to plaster the fireplace. We also used reclaimed York stone for the hearth this has produced a very impressive feature within the cottage.