Take One... Chimney Brush

Take One... chimney brush

About Brent Museum and Brent Archives Brent Archives and Brent Museum hold collections related to the area now known as the London Borough of Brent and its residents.

Brent Museum is free. The main gallery is packed with interactive activities and exhibits revealing the fascinating stories behind Brent's social history. Our collections reflect working and domestic life in Brent from about 1850 to the present day. We also have a special exhibition gallery with an exciting programme of visiting exhibitions. The museum has a Community Gallery on the ground floor where you can see the latest exhibition about the different cultures and communities that live in Brent.

Brent Archives can help you find out more about the local area and its history. We hold the records of Brent Council and its predecessors, including council minutes and building plans, as well as historical maps and street directories, electoral registers, school records, and an extensive collection of old photographs and postcards. Our local history collections include a large reference collection, and local newspapers dating back to 1870. We also collect the records of local groups and organisations.

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Background information

Children as chimney sweeps

Chimneys were often built so that a single chimney was used for several fireplaces. This would mean that fireplaces were located in the same position on each floor. Several chimneys might also use the same stack, so the chimneys had to angle and bend to reach the single stack. The chimneys in domestic properties were not very wide and would be far too narrow for an adult to climb up. Men known as Master Sweeps would often take on apprentices to work as chimney sweeps, some of whom would have come from workhouses. Hendon Union workhouse was the main workhouse in the Brent area. Hendon Poor Law Union had been established in the 1830s and covered the following parishes: Edgware, Harrow‐on‐the‐Hill, Hendon, Kingsbury, Pinner, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, and Willesden. In the 1890s it was decided that Willesden parish required a workhouse of its own, so one was built on the Twyford Abbey Estate on Acton Lane. That building was still standing until its demolition as part of the Central Middlesex Hospital redevelopment in the 1990s – 2000s. Hendon Union Workhouse, Catalogue reference: 2293

Children in workhouses were often separated from their parents and did not have a choice when being apprenticed to a master sweep. Chimney sweeping could be dangerous work and some children died through suffocation or burning to death. Reforms during the 1800s led to the end of children working as sweeps. This included direct legislation to regulate the work of sweeping and legislation that impacted children’s work, such as changes to the education system. The Chimney Sweepers Act 1834 stated that master sweeps could not take on children under 14; before this children as young as 6 were working as sweeps. A further Act in 1840 made it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to sweep chimneys, but it was largely ignored. It wasn’t until the Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act 1864 that police had the power to arrest, fine or imprison master sweeps who flouted the law. However underage sweeps were in use into the 1870s and the last child reported to die in a chimney was 1875.

In the late 1800s it became compulsory for children to attend school from age 5 to 10. There were, however, exemptions such as for children living excessive distance from schools, for illness or with certification of having reached an approved standard. This meant many children still did not attend school. This period also saw the beginnings of state funded education.

The housing boom and fireplaces

During the late 1800s there was a housing boom as the railway extended into what we now know as Brent, which meant that there were many more chimneys that would require sweeping. This advert from 1907 suggests that the situation was viewed as a concern. Or at least for the purposes of advertising a chimney sweeping service. This concern over ensuring regular chimney sweeping was not entirely self‐serving as soot was flammable and could lead to a building catching fire.

Fireplaces were prominent in Victorian houses. In wealthy houses they Newspaper advert, Willesden Chronicle, 12th had an aesthetic as well as functional role, and decorative ironwork and January 1906, Catalogue reference: 3942 tiles were commonplace. Many of the tiles that we think of as traditionally Victorian actually take their inspiration from Islamic art. These highly patterned tiles were often encaustic, which means that the colour is in the clay rather than as a glaze applied to the tile. This process means that the pattern will remain for longer as the tile wears down.

The object

The chimney sweep rod appears to be made of cane pieces with metal screws fixed to each end to allow the brush to be extended to different lengths. The 8 individual rods are roughly 90cm (3 feet) but are not exactly the same length, nor are they entirely straight. The rods are bowed, which may have been what they originally looked like, as they are made from organic material. Or this could be an effect of time and storage. Some of the canes look more used than others as they have scratches and marks and the rods vary in colour, due to dirt. They are dirty to touch, transferring a black residue onto hands, which is likely soot. One of the rods has had a length of metal wire, 2mm in diameter, wrapped around it and extended to create a hook. This may have been used for retrieving items that were stuck in the chimney (such as birds or debris) or perhaps it was used as part of the cleaning process. The wire looks as if it once had a coating which has worn away over time and it has rusted, leaving an orange residue on one of the screws.

The chimney sweeping rods and brush can be assembled to reach a length of 720cm (approximately 23 feet), which would allow it to clean a chimney in a 2‐storey house. However it could only be used to clean a relatively straight chimney. The rigid rods would not be able to navigate bends or angles. This type of brush may have been used from the roof, brushing downwards to remove soot. Children who climbed up chimneys would be more likely to use handheld brushes and scrapers to remove soot, or they may have used a larger brush pushed up with their head as they climbed. It is, therefore, more likely that this brush was used by an adult (although it is possible that a child used it in the same manner that is suggested for an adult).

The brush head is a solid, wooden rounded cylinder, which has 27 holes for the bristles. Bunches of bristles have been fixed in place with a black adhesive. Where the black adhesive has been chipped it is shiny. One side of the bristles has been significantly damaged; it is not known if this damage was sustained in use as a chimney sweep or in the time between use and accession into the museum’s collection. The bristles are very brittle and some are loose. The bristles appear to be made of organic material.

We do not know the age of the chimney bush and rods. The object is not dated and the design of such brushes remained the same for many years. There is very little information about it in the museum’s records.

You could use the reproduction of the brush to stimulate group discussions. For example:

What would it have been like to live in Brent during the Victorian period?

What would it be like now if every house in Brent was still burning coal? What impact would it have on the air and the environment? What would it be like to have to work as a child? Imagine the sorts of jobs you might do? Would there be any benefits?

What would it be like when school wasn’t compulsory? Would it be a good thing? How would you learn? What would it be like to spend time in a workhouse? What might the conditions have been like? How would you feel?

Workhouses were seen as a way of dealing with poverty. What systems do we use now? What are the pros and cons of each system? What impact have developments in science and technology had on peoples’ lives? What are the benefits and what are the disadvantages?

Ideas for creative planning across the curriculum: Explore how workhouses and chimney sweeps are depicted in literature (For example, Charles Kingsley’s The Waterbabies, several Charles Dickens’ novels, including Oliver Twist and Bleak House, William Blake’s poems in SYou could use the reproduction of the document in the classroom to initiate a dialogue with your ongs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, or Mary Poppins; the PL Travers novel & the Disney adaptation). Wstudents and ask them...rite a film or book review, paying particular attention to the depiction of workhouses and chimney sweeps. History/Literacy/Drama What would it have been like to live in Brent or the Channel Islands during the Second World War? Investigate the science of heat (convection, radiation, insulation). Design a heating system for a house. Design & How has communication changed since the Second World War? Do we still use telegrams? What do we Technology/Science have now instead? Letters, Telegrams, Telephone, Email, Text Messages, IMing, Facebook, twitter Investigate your local area for signs of Victorian buildings and chimneys. Create a street map of your area with VWhat impact does war have on communication and travel? How easy is it ictorian buildings marked on it. Geography/History now to communicate with people in war zones? Design a campaign for ending the employment of children as chimney sweeps. Design a poster, write a speech

aWhat do letters look like? Is there a standard format? Are there other examples of letters that you nd create a manifesto. Work out how to make your campaign successful: Who would you contact? How would

people know about your campaign? How has campaigning changed since the Victorian period? could look at? Citizenship/History/ICT How do we take care of those with greater need than our own? Who needs our support and care? Think about modern Investigate how ways of raising awareness and supporting others laws are passed. Who writes laws? What stages do thsuch as charity singles, texting ey have to go through? donations etc.History/Citizens hip

Create a soundscape for a chimney sweep. What sounds could you hear (brush sweeping, wind in the chimney, The letter mentions the role of countries in the British Commonwealth. Who fought in the war? Which crackle of fire etc)? Music countries contributed to the war effort? What might their experience of war have been like?

About Take One Inspired by the National Gallery’s Take One Picture programme, Take One… aims to Inspire teachers to use historic buildings, objects, and archive documents to develop creative cross‐curricular work in the classroom.

Take One... chimney brush