FIRE-GRATES 



373 



I" f 



FIG. 299. Fire-Grate at Kew Palace. 



So, too, had the servants' hall, whereas the drawing-room had 

 an open fire. We may, therefore, conclude that the rooms in 

 most frequent use had the newer contrivances, the most note- 

 worthy of which were the grates, the pokers (for breaking the 

 coal, and quite unnecessary with a wood fire), and the fenders. 

 It is clear that in 1720 Francis Hawes had only partially 

 adopted coal as his fuel, but the use of it quickly spread, and 

 henceforward we find grates of various kinds in common use. 

 Some of these were in effect baskets to hold the coal (Fig. 297), 

 and they were placed in the old openings. Others were so 

 large as to hold either wood or coal, an intermediate step of 

 which there is an example at Dyrham, in Gloucestershire. 

 In later years the basket grates gave way to cast-iron grates 

 which filled the whole width of the recess, and were built 



