Coal Holes

Don’t look up!

Walking in older parts of London is always a pleasure, with fine Georgian town houses, historic churches, elegant garden squares and mysterious mews.

But if you look down rather than up there are clues to some almost forgotten parts of London’s rich history.

In many of the older streets in wealthy areas, you can spot these circular iron discs set in the footways in front of most houses:

They are about 300mm to 350mm in diameter, adorned with simple decoration and sometimes glass inserts.

Up to about 100 years ago these discs would have been in regular use as covers for coal holes and the vast coal cellars under the footways.

These cellars were very useful and much needed: at the peak of consumption, each inhabitant of London consumed one ton of coal per year.

Coal merchants lifted the covers to pour in tons of coal and then replaced them to prevent people falling into the cellars – not a pleasant thought.

Look up!

Why did houses need so much coal?

Until the early 20th century, coal was the main energy source in the UK.

It provided the power for industry and transport, and heat for houses and offices.

A large house might have had ten fireplaces to keep rooms warm in winter – look up above the roof to count the chimney pots.

The fireplaces were tended by servants who carried the coal up from the cellar to each room, starting early in the morning before the masters got up.

There would also be a coal fired boiler to heat water for the house’s dwellers, another early morning chore for servants.

By the end of the 19th century, so much coal was being burnt in London that it affected the City’s weather.

Fireplaces are not very efficient in converting coal to heat, with only about 25% of the warmth being transmitted to the rooms.

The rest vanished up the chimney along with soot and sulphur and all these, combined with water, formed dense fogs.

With more coal being used, the number of foggy days in London increased from around 20 per year in 1700 to around 80 per year in 1880.

These London fogs also affected people’s health: it’s estimated that they doubled the death rate through lung diseases such as bronchitis.

But coal, surprisingly, also provided a remedy to the appalling effects of London fogs. It was used for the production of gas and to generate electricity.

At the beginning of the 20th century, houses began to switch to these cleaner forms of heating.

Burning of coal in London was finally banned in the 1950s, following the passage of the Clean Air Act. 

Coal Hole Covers

The coal hole covers themselves include clues about the ironmongery trade in London, through the names of the suppliers stamped on them.

Walking the streets of London, you might encounter safety coal plates from:

• Burton & Potts,
• Howletts,
• Pike,
• Pullin,
• Roger & Brothers,
• Smellie
  The 6 of them operating from Westminster,
• Hayward Brothers, in Borough and
• Luxfer, in Clerkenwell.

These were their sales offices in London, while their iron foundries were to be found elsewhere. For example, Luxfer had a manufacturing plant in Willesden in west London.

None of these firms are trading under the same name today.

Hayward Brothers was still trading in the 1970s, but Roger & Brothers went bankrupt in 1894.

Smellie merged in the 1920’s with the Farmiloes, the Window glass cutters.

They (the Smellies) later changed their name to Smedley (one wonders why…)

So next time you are walking in London, start to look for those coal holes covers, some are very rare and beautifully decorated. you might even be tempted to start taking pictures, to collect them all, but be careful, it can quickly become very addictive…

Tony H.