Firebacks

Shape: rectangular with triangular bars

  1. 359

    lamberhurst,_sandhurst farm.jpg
    820 x >535 mm

    Description: Rectangular; double fillet moulded edging; top centre, shield-shaped block with a rectangle containing the crest of the Fowles - an Arm in armour holding a Battle axe issuant from a Ducal Coronet, above the initials, WF; top left and right, two shields of the arms of the Fowle family - (Gules) a lion passant guardant between three roses (Or); across the lower half of the fireback are three solid triangular prisms of iron.

    Notes: The stamps relate to William Fowle (1568-1634), ironmaster of Riverhall furnace. The stamps also appear on grave slabs in Wadhurst and Frant churches and on an unprovenanced graveslab in Maidstone Museum. The iron prisms were included, perhaps, to retain heat and to prevent the fireback from cracking.

    Inscription: WF

    Arms: William Fowle, of Frant and Wadhurst

    Manufactured: in the early 17th century probably at Riverhall Furnace, Wadhurst in the Weald area of England.

    Current location: in private hands, Lamberhurst, Kent, England.