Ovens/grates: Cornish range; slab; Cornish stove

Next came the Cornish range which is peculiar to this
county and is locally called the slab or the apparatus.  Kelly's
Directories which cover the period from 1873 1o 1939, list
six foundries in Truro and five in Redruth, and all the slabs
I have seen in Feock came from these towns.

The first drawing is the large range at Tresithick

House, made by Terrill and Rogers, Redruth, who were adve-
rtising from 1873 to 1893.  The second shows the small range
at the Blacksmith!s Cottage in Smithy Lane, Carnon Downs.
Both are still in excellent condition.

The slab had three good points: (a) the heat passed over
the oven, down the far side, underneath the oven and ash pan
to a flue behind the ornamental ironwork,which could be
unbolted and removed to sweep the chimney; dampers (D) regu-
lated the draught;   (b) by lifting off the oven door and releasing
the four turnbuttons (T), the whole oven could be removed and
the space cleaned; and  (c) the oven could be taken to the black-
smith to be repaired when necessary.

All the knobs, the front bar and supports of the airing
rack are brass, the tiles round the large slab are secured by
large brass screws.  It was a weekly task to take the oven
out, polish the brass and blacklead the ironwork.

There is a good collection of these stoves in the garden
of a bungalow on Beacon Drive, St Agnes.  Two are visible
from the road and there are more in the back garden, each
maker had his own style of ornamentation.