Take One Chimney Brush Resource - Brent Council

Take One. chimney brushAbout Brent Museum and Brent ArchivesBrent Archives and Brent Museum hold collections related to the area now known as the London Borough of Brentand its residents.Brent Museum is free. The main gallery is packed with interactive activities and exhibits revealing the fascinatingstories behind Brent's social history. Our collections reflect working and domestic life in Brent from about 1850 tothe present day. We also have a special exhibition gallery with an exciting programme of visiting exhibitions. Themuseum has a Community Gallery on the ground floor where you can see the latest exhibition about the differentcultures 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 Counciland 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 historycollections include a large reference collection, and local newspapers dating back to 1870. We also collect therecords of local groups and v.uk

Background informationChildren as chimney sweepsChimneys were often built so that a single chimney was used for several fireplaces. This would mean that fireplaceswere located in the same position on each floor. Several chimneys might also use the same stack, so the chimneyshad to angle and bend to reach the single stack. The chimneys in domestic properties were not very wide and wouldbe far too narrow for an adult to climb up.Men known as Master Sweeps would often take on apprenticesto work as chimney sweeps, some of whom would have comefrom workhouses. Hendon Union workhouse was the mainworkhouse in the Brent area. Hendon Poor Law Union hadbeen established in the 1830s and covered the followingparishes: Edgware, Harrow‐on‐the‐Hill, Hendon, Kingsbury,Pinner, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, and Willesden. In the1890s it was decided that Willesden parish required aworkhouse of its own, so one was built on the Twyford AbbeyEstate on Acton Lane. That building was still standing until itsdemolition as part of the Central Middlesex Hospitalredevelopmentinthe1990s–2000s.Hendon Union Workhouse, Catalogue reference: 2293Children in workhouses were often separated from their parents and did not have a choice when being apprenticedto a master sweep. Chimney sweeping could be dangerous work and some children died through suffocation orburning to death. Reforms during the 1800s led to the end of children working as sweeps. This included directlegislation to regulate the work of sweeping and legislation that impacted children’s work, such as changes to theeducation 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 underthe age of 21 to sweep chimneys, but it was largely ignored. It wasn’t until the Chimney Sweepers Regulation Act1864 that police had the power to arrest, fine or imprison master sweeps who flouted the law. However underagesweeps 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 fromage 5 to 10. There were, however, exemptions such as for children livingexcessive distance from schools, for illness or with certification of havingreached an approved standard. This meant many children still did notattend school. This period also saw the beginnings of state fundededucation.The housing boom and fireplacesDuring the late 1800s there was a housing boom as the railway extendedinto what we now know as Brent, which meant that there were manymore chimneys that would require sweeping. This advert from 1907suggests that the situation was viewed as a concern. Or at least for thepurposes of advertising a chimney sweeping service. This concern overensuring regular chimney sweeping was not entirely self‐serving as sootwas flammable and could lead to a building catching fire.Fireplaces were prominent in Victorian houses. In wealthy houses they Newspaper advert, Willesden Chronicle, 12thhad an aesthetic as well as functional role, and decorative ironwork and January 1906, Catalogue reference: 3942tiles were commonplace. Many of the tiles that we think of astraditionally 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 glazeapplied to the tile. This process means that the pattern will remain for longer as the tile wears down.

The objectThe chimney sweep rod appears to be made ofcane pieces with metal screws fixed to each endto allow the brush to be extended to differentlengths. The 8 individual rods are roughly 90cm(3 feet) but are not exactly the same length, norare they entirely straight. The rods are bowed,which may have been what they originallylooked like, as they are made from organicmaterial. Or this could be an effect of time andstorage. Some of the canes look more usedthan others as they have scratches and marksand the rods vary in colour, due to dirt. Theyare dirty to touch, transferring a black residueonto hands, which is likely soot. One of the rodshas had a length of metal wire, 2mm indiameter, wrapped around it and extended tocreate 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 wornaway over time and it has rusted, leaving an orange residue on one of the screws.The chimney sweeping rods and brush can beassembled to reach a length of 720cm(approximately 23 feet), which would allow it toclean a chimney in a 2‐storey house. However itcould only be used to clean a relatively straightchimney. The rigid rods would not be able tonavigate bends or angles. This type of brush mayhave been used from the roof, brushing downwardsto remove soot. Children who climbed up chimneyswould be more likely to use handheld brushes and scrapers to remove soot, or they may have used a larger brushpushed 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, woodenrounded cylinder, which has 27 holesfor the bristles. Bunches of bristleshave been fixed in place with a blackadhesive. Where the black adhesivehas been chipped it is shiny. One sideof the bristles has been significantlydamaged; it is not known if thisdamage was sustained in use as achimney sweep or in the time betweenuse and accession into the museum’scollection. The bristles are very brittleand some are loose. The bristlesappear to be made of organic material.We do not know the age of thechimney bush and rods. The object isnot dated and the design of suchbrushes 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 airand 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 anybenefits?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 youfeel?Workhouses were seen as a way of dealing with poverty. What systems do we use now? What are the pros andcons of each system?What impact have developments in science and technology had on peoples’ lives? What are the benefits andwhat 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 TheWaterbabies, several Charles Dickens’ novels, including Oliver Twist and Bleak House, William Blake’s poems inYouuse theandreproductionof the documentin the classroomto initiatedialoguewith yourSongscouldof InnocenceSongs of Experience,or Mary Poppins;the PL Traversnovel & atheDisney adaptation).studentsandask them.Write a filmor bookreview, paying particular attention to the depiction of workhouses and chimney sweeps.History/Literacy/DramaWhat 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 &Howhas communication changed since the Second World War? Do we still use telegrams? What do weTechnology/Sciencehave now instead? Letters, Telegrams, Telephone, Email, Text Messages, IMing, Facebook, twitterInvestigate your local area for signs of Victorian buildings and chimneys. Create a street map of your area withWhatimpactdoesmarkedwar haveonGeography/Historycommunication and travel? How easy is it now to communicate withVictorianbuildingson it.people in war zones?Design a campaign for ending the employment of children as chimney sweeps. Design a poster, write a speechWhatdo letterslook like?therestandardformat?Aresuccessful:there otherexamplesof contact?letters thatyouand createa manifesto.WorkIsouthowa tomake yourcampaignWhowould youHowwouldpeoplelookknowat?about your campaign? How has campaigning changed since the Victorian period?couldCitizenship/History/ICTHow do we take care of those with greater need than our own? Who needs our support and care? ThinkInvestigatehow wayslaws arepassed. awarenessWho writesandlaws?What stagesdo theyto go through?about modernof raisingsupportingotherssuchhaveas charitysingles, textingHistory/Citizenshipdonations etc.Createa soundscapechimneysweep. Whatsoundscouldyou hear (brushWhosweeping,in thechimney,The lettermentionsforthea roleof countriesin theBritishCommonwealth.foughtwindin thewar?Whichcrackle of fire etc)? Musiccountries contributed to the war effort? What might their experience of war have been like?About Take OneInspired by the National Gallery’s Take One Picture programme, Take One aims to Inspire teachers to use historicbuildings, objects, and archive documents to develop creative cross‐curricular work in the classroom.

Take One. chimney brush

Take One. chimney brush

Take One. chimney brush

Take One. chimney brush

Take One. chimney brush

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