Our Chimney Stack Finds!
As you know, here at the Riviera Guesthouse, Whitby, we’ve been hard at work renovating the property ready for re-opening in April 2025.
We’ve been covered in dust, plaster, smudged in paint, lugged furniture about, put up stud walls, and punched holes into walls.
Obviously the latter was for the purposes of the renovation!
And through it all, Zed and I have remained a married couple … phew!
Read our renovation blog here.
We still have a way to go … but we’re getting there.
Why not book your stay with us today, we are open again from Friday 4th April!
Yet one of the most interesting parts of the renovation project has been the discovery of a mysterious secret, hidden object away in a fireplace.
As with many older properties (the Riviera Guesthouse dates from the Victorian period), many rooms had a fireplace in them.
They also have a chimney stack or stacks running up the house.
Open fires in rooms provided heating ‘back in the day’.
As central heating came in, many fireplaces were covered up.
So, from the off, our plans included uncovering and renovating one of these fireplaces.
And, as with many renovation projects, you never know what you’re going to find!
As we opened the chimney stack in question, which had been covered for decades, we found a ceramic bottle (pictured) with the engraving:
I MILLER
WHITBY
The bottle was covered in soot and dust, and it was very dirty.
Its cork had been pushed into the cavity of the bottle and dirt from over the years had settled inside the bottle.
We cleaned it up and we posted about it on social media.
The post created lots of interest, as we really wanted to ‘unite’ the bottle with its rightful owner, or with his/her family so it could become a family treasure or part of their family history.
One of the responses on social media included details as to the potential ‘home’ of the bottle: John Miller, 11 Flowergate, Whitby. BEST INVALID PORT WINE.
Another kind person posted details about a wine and tea merchant at 11 Flowergate, Whitby along with a letter in the most elaborate handwriting, dating from 1870.
Another suggestion was that it’s a porter bottle, dating from the 1860s.
Whatever the bottle’s history, it really is fascinating to think the bottle had an owner, was probably used at least once and has survived to this day!
Superstitions of the Chimney Stack
As with such an unusual find, the bottle got us thinking about chimney stacks and their hidden meanings.
Someone posted on social media about finding shoes near theirs.
Another commented that it was customary to leave the shoes of a deceased person near a house exit, or even outside the front door.
The shoes were left there in order to show the departing spirit where the exit from the house was, helping them to ‘move on’.
A well-worn shoe is believed to carry the imprint of the human that wore it.
The leather (or other materials) moulds to the wearer’s foot; others believed that a person’s spiritual presence ‘lives’ in the shoe, which acts as a device against evil and witchcraft.
Witch Bottles
While we don’t think our particular find is one, witch bottles are often discovered in chimney breasts, within walls or even under hearths.
This prompted us to do a bit of research: while witch bottles can be ceramic, many of them are made of glass and can be quite small.
What is less inviting is the potential contents of said bottles.
These could be anything from nail clippings to urine, from iron nails to wood, from thorns and bent pins.
The theory goes that urine attracted the witch into the bottle itself, where she became trapped by the sharp pins.
Witch bottles traditions are thought to have originated in England during the 1600s, which could tie in with the infamous Pendle Hill witch trials of 1612.
Witch bottles are found in older properties and are sometimes found in their own niche so they remain intact!
Woe betide should you be brave enough to open a witch bottle … you never know what might come out!
Chimney Superstitions
Even if you’re not the superstitious type, perhaps most of us would err on the side of caution when it comes to opening a bottle of the witch variety!
Chimneys were thought to be gateways for witches and other bad spirits.
The witches bottle along with other charms were placed around the home in strategic places including in chimney breasts or beneath the hearth.
Yet there are also good omens …
Chimney sweeps are considered lucky, and it was considered ‘good fortune’ to see a chimney sweep, or his/her brush popping out of the chimney on your wedding day.
It was traditional for a chimney sweep to attend a wedding, during which he or she would kiss the bride and shake the groom’s hand.
Writing on the Wall
Renovating an older property can also reveal fascinating details about the history of the building.
It is not unusual to find the builder’s mark somewhere, or some mathematical workings out in pencil, perhaps the jottings of a craftsman.
Other items found within chimney breasts include letters, which may have been stored on a mantelpiece only to have slipped behind it, never to be found again!
We have felt we’ve had a trip back in time as we’ve moved things about, stripped things back and more.
It’s funny to think one day, another family in the future will probably do the same.
Perhaps we should leave our very own ‘mark’ somewhere for future generations to discover?
Don’t forget to book your stay with us and to follow us on social media.
