Friday, March 29, 2019

There are no climbing boys in the chimneys of Westminster

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I wrote a sceptical post when I heard the story about there being the bodies of climbing boys in the chimneys of the Palace of Westminster. It seems I was right.

An article on the University of Kent site reports the work of Dr Henrik Schoenefeldt.
"My current research project at Parliament has involved undertaking detailed studies of the historic chimney system of the Palace. This involves extensive building surveys and archival research and has provided insights into the unique design of the smoke extract network of the Palace. 
"This was fully integrated into the 19th-century ventilation system. The research has uncovered no evidence of dead bodies and due to the specific design of the chimneys in Palace it was neither possible for boys to enter the vertical flues, nor was it was necessary for sweeps to climb flues."
So, despite its Gothic style, the palace incorporated the latest technology.

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