DESIGN ICONS
Offering warmth and culinary practicality as well as a statement focal point, this multi-purpose performer continues to earn admirers for a place at the heart of a home
Gathering around a heat source for warmth and cooking is a practice almost as old as time. Since the 18th century, the ‘range’ has served not only as an appliance upon which to prepare food, but also as a focal point for life: drawing to it pets as well as humans seeking comfort; offering a means for drying laundry, and perhaps even heating water in the home.
Today, technological advances mean a range need not be in perpetual action. Size choices are broad and the variety of tailored elements is huge – be that water heating, dual fuel, compatibility with renewable energy as well as almost any culinary innovation for the keen cook, from induction hob to teppanyaki griddle.
Primitive cooking
Cooking in Britain was rather rudimentary well into medieval times; food was commonly cooked over open flames, fuelled by wood or peat and located within stone and brick-built fireplaces. By comparison, in Europe and the Middle East, roasting and boiling pits had long been used to complement less efficient open fires, and the use of clay, brick and stone-built ovens was widespread. Indeed, archaeological discoveries show early portable clay ovens dating back to the days of Ancient Greece.
By the 15th century, although cast iron was being produced in Britain and Europe, this was primarily for the creation of cannons and guns. It wasn’t until the mid-18th century that its significant qualities for heat retention and radiant warmth were more widely utilised in the development of range cookers.
Cast iron origins
The first patent for a wood-burning, cast-iron stove – or enclosed fire – is reputed to have been filed in Strasbourg in 1557. Yet the origins of the range cooker are often more closely attributed to later inventions. In 1782, Joseph Langmead patented an ope
