Take One... chimney brush

Take
One...
chimney
brush
About
Brent
Museum
and
Brent
Archives
Brent
Archives
and
Brent
Museum
hold
collections
related
to
the
area
now
known
as
the
London
Borough
of
Brent
and
its
residents.
Brent
Museum
is
free.
The
main
gallery
is
packed
with
interactive
activities
and
exhibits
revealing
the
fascinating
stories
behind
Brent's
social
history.
Our
collections
reflect
working
and
domestic
life
in
Brent
from
about
1850
to
the
present
day.
We
also
have
a
special
exhibition
gallery
with
an
exciting
programme
of
visiting
exhibitions.
The
museum
has
a
Community
Gallery
on
the
ground
floor
where
you
can
see
the
latest
exhibition
about
the
different
cultures
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
Council
and
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
history
collections
include
a
large
reference
collection,
and
local
newspapers
dating
back
to
1870.
We
also
collect
the
records
of
local
groups
and
organisations.
museum@brent.gov.uk
archives@brent.gov.uk
Background
information
Children
as
chimney
sweeps
Chimneys
were
often
built
so
that
a
single
chimney
was
used
for
several
fireplaces.
This
would
mean
that
fireplaces
were
located
in
the
same
position
on
each
floor.
Several
chimneys
might
also
use
the
same
stack,
so
the
chimneys
had
to
angle
and
bend
to
reach
the
single
stack.
The
chimneys
in
domestic
properties
were
not
very
wide
and
would
be
far
too
narrow
for
an
adult
to
climb
up.
Men
known
as
Master
Sweeps
would
often
take
on
apprentices
to
work
as
chimney
sweeps,
some
of
whom
would
have
come
from
workhouses.
Hendon
Union
workhouse
was
the
main
workhouse
in
the
Brent
area.
Hendon
Poor
Law
Union
had
been
established
in
the
1830s
and
covered
the
following
parishes:
Edgware,
Harrow‐on‐the‐Hill,
Hendon,
Kingsbury,
Pinner,
Great
Stanmore,
Little
Stanmore,
and
Willesden.
In
the
1890s
it
was
decided
that
Willesden
parish
required
a
workhouse
of
its
own,
so
one
was
built
on
the
Twyford
Abbey
Estate
on
Acton
Lane.
That
building
was
still
standing
until
its
demolition
as
part
of
the
Central
Middlesex
Hospital
redevelopment
in
the
1990s
–
2000s.
Hendon
Union
Workhouse,
Catalogue
reference:
2293
Children
in
workhouses
were
often
separated
from
their
parents
and
did
not
have
a
choice
when
being
apprenticed
to
a
master
sweep.
Chimney
sweeping
could
be
dangerous
work
and
some
children
died
through
suffocation
or
burning
to
death.
Reforms
during
the
1800s
led
to
the
end
of
children
working
as
sweeps.
This
included
direct
legislation
to
regulate
the
work
of
sweeping
and
legislation
that
impacted
children’s
work,
such
as
changes
to
the
education
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
under
the
age
of
21
to
sweep
chimneys,
but
it
was
largely
ignored.
It
wasn’t
until
the
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
age
5
to
10.
There
were,
however,
exemptions
such
as
for
children
living
excessive
distance
from
schools,
for
illness
or
with
certification
of
having
reached
an
approved
standard.
This
meant
many
children
still
did
not
attend
school.
This
period
also
saw
the
beginnings
of
state
funded
education.
The
housing
boom
and
fireplaces
During
the
late
1800s
there
was
a
housing
boom
as
the
railway
extended
into
what
we
now
know
as
Brent,
which
meant
that
there
were
many
more
chimneys
that
would
require
sweeping.
This
advert
from
1907
suggests
that
the
situation
was
viewed
as
a
concern.
Or
at
least
for
the
purposes
of
advertising
a
chimney
sweeping
service.
This
concern
over
ensuring
regular
chimney
sweeping
was
not
entirely
self‐serving
as
soot
was
flammable
and
could
lead
to
a
building
catching
fire.
Fireplaces
were
prominent
in
Victorian
houses.
In
wealthy
houses
they
Newspaper
advert,
Willesden
Chronicle,
12th
had
an
aesthetic
as
well
as
functional
role,
and
decorative
ironwork
and
January
1906,
Catalogue
reference:
3942
tiles
were
commonplace.
Many
of
the
tiles
that
we
think
of
as
traditionally
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
glaze
applied
to
the
tile.
This
process
means
that
the
pattern
will
remain
for
longer
as
the
tile
wears
down.
The
object
The
chimney
sweep
rod
appears
to
be
made
of
cane
pieces
with
metal
screws
fixed
to
each
end
to
allow
the
brush
to
be
extended
to
different
lengths.
The
8
individual
rods
are
roughly
90cm
(3
feet)
but
are
not
exactly
the
same
length,
nor
are
they
entirely
straight.
The
rods
are
bowed,
which
may
have
been
what
they
originally
looked
like,
as
they
are
made
from
organic
material.
Or
this
could
be
an
effect
of
time
and
storage.
Some
of
the
canes
look
more
used
than
others
as
they
have
scratches
and
marks
and
the
rods
vary
in
colour,
due
to
dirt.
They
are
dirty
to
touch,
transferring
a
black
residue
onto
hands,
which
is
likely
soot.
One
of
the
rods
has
had
a
length
of
metal
wire,
2mm
in
diameter,
wrapped
around
it
and
extended
to
create
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
worn
away
over
time
and
it
has
rusted,
leaving
an
orange
residue
on
one
of
the
screws.
The
chimney
sweeping
rods
and
brush
can
be
assembled
to
reach
a
length
of
720cm
(approximately
23
feet),
which
would
allow
it
to
clean
a
chimney
in
a
2‐storey
house.
However
it
could
only
be
used
to
clean
a
relatively
straight
chimney.
The
rigid
rods
would
not
be
able
to
navigate
bends
or
angles.
This
type
of
brush
may
have
been
used
from
the
roof,
brushing
downwards
to
remove
soot.
Children
who
climbed
up
chimneys
would
be
more
likely
to
use
handheld
brushes
and
scrapers
to
remove
soot,
or
they
may
have
used
a
larger
brush
pushed
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,
wooden
rounded
cylinder,
which
has
27
holes
for
the
bristles.
Bunches
of
bristles
have
been
fixed
in
place
with
a
black
adhesive.
Where
the
black
adhesive
has
been
chipped
it
is
shiny.
One
side
of
the
bristles
has
been
significantly
damaged;
it
is
not
known
if
this
damage
was
sustained
in
use
as
a
chimney
sweep
or
in
the
time
between
use
and
accession
into
the
museum’s
collection.
The
bristles
are
very
brittle
and
some
are
loose.
The
bristles
appear
to
be
made
of
organic
material.
We
do
not
know
the
age
of
the
chimney
bush
and
rods.
The
object
is
not
dated
and
the
design
of
such
brushes
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
air
and
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
any
benefits?
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
you
feel?
Workhouses
were
seen
as
a
way
of
dealing
with
poverty.
What
systems
do
we
use
now?
What
are
the
pros
and
cons
of
each
system?
What
impact
have
developments
in
science
and
technology
had
on
peoples’
lives?
What
are
the
benefits
and
what
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
The
Waterbabies,
several
Charles
Dickens’
novels,
including
Oliver
Twist
and
Bleak
House,
William
Blake’s
poems
in
You
could
use
the
reproduction
of
the
document
in
the
classroom
to
initiate
a
dialogue
with
your
Songs
of
Innocence
and
Songs
of
Experience,
or
Mary
Poppins;
the
PL
Travers
novel
&
the
Disney
adaptation).
Write
a
film
or
book
review,
paying
particular
attention
to
the
depiction
of
workhouses
and
chimney
sweeps.
students
and
ask
them...
History/Literacy/Drama
What
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
&
How
has
communication
changed
since
the
Second
World
War?
Do
we
still
use
telegrams?
What
do
we
Technology/Science
have
now
instead?
Letters,
Telegrams,
Telephone,
Email,
Text
Messages,
IMing,
Facebook,
twitter
Investigate
your
local
area
for
signs
of
Victorian
buildings
and
chimneys.
Create
a
street
map
of
your
area
with
What
impact
does
war
have
on
communication
and
travel?
How
easy
is
it
now
to
communicate
with
Victorian
buildings
marked
on
it.
Geography/History
people
in
war
zones?
Design
a
campaign
for
ending
the
employment
of
children
as
chimney
sweeps.
Design
a
poster,
write
a
speech
What
do
letters
look
like?
Is
there
a
standard
format?
Are
there
other
examples
of
letters
that
you
and
create
a
manifesto.
Work
out
how
to
make
your
campaign
successful:
Who
would
you
contact?
How
would
people
know
about
your
campaign?
How
has
campaigning
changed
since
the
Victorian
period?
could
look
at?
Citizenship/History/ICT
How
do
we
take
care
of
those
with
greater
need
than
our
own?
Who
needs
our
support
and
care?
Think
Investigate
how
laws
are
passed.
Who
writes
laws?
What
stages
do
they
have
to
go
through?
about
modern
ways
of
raising
awareness
and
supporting
others
such
as
charity
singles,
texting
History/Citizenship
donations
etc.
Create
a
soundscape
for
a
chimney
sweep.
What
sounds
could
you
hear
(brush
sweeping,
wind
in
the
chimney,
The
letter
mentions
the
role
of
countries
in
the
British
Commonwealth.
Who
fought
in
the
war?
Which
crackle
of
fire
etc)?
Music
countries
contributed
to
the
war
effort?
What
might
their
experience
of
war
have
been
like?
About
Take
One
Inspired
by
the
National
Gallery’s
Take
One
Picture
programme,
Take
One…
aims
to
Inspire
teachers
to
use
historic
buildings,
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