Lyme kettles

A letter in Country Life introduces a quite unique example of an early kettle - the Lyme Kettle from Lyme Regis.

Lyme kettles
Photos published in Country Life, 1957, supplied by M Littledale.

The following letter appeared in the 20 June 1957 edition of Country Life. You can read a reply here.

EARLY KETTLES

Sir, - I send you two pictures of kettles of, I imagine, early Victorian date; both are of copper, both well made by hand, and both have been well used over a long time.

The big and handsome one has a capacity of 18 pints, and there is still the slot for a hinge for the lid over the spout that one no longer sees nowadays on any kettle.

The smaller kettle is a type that I have only seen in Lyme Regis, Dorset, where it is known as a Lyme kettle. It is extremely practical and boils faster than any other type I have come across, as well as being of rather a charming shape.

I wonder what the original kettle looked like. Lindsay in his 'Iron and Brass Implements of the English House' illustrates two curious designs as early kettles: one is D-shaped in section, to stand on a "footman" close up in front of a fire, with the handle on the side towards you; the other was originally made with the handle set the opposite of the normal way we to which we are accustomed, that is, not in line with the spout. It must have proved awkward to pour from, so a hand-loop was made of iron and fixed on top of it. This kettle also has a small hinged lid set opposite the spout, instead of the usual large opening on the top.

Looking at old prints of kitchen interiors, I have been struck by the absence of our commonest kitchen necessity - the kettle for providing small quantities of boiling water quickly. There is always shown a pot or cauldron over the fire, and I imagine this must have been the hot water supply.

The Oxford Dictionary quotes Andrew in 1527: "a copper kettyll with a copper pipe" - which sounds like our idea of the article; but in 1755 Johnson has, "In the kitchen the name of pot is given to the boiler that grows narrower towards the top, and of kettle to that which grows wider." This forms no picture of the object in my mind, I am afraid. I wonder if any reader owns a really early kettle.

M LITTLEDALE, 1 The Cross Roads, Southbourne, Bournemouth.

It is interesting to see design elements of the Lyme kettle imitated in various modern kettle designs. Here are a couple of examples.

Ascot Kettle

ASCOT K1 1.5L stainless steel electric kettle

Buy one now

Tower Pyramid Kettle

Tower Pyramid Kettle T10074GRY Ash

Buy one now

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