Fireplace Chimney
 Chimney Sweep - Chimney Repair
Napa Valley, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA

A chimney sweep

is a person who cleans chimneys for a living. They are also referred to as chimney service technicians. The occupation of chimney sweep is considered to be one of the oldest in the world, as chimneys have been around since ancient times. Though only in the last two hundred years has the chimney grown large enough to hold a man, giving rise to the image of the chimney sweep as it developed in the time of the Industrial Revolution. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Western Europe, construction of rooflines with crow-stepped gables became common to allow chimney sweeps convenient access to the chimney top. With the increased urban population, the number of houses with chimneys grew in pace and the profession of chimney sweep became much respected and sought-after, though sometimes derided in verse, ballad and pantomime.

The invention of a special brush with a collapsible handle and other more subtle innovations allowed a sweep to reach right up the chimney without the need to enter it. In the mid twentieth century, the invention of a vacuum suction device that could be attached over the fireplace made the process cleaner than ever.

With the rise of central heating systems and the decline in the use of chimneys, the sweep profession became less prevalent, though the service continues in most communities on a small scale.

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