Most of us have a natural gas fuelled boiler in our homes. This provides us with heat and hot water in a most convenient way. However, what did we do before we had a boiler? How did we take a bath or shower and what did we do to heat our homes? We still have to look after our boilers and Gloucester Boilers are well catered for by following the link there.
In the past we had to rely on open fires and large ranges to heat the home. Water was collected from a well or standpipe and boiled on the large Victorian Kitchen range. This was a large wrought iron oven that worked as a range as well. It was usually powered by coal and wood.
Houses were generally smaller with a living room and a dining room/stroke kitchen. There would have been only one or two bedrooms that were shared by the whole family. There was a central fireplace and the kitchen range, which was generally always kept going. Some houses were able to integrate a second fireplace upstairs within the chimney. If you wanted a bath you either used the local stream or you had a tin bath. This was also communal. In short people did not smell good in the past.