Beaufort Fire Dogs

‘A pair of lowe latten andirons with rounded heads and large knoppes on the top’. This entry is from an inventory of the garden chamber at Ingastone Hall, Essex, taken in 1600. Sir William Petre (c.1500–1572), who was secretary to four Tudor monarchs, built Ingastone Hall. Hand-forged andirons, like the Beaufort examples, were made in the foundries of the Sussex weald.