Hard to say, Could do with seeing more of the fireplace and surround but the tiles could certainly be 1880's, I went to a college built in the 1880 and there were some tiles not dissimilar.

Looks promising. 🙂

I’m no expert but my initial thought is yes, the surround may be later than 1880s although I have seen Victorian ones with similar curves.

But agree, we need to see the entire thing.

It’s a bit like Catchphrase where you only see a bit of a picture! 😊

Better pic?

House is in NW England

Could be original fireplace with a newer surround.

In my first house, a Victorian mid-terrace, I removed the fireplace in the bedroom and rebuilt it using the salvaged components in the sitting room. Also, stripping the paint off revealed marble. So for the cost of the labour (best left to specialists, this stuff is heavy) you get an original feature fireplace and a fraught-free bedroom. Just remember to include a opening vent in any closed-off or bricked-up fireplace.

Draught-free not fraught-free!

Only change it if you don't like it. Even updates are part of the history of the property.

Have you pulled back the carpet? If there is a matching tiled hearth that is at the same level as the floorboards (rather than raised) then it’s likely that the tiles are original.

Regarding the wooden surround, our house which is about 1905 has surrounds which we believe are original and which have some similarities (such as the odd little built in shelves).

One final thought is that the opening looks a little small for an original living room fireplace, though it does depend on the size of the room and it’s hard to tell from a photo.

Sorry, lots of thoughts but probably not that helpful!

No it’s really helpful! I’ll be honest the fireplace is not my cup of tea style wise at all. But as this house was last decorated mid 60s/70s - it’s chock full of Artex, polystyrene ceiling tiles, veneer wall panelling, cement tiled floors etc and I’m desperate to try and retain as much of the original features as possible, so i was feeling really bad about the prospect of getting rid of it - so thank you for the suggestion that updates are part of the property’s history so change can be a good thing. I would try and get a salvaged fireplace from the same era though.

I will have a look at the tiles underneath the carpet too to see if there are any further clues and see if I can repurpose anything elsewhere.

Had a look underneath- looks like it’s a piece of slate

It’s certainly an older fireplace and if you’re keeping the others in the house then I’d keep this too. Houses evolve and this will add to its authenticity. I guess I’m biased as I love it. I’m imagining taking inspiration from the tile colour and using to to inspire colours in the citing room - maybe a tonal red sofa in whatever style of furniture you prefer?

Siting room!

Sitting room!

I've got one more or less identical in my house - it's 1929.

Could you check with any neighbours to see if they have the same

If there’s one you like more elsewhere in your house, could you swap it over?

It looks like an arts and crafts one, here’s a similar one

https://www.oldfireplaces.co.uk/product/arts-crafts-pine-fireplace-surround-1077ws/

Thanks for all the replies! I’ve had a look at others in the street via estate agent photos and most have theirs removed :( or look nothing like it.

I’ve only one I’ve yet to uncover is in the dining room as it’s behind a massive 1970s heavy marble surround that has a number of serious cracks in the chimney breast so reluctant to move it at the mo. However the upstairs ones are like this:

You are so lucky that the are still there!
A Victorian terrace we had 35 years ago all the bedroom fireplaces had been replaced with horrendous modern tiled ones with electric griddled wire type fires - from the war I think.

Our current house had had them all removed and bricked up. The living room and dining room were wood with gas fires.