When I was younger we lived in a 100 yr old Victorian house, 13ft ceiling 12″ skirting board etc,
Each of the down stairs rooms had an open fire, the chimney then went through the room above, and the room above that in the attic.
We had a coal cellar, my job after school was to clean the grate, chop the wood and get the coal to light the fire, we had a fire guard for the occasional spitting from the fire,
It was an ingenious way of heating the house, one fire heated 3 rooms.
I still love fires, I’d have one in a heartbeat if I could.