By the seventeenth century most houses had chimneys to carry away the smoke from fires. Chimney flues required regular cleaning or they would clog up with soot and even catch fire.

Farmhouses and cottages generally had wide chimneys for burning wood, and these were easy to clean. One method was to pull a bundle of twigs or holly attached to a rope through the flue. But the town houses built in Bristol after 1700 had narrow brick flues to draw the smoke from coal fires. They often took long and complicated routes through the house before gathering in chimney stacks on the roof. Chimney pots designed to prevent down draughts of smoke became common after c1760.

Chimney sweeping was an important trade in the city. Sweeps used small children as young as four years to clear the soot from long narrow flues. Some children died of suffocation or burns. It was not until 1875 that the practice was finally outlawed. The alternative was to use 'machines' consisting of a brush connected to flexible sticks. Sweeps have long been associated with good fortune. The presence of one at a wedding is still believed to bring the couple good luck.