Recent Articles

Did you know that copper is antimicrobial?This means you don’t need to be using any harsh chemical cleaners on your Simplex Kettle or any other copper ware you may have in your kitchen!If you own one of our copper kettles you don’t need to change the way in which you clean your kettle to keep…

Popular in households all over Britain, Willow pattern china seems to have been with us forever. Its distinctive and elaborate chinoiserie pattern was developed by ceramic artists based in Stoke on Trent towards the end of the 18th century. The design was a combination and adaptation of existing hand painted blue and white china imported from China.  Willow pattern…

It was during the early part of the 17th Century that explorers and merchants from Portugal and Holland ventured to the Far East, bringing back with them all kinds of Oriental novelties, amongst them tea leaves. When Charles II of England (1630 – 1685) married the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza tea drinking was brought to…

Kettles as we know them today evolved alongside tea drinking. Tea came to Britain in the second half of the 17th century but due to the expense of shipping it from China it was a luxury only afforded by the rich. The cost of tea steadily declined during the 18th & 19th centuries after the…

Kettles have been with us for thousands of years. The kettle as we know it hsa evolved over time from the basic open pans that were used over open fires to heat water, to the elegant lidded and spouted versions that grace our kitchens today.  The kettle is now the most popular kitchen appliance.  In…

Founded by Frederick Bloomer and Charles Herbert Newey in 1850. The pair began by manufacturing an assortment of barbershop fittings, bar tops and bed warming pans. Using their expertise in copper, Frederick and Charles produced their very first kettle in 1903. They called it the Simplex Kettle. This kettle was a significant improvement, the whistle…