Range Cooker spotlight: ESSE

When choosing a British made iron cooker there are plenty of options to choose from but one of the more popular brands in the UK is ESSE. A forward-thinking yet historic brand, we proudly display ESSE products and often invite their team to perform cooker demonstrations for our hungry customers! But how did it all begin for ESSE? The Story of ESSE ESSE has been a proud manufacturer of heating and cooking appliances since 1854, making them the UK’s longest serving stove manufacturer. Famed for their longevity, ESSE’s high-quality products are a result of the secret knowledge and insights handed down from engineer to engineer over the years. Founded by a young Scottish man named James Smith, ESSE has served the public with reliable, user-friendly cookers for more than 150 years. Smith was just a teenager when he left Scotland to travel the United States. Whilst visiting Jackson, Mississippi, Smith set eyes upon an early prototype of cooking ranges and stoves and was instantly impressed. Not only were these stoves able to combine cooking and heating, but they were far more efficient and clean when compared with the open fire cooking he had known back home. Returning to Scotland full of ideas, Smith began manufacturing his own range ovens at a foundry in Bonnybridge, Scotland. Teaming up with new business partners George Ure and Stephen Wellstood, they created the ‘Columbian Stove Works’ and chose ‘ESSE’ as the brand name – chosen simply because it ‘Sounded French’. During its time, ESSE has provided cookers to some of the most famous people in history. Scott and Shackleton taking ESSE stoves on their artic expeditions and Florence Nightingale requesting one for her hospital in Balaclava, Ukraine. Today ESSE leads the way in efficient performance and quality design. Every product is thoroughly tested before it ships out and many of ESSE’s products are exempt from DEFRA rules of smoke control due to their build quality. ESSE has drawn from its rich heritage to not only build range cookers, but also cutting-edge wood burning stoves and modern gas fires. To find out more out more about our wide selection of range cookers, call us on 01903 885566 or visit us in store at Meridian House, Ford Road, Ford, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0BH.