Hearths continued.
So if you’re having a real fire, then you need something tough. Having said that, ‘tough’ doesn’t need to mean unattractive! Old flagstones look lovely when contrasted against a stone fireplace, and red clay quarry tiles, when treated with a coat of linseed oil, look fantastic!
However, if you’re not going the real fire route in your stone fireplaces, then you have a few more options. If you’re just having a gas-log or gas-coal effect fire, then the heat considerations are nowhere near as high, and of course you do not have to deal with logs ash, and coal buckets. You can therefore choose almost any material for your hearth. There is of course still the chance that your dinner guests will stand with their elbow on your mantle and their shoe on your hearth, so whatever happens you don’t need anything too delicate or anything that marks too easily!
Stone fireplaces look best when the material used is a: a natural product (clay, stone etc.) and b: is in a contrasting colour or material to the stone fireplace itself. The 60s and 70s fashion of having the hearth, fireplace and even slips of stone inside the fire recess, results in a very bland look, and certainly not at all like the original ancient examples on which our fireplaces are modelled.
The same advice actually applies to the lining of your fire recess. In most cases you’ll probably already have the original brick built interior to your chimney, and that is the best, time-proven material. But if you’re building from new, then you should still use the same method: Build it in reclaimed red bricks. It always looks best!