The Celtic-Mexican Derwyn clay chiminea

A curved Mexican body whose proportions have been perfected over centuries of real-life daily use. A quiet contemporary colour scheme to complement every outdoor setting. Plus a complex 3d raised design of a tree of life created from intertwined Celtic knots. That’s what we call an exciting combination, all brought together into one rather awesome patio fire. Let’s dive deep into the Derwyn clay chiminea.

First, the look. The shape is pleasing to the eye because the proportions are ideal visually, something the human brain manages to pick up on even when we’re not aware of it and never consciously think about shapes. The sandy coloured surface is lovely and worn-looking, a patina you’d have to wait years to develop otherwise, and the warm grey of the raised design looks gorgeous against it.

The tree image is quite something, a textured pattern that is startlingly complicated, mastered by the ancient Celts who lived in Britain around the beginning of the second century. There are hundreds of Irish Celtic symbols found across the world, proving the Celts didn’t just say home and twiddle their thumbs. They voyaged far and wide, bringing their wonderful art with them wherever they went.

Next, the performance. For a start, not all chimineas are equal. Because Mexicans spent so many centuries tinkering with the design, a genuine Mexican clay chiminea offers exceptional performance and fuel efficiency. All you need is a small fire to heat the big clay body up in no time so it chucks out heat 360 degrees like a bulbous radiator. A larger fire is never a good idea, there’s just no need and it could leave you with heat stress cracks. Over time the colour will change, but you can easily repaint it if you like. Otherwise just leave a distressed natural finish to develop further. It won’t affect the performance.

Burning hot and clean, there’s barely an ash left behind. Nor any smoke to speak of thanks to the chimney which is, as you’d expect, exactly the right height for the body, making the whole thing a total of 125cm tall. The diameter is 50cm.

The pack comes with a steel three legged stand to keep her sturdily upright even when the ground isn’t completely flat. A rain lid keeps it dry inside, and all you need to do in winter is cover it with a fitted insulated cover, which we sell here.

Chiminea cooking is such fun. You’ll be delighted how many different kinds of food you can cook outdoors on this deceivingly simple piece of garden entertainment kit. Cook an entire chook, grill to your heart’s content, add a casserole dish or food smoker to the chimney, get creative with skewers, bake fish to perfection, it’s all possible on and inside this chiminea. For a start, imagine the wonderful Mexican food you can cook on yours!

The Derwyn is just one of our Mexican chiminea designs. Take a look around, see which design takes your fancy. Then go love your garden life more!