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The Salisbury

Overall Rating:

3.5 flames

based on 14 reviews    (View rating breakdown)
The Salisbury

The Salisbury is a very plain and simple and suits a wide variety of interiors. The Salisbury is available in 5 models - The Salisbury 4, Salisbury 5, Salisbury 5 log store, Salisbury 6 and Salisbury 8.

Technical Data

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Review Ratings Breakdown

Build Quality 4 flames
Quality of finish 4.5 flames
Value for money 3 flames
Ease of use 4 flames
Ease of lighting 4.5 flames
Firebox size 3.5 flames
How well does the airwash work 4 flames
Controllability 4 flames
Handle operation 2.5 flames
How likely are you to buy it again? 2.5 flames
What is your overall satisfaction? 3.5 flames

Most Recent Review

  • Salisbury 5

    Kevin Horton 2 years ago

    We purchased this stove because we already own a Chesneys stove that''s around eight years old and is brilliant. Unfortunately this is not the case for Chesnys stoves now. Only fitted in 2021
    The bottom brick is now crumbling. The handle came off mid use which is secured by a grub screw. The info plate at the rear of the stove also became detached and had to be removed. I have to wonder what the stove will be like after a few years of wear. Needless to say customer service warranties didn''t seem to think it was an issue
    Overall rating:

    3 flames

Most Popular Review

  • Far better now

    Philip McDonald 9 years ago

    Following my first review of this stove, I hope the following update to our user experiences will be of help to potential purchasers. When the top baffle fire brick broke and collapsed onto
    the fire after only 6 months of use, I simply had to make contact with the supplying dealer! True to his word this exceptionally helpful dealer principal arrived and supplied and fitted a new back fire brick (the perforated one) and top baffle brick free of charge, he also fitted a front panel for the fire box, this one having no holes like the previous cast iron one and is angled which significantly increases the size of the fire box, it also stops almost all of the ash falling out of the fire like it had been doing previously. The dealer also gave us a bag of kiln dried wood because he thought that our seasoned 20 to 30% wood might be still slightly too damp and one of the reasons why the fire bricks had broken. Using the kiln dried wood the fire lit very easily but when throttled down there were still quite large deposits left on the glass door. We are now stacking our seasoned wood against the fire in the alcove, in effect force drying it further and are rotating the stack so that we are only ever burning almost ZERO % humidity wood. The overall performance is now a lot better than previously, but having said that I still strongly believe there are far better stoves on the market with more systems of fire control than this Chesney of ours!
    Overall rating:

    2 flames

More reviews for The Salisbury (page 1 of 2)

  • Almost Perfect

    John Walker 2 years ago

    Love my Salisbury 5. It''s designed so that most of the heat is drawn to the front, which is what we asked for. Unfortunately the glass isn''t quite able to handle it and before too long it
    starts to mist up in a way that can''t be cleaned. Consequently I''ve had to buy a new glass plate every 1-2 years.

    Stove expert replied: Usually glass 'misting' is due to the fuel being burnt, some smokeless fuels have a sulphur content that leaves marks on the glass when burnt.

    Overall rating:

    4 flames

  • Poor handle mechanism on a great woodburner

    Suki Fane 3 years ago

    We had one season with this great woodburner before the handle seized up and we were unable to use it at all. Chesneys advised us on what to do BUT it was impossible as the handle grub screw
    had fused into the body and the whole attachment had to be cut out of the bodywork, fixed, and welded back in, a piece put over the hole, and repainted. It is now working wonderfully again thanks to our woodburner fitter. No thanks to Chesneys who simply say that since it is out of warranty they won't pay the £114 for all the hard work to put it right. Beware a badly constructed handle mechanism.

    Stove expert replied: Try graphite powder / spray on movable parts to prevent future seizing, especially important when the fire is not in operation during the summer months.

    Overall rating:

    3.5 flames

  • Love it!

    Helen Thompson 4 years ago

    We have had our Chesney Salisbury 5 for just over 2 years now, and I loved it when we first got it and I still love it. It is so easy to light and control and it looks great. What is not to
    love? Like many people on this review site, we agonised a bit over which stove to get; reviews were never 100% positive. The salesman in our local shop was very enthusiastic about the Chesney, which perversely put us off. We scoured the reviews, toured the county woodburning stoves stockists, finally went back to our local shop and decided on some other stove that I can't recall. The salesman again took us up the shop to take a final look at the Chesney, which he had fired up in the shop, and we were sold: we were just ready at that point to see what a great stove it was. We've certainly not regretted the decision. I do tend to light it when it's not that cold just because I can and because I love that orange glow.
    Overall rating:

    5 flames

  • Salisbury 5

    Frank Pogorzelec 5 years ago

    Have had my stove for 2 seasons now but have increasing "expansion" noise problems which is there all the time,no matter the temperature.Had it serviced 2 months ago,engineer said nothing wrong
    !!! The noise lessens substantially when the door is open.Any help would be very much appreciated.

    Stove expert replied: Expansion noise is not common but nevertheless annoying. Are you certain that it is the stove that is the cause and not the flue system? Have you made the supplier aware? Ratings reflect this issue.

    Overall rating:

    3 flames

  • Very Pleased

    Dan Hailes 5 years ago

    Fitted 2 weeks ago and used every evening since. Really pleased we chose the Salisbury 5 over what is a massive choice of 5kw stoves on the market. Was drawn to the Salisbury by its looks and
    clean lines, but dismissed it because it isn't British made, it's actually made in Bulgaria. I found this out by contacting Chesney's direct. Initially we were convinced we should buy a British made stove but after visiting many showrooms and doing a lot of internet research we came back to the Salisbury 5. Why, because it just looks so right. It is very sturdily built and is incredibly heavy! The handle is a work of art and the one simple air flow control makes using the stove a doddle. A couple of tiny gripes. The glass door does need a clean after each burn, not a lot, just a wipe with damp kitchen paper dipped in ash. For some reason the top right hand side of the glass always gets a bit sooty. We have only burnt kiln dried ash and birch so it's not to do with moisture content. Also after a full evening session when opening the door ash tends to accumulate on the door stove rope and falls onto the hearth. Not a biggy at all really. Other than these two niggles the Salisbury 5 is superb. Highly recommended.

    Stove expert replied: A good solid stove that is well rated.

    Overall rating:

    4.5 flames

  • Looks Great but it Doeesn''t Work without filling the house with fumes

    SIMON GREEN 6 years ago

    Had this stove fitted in August but on refueling the smoke spills out of the fire and fills the house. Have changed to kiln dried wood, changed cowl and increased the height of the flue with
    no improvement. Now too worried to use the stove because of the fumes. Installer is perplexed and Chesney say there is no problem with the stove. Anybody else suffering the same issue???

    Stove expert replied: Have you an airbrick or room ventilator fitted? Does the flue draw match the requirements of the manufacturer? Is there another chimney in the property? This is likely to be a installation / flue problem so would recommend further investigation. Make sure that you have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted. There is usually a reason why the flue gases are not lifting away from the firebox, not enough air in the room, not enough draw in the flue. Another chimney in the property is stronger that the one being used which is giving a negative pressure preventing the gases from rising quickly when the door is open. If nothing is found to be at fault, a flue fan may be the best way forward, there are several options on the market.

    Overall rating:

    2 flames

  • Regrets

    Tony Hickling 7 years ago

    Having bought a number of log burners the Salisbury is proving one of my regrettable buys. Problems with the damper , it seems to expand when hot and gets jerky, the removal of ashes and having
    to clean the glass which from time to time soots up doesn't help. There are much better stoves out there and I am afraid the next stove I buy won't be a Chesney.

    Stove expert replied: Do check that the wood being burnt has a moisture content of less than 20% and keep the air controls open so that the glass can stay clean. Perhaps the damper arm / hole location gets too tight when hot and a slight modification could improve this operation, further investigation is recommended. All stoves will require ash removal - you do not say what the actual problem is with this on the Salisbury stove!

    Overall rating:

    3 flames

  • Great purchase

    7 years ago

    I did my research as well and in the end you just need to make your decision, glad I went for the Salisbury. I don't understand the few negative comments here, maybe to do with your installation
    ? The firebox was a slight concern but I went for the nice shape and big clear window. This stove is efficient, gives plenty of heat and lights very easy. I recommend this stove a lot, not the cheapest one but worth every penny!!
    Overall rating:

    4.5 flames

  • Really happy with our Salisbury

    7 years ago

    I'm a chronic worrier about big purchases, so you can imagine the sleepless nights I've had choosing a stove for our new house, especially since it's something my wife and I have been hankering
    after for years. We don't have money to spare (much less burn) so I was anxious not to get this wrong. The more I researched, the further I seemed to get away from consensus. Websites like this one are excellent, but so many of the reviews seem to be more about bad experiences with drafts, flues and timber than with the actual stoves themselves. Eventually, it was conversations with our stove installer and some excellent local salesmen that led me to the Chesney Salisbury. We have a well insulated though quite large room, and didn't need a large stove. We were advised to get a 5KW, but settled on a 4.6 (the model is the Salisbury 4) as it strikes me as a bit daft to get something so hot that we''d be opening windows and peeling off layers of clothing once it got going -and there's a saving of a couple of hundred quid over the 5. I note that the Chesney range includes quite a variety of sizes and outputs, so I guess you'd be covered for any type of room anyway. Price wise, it's about mid market. Not as cheap as some we've seen, but certainly not overpriced. What it is, though, is a really solid bit of construction and design. Everything is robust and the handle and lever are beautifully smooth to operate. Our house is 1930s and we didn't want to get something that looked as if it came out of a Charles Dickens drama (which ruled out Clearview, which was the other make we'd been recommended), neither did we want some achingly cool piece of Scandi designer kit. Chesney's designers have a really lovely sense of economy and proportion. This is a clean and elegant looking stove, that fits equally well in a period or modern home. At risk of sounding obvious, it looks like a stove, properly so, without being faffy or overly ornate. Since we bought it, I keep seeing Chesneys in interiors magazines, so perhaps we're accidentally on trend. Back to my anxieties. I worried about installation, but this proved a very easy fit. I worried about how easy it would be to light, but it's sooo simple: If the flue's cold, we chuck in a few balls of newspaper first to warm it up, to stop downdraft. Lob in a single firelighter with a few sticks of kindling, let them get to a good flame, then pop a log on and you''re away. There is only one lever to operate. Out for a fast burn or to get started, halfway in to drop the flame down once it's under way, all the way in to let it die down. That's it. You'll be up to optimum temperature within the hour. The glass cleans itself. We've been burning logs most evenings for a couple of weeks now and haven't yet needed to clean out the ash. You just leave a bed of it in the bottom for the next time you light up. the level seems to stay constant. We've been getting through 3 to 4 logs an evening. The first couple of burns are a bit wiffy, as the paint cures or dries or whatever it does, but that's quickly gone. No clouds of smoke, no nasty smells, no irritating hissing noises. Beautiful flame patterns. Love this stove. Love it. As first timers, we could have got it so wrong, but we really seem to have lucked out. They even threw in, and this is important, a gorgeous pair of black suede Chesney branded fire resistant gauntlets as a bonus. I enjoy wearing them possibly a bit too much. They make me feel like a domestic Darth Vader.

    Stove expert replied: Pleased to hear your are happy with the stove and the quality, design and operation are what is said on the literature. Now enjoy and relax!

    Overall rating:

    5 flames

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