Raising granite fireplace lintle

[A mac]

Hi,

Would like to raise a Granite lintle which is the full width of my Kitchen fireplace so that I can fit the cooker properly.The wall above is stone and you'll see in the photo to large stones above the lintel on each corner of the chimney stack. Have a look at the attached photo and see what you think. Do you think it is best to leave it or can these big stones be safely removed

Cheers

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

The real problem are the two side "pillars" that the lintel is resting on. As the fireplace was built the pillars went in, the lintel went in and all the blockwork was done using lime mortar. Over the last two hundred years the mortar has degraded causing the blocks to settle. This always leads to the problem that the whole chimney breast is sitting on the lintel which is sitting on the pillars with the stone either side of the pillars not taking any weight and potentially loose. I have often seen the pillars cracked or broken because they could not take the weight, and the building settling back down on the blocks either side of the pillars. This is evidenced by all the rough old (but modern) pointing filling in the gap between the pillars and the blockwork where the blocks have just drifted away from the pillars.
The existing arrangement is rubbish and can only be used a a cupboard, but its a major job to move the lintel and remove the pillars and more or less rebuild the chimney breast from the ground up to , say 6' where the old lintel should be situated.
For some reasons the builders here in Wensleydale use a modern reinforced lintel on the inside of the blockwork with the old limestone one in front of it just for show.
Frank

 

[A mac]

Thanks for the reply Frank
As I feared then, guess I could try to support internally but it's the size of the stones at each corner of the lintel that concerns me.
As you say it could be a big job!!