Exposing a fireplace

[Kevdiy123]

Hi
We own a 1850s (may be earlier) stone house and have begun exploring whether we can expose the fireplace in the living room.
We have located the height at which the original (very large) stones are. Below that is loose (by just touch) smaller stone. However, on the sides of the current fireplace appears to be red brick rather than the large original stones used for the rest of the house. Are these red bricks just to build out the chimney? or will the original stone have been removed and replaced with red brick perhaps to reinforce the chimney breast? We don't want to expose the while fireplace to discover it can't be restored due to the use of red brick.
Some pictures included along with an exposed chimney breast we had done in the kitchen 3 years ago.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Wayners]

Remove a few red bricks and investigate

 

[blup]

The red bricks may have been used in construction or to block up the fireplace. You will need to chop out the plaster to be sure.