Damp patch inboard of an outside chimney, with no obvious cause or broken thing to fix.
Late-Victorian three storey, with an external brick chimney for the old kitchen range.
Inside has been damp for some years, to the point of peeling paper and the plaster starting to fail. As there's nothing visible outside, and I plan to insulate inside anyway, I've now started hacking the plaster off inside. I hope to find an obvious damp spot, otherwise to tunnel out onto the roof from the insides (at least with an endoscope). Pulling the plaster showed at least three vintages of plaster on there, so I think it's an old problem with some partial repairs done in the past.
Now I've found this
Why would my kitchen range chimney have "flue holes" in it two floors above? Was this common? Some temporary construction measure?
Any thoughts on de-dampening would be welcome!