Restoring fireplace.

[Oopla]

Has anyone here an experience in restoring a fireplace that's been blanked off/boarded over?
Just moved in and my kitchen is a great size but doesn't seem to work because the Original fireplace that would've housed a range is blanked off and cupboards are just sort of squeezed into the alcoves either side.
I'd love to open up the space to the original lintel (which going by a neighbours is 3/4 the way up the chimney breast and install a Cooker int he space.
Is this hard to do? Any potential pitfalls/dangers? This chimney is on a party wall which would be my main worry.

it is pretty easy to open it up, but

1. don't use the chimney as a chimney unless it has been checked
2. the lintel will probably be too low for a cooker, so you would need to raise it to above head height
3. you would need to install an over the cooker extractor fan, as cooking fumes up chimney sounds like a fire risk.

go for it! The first thing is just to rip off whatever is covering it and see what is there (don't recommend it before you cook christmas dinner though!)

Eeek to corpses!
Praying the lintel is high enough as it is. Can't really afford for it to turn into a job I'd need permissions or a builder for.

I like it when spaces work properly, thanks for your replies