Hearth Replacement

[120Vic]

Hi,
Very much a novice so apologies if I'm asking straight forward questions here.

I recently purchased a Victorian Terrace and removed carpets from the living room. The old hearth was damaged so have removed it, now just have amount of earth where it sat. Looking to either buy a replacement hearth, or ideally to tile the area.

Will I need to dig out all the earth, and lay a concrete base before laying the new hearth or tiles? Or is there any other options?

Cheers,

 

[blup]

The hearth is constructional and will go under the fire opening, so either patch it up and risk damp coming through, or dig it all out and damp proof it under and around the sides and re concrete, there are rules around this to ensure fire safety. Obviously its just been refurbished though by you or the seller. But if there is clear damp that could already have affected the floor joists, it may be you can check further without being too invasive.