There is an enormous variety of window designs. Certainly there are broad styles associated with historical periods, Tudor, Georgian, Victorian and so on, but within this there is endless variation. Joiners did their own thing. The 19th century saw a considerable move towards mass production and so rows of terraced houses are to be found with identical windows but individually built houses had individually designed windows and each joiner, while following the fashion of the day, put his own mark on his work. With modern factory production by a handful of big firms, the beginning of the 21st century sees a greater uniformity of design than ever. Even the smaller firms and individual joiners seem mostly to copy the same styles and details of design and construction. It takes an independent-minded architect with a brief for an individual design to specify something that looks as though it was not taken off the shelf. The casual window shopper is faced with a choice between painted softwood and stained hardwood, almost invariably a tropical hardwood stained to a reddish brown. There are casements, hinged at the side or top and there are vertically sliding sashes. One gets to choose between small lights ('Georgian') or large panes ('picture window'). And that's about it, apart from the bewildering array of security features. But it doesn't have to be like that. Windows can be individually made to individual designs. That way the choice is, quite literally, infinite.
Here follow some examples of windows found lying around, quietly minding their own business, but each making their own small contributions to life's rich tapestry. Most of the pictures can be enlarged by clicking upon.
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This fixed window with wooden frame and narrow glazing bars seems to be a sampler for etched glass. Eighteen lights each have a different pattern, framed by twenty-two lights (maybe that should be darks) of almost black stained glass. The window is probably Victorian though the house may be a century older. Similar acid etched patterned glass is still available. Here's a start. Kirkby Stephen |
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Six over six top hung double vertical sliding box sash in chrome green with matching ivy trimmed but encroaching. Dark green and other colours became popular through the 19th century. The glazing bars are less visible than the white paint typical of the 18th and late 20th centuries. Kirkby Stephen |
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Fixed window divided asymmetrically by stone transom into upper sixteen pane and lower forty pane light of square leaded stained glass. Suggested date: 1887. Kirkby Stephen |
Top hung double vertical sliding box sash with unequal sized and unequally divides sashes. The top sash is divided into twelve small square panes while the larger, lower sash has just one vertical glazing bar. In earlier windows the more expensive large sheets of glass were often used in the lower half of a window while cheaper small panes were restricted to the upper part where the view was less important. This led to a design aesthetic that was adopted in this late 19th century house, whose other detailing suggest that cost was not a significant determinant, but rather referenced an earlier local practice as well as influence from the Arts and Crafts Movement. The lively reflections of the cylinder glass are further complicated by secondary double glazing. |
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Nothing asymmetric about this Georgian house with its eight
over eight top hung double vertical sliding box sashes. Kirkby Stephen |
| Cylinder glass, neat paint, a red rose. Vernacular
elegance. Kirkby Stephen |
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The tripartite division of these sashes with stout glazing
bars reflects the solidity of the Permian Brockram, a coarse red sandstone
used in the Eden Valley, southeast of Penrith. Kirkby Stephen |
| This is a steel window with one hinged light at top left, .
Perhaps early 20th century, it sits below a much older timber lintel that
has outlasted the cement render it was once covered with. In need of a
glazier. Kirkby Stephen |
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Uniformity. Well, not quite. Each of these ten windows
is a slightly different size, individually made to fit the hole that the
mason created. Kirkby Stephen |
| This house has a perfect balance of pane size with eight
over eight sashes upstairs and fractionally larger six over six and four
over fours in the bay windows below. Sorry, but the sign says 'No
Vacancies'. Kirkby Stephen |
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The dark green frames of these Victorian windows make the cream sashes appear particularly delicate. The openings are of uneven size, requiring made-to-measure windows. Neat pointing and when the Wisteria is flowering the picture will be complete. Kirkby Stephen |
| An unusual pattern of glazing bars, an unusual paint scheme and, unusually, a bay window that does not stick out. |
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The lower window is divided by a large wooden mullion that
houses the sash weights. It is slightly taller than the upstairs
windows, so dividing the lights with a horizontal glazing bar may have been
a cheaper option than using taller panes. The black and white colour
scheme is striking, perhaps appropriate for a hotel that wants to be
noticed. Kirkby Stephen |
| The top row of windows are fake, perhaps bricked up in
window tax times, but now painted black with white painted bars.
Picture windows. Kirkby Stephen |
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Nothing subtle about the modern paint on this pair of 18th
century pub windows. The bowed shape does not lend itself to easy
opening - so it doesn't. Kirkby Stephen |
| A most peculiar arrangement. The date over the door
reads 1663 but if the building dates from that time there has been extensive
rebuilding of the facade and its windows. Kirkby Stephen |
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By varying the height of the glass panes windows of
different heights can be accommodated whilst maintaining the six over six
pattern Kirkby Stephen |
| Herring bone pattern leaded light in oak frame Dove Cottage, Ambleside. |
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Same house, round the back, indoor and outdoor views. Before 1799 it had been a pub. The iron grid, with a single pane hinged casement, have have encouraged would-be drinkers to enter by the front door during opening hours only. |
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An oak framed window, these steel casements support leaded
lights. It was a common form from medieval times, then with wrought
iron rather than steel, but was superseded by sliding sashes in the 18th
century. The late 19th century saw something of a revival of the metal
casement. Nailsworth |
| This 17th century window has an external sprung casement
stay. Nailsworth |
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Another 17th century window but in this timber framed house
the iron casements and fixed lights are set in a heavy mullioned oak frame. Gloucester |
| An earlier window divided by a stone mullion, the opening
casement forms just part of the leaded light. Gloucester |
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| Paint is not always what it's
cracked up to be. Actually, unpainted timber can be better than using a
modern alkyd resin based paint with low vapour permeability that traps
moisture within the wood and so promotes rot. Real linseed oil paint
is best for external joinery. Nailsworth |
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Alford Manor House with its windows (and just about everything else)
newly repaired in 2006. The timber framed and brick skinned building
is dated from 1611 but the windows may be a couple of centuries younger.
Joint patterns in the gable brickwork suggest radical alteration of the
window openings in the distant past. Alford |
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Contrasting paint schemes, white and invisible green, The
glazing bars become less obvious when a dark coloured paint is used. Louth |
| This 'Yorkshire sash' as such horizontal sliding windows are called, is in Lincoln. More commonly of two sashes, this one has three parts, a central sliding sash and fixed sashes to either side. There is no stone sill under this window and the timber sill, which is slightly wider than the rest of the frame, is set flush with the wall. |
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This may look at first glance to be a horizontal slider with unequal sashes but actually the three panes to the right of the picture form a very narrow side hung casement. The glazing bars are fairly thick and have been carelessly painted, the white paint spilling on to the glass, but the paint is peeling to reveal an earlier dark colour that would have looked less obtrusive. |
| Side by side or up and down, a pair of contrasting windows in the same wall, and yet there is a congruity of design, probably from the same joiner. |
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The window was probably installed in 1822, though this set of almshouses date from 1612. Note the casement stay, halfway up so it acts as a fastener when the window is closed. |
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A 17th century building with six
windows with original lead glazing. Each window is of three lights with
arched central light. Below the arch are two side hinged casements of
3x5 panes. Most of the fittings are original. In the arched head of one
central light, the date l676 is worked in lead. Suffolk IoE 277699 Photo: David Penrose |
| This early 19th century house has 'Gothic' windows with
leaded lights set in timber frames. Suffolk IoE 277785 Photo: David Penrose |
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These windows are of mid 17th century age, timber framed
windows in a timber framed house. Two of the leaded lights below the
transom are side hinged casements. The small window half off to the
left of the picture has lost its paint and shows the bare oak, still sound
after 350 years. Suffolk IoE 276609 Photo: David Penrose |
| This tripartite timber window with mullions and transom and
square leaded lights had a side hinged casement in the lower centre.
It has been replaced by a single pane light but, fortunately, the external
sash stay has been retained. This is the curved piece piece of metal,
divided into two strips, one of which acts as a spring, securing the sash as
it is opened. Reflections typical of crown glass can be seen in the upper
panes. Suffolk Photo: David Penrose |
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16 over 8 is an unusual distribution of panes in a top hung
box sash where the upper sash is half the height of the lower. Suffolk Photo: David Penrose |
| This house was built in 1692 though it
does not necessarily follow that the window is original. The cast iron
balcony is 20th century. With its pointed upper panes and what the
listing describes as a 'delicate curried enriched
cornice', the window is particularly decorative. Suffolk IoE 276089 Photo: David Penrose |
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This is from the same house as the window above. Notice the 'flush' position. The window frame is not set deep into the wall but is about level with the wall surface. This is typical of older designs. |
The Netherlands is the most likely place of origin of the top hung sliding sash window, so a trip across the water seems appropriate. Small and subtle differences between the design of British and Dutch windows produce significant contrasts in townscapes. The technology and economics of glass making has resulted in a similar progression from small to larger panes but Dutch windows often feature a three-way division unusual in British design. With top hung sashes the upper sash often occupies the top third of the window leaving a larger sash for the lower two thirds. Once the size of sheet glass allowed the lower sash was often divided vertically into two lights with the upper third of the window either retaining the earlier multi-pane pattern or having other arrangements of one or more larger panes, but within a horizontal oblong sash. British window design tends to emphasise the the vertical, 'portrait' orientation of oblongs, whilst Dutch design balances the portrait with the landscape. (Traditional Japanese architecture is so distinctively other because of the preponderance of horizontal elements both in timber framing and window orientation.)
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This building in the central square in Delft, dated 1765, is
a picture of elegant simplicity. Small panes give a 20 over 20 pattern
in the ground floor. The dark paint of the fine glazing bars makes them
almost invisible were it not for the pale blinds. Delft |
| This stunning pair of windows show the Dutch flair for great
design and perfection in execution. Delft |
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A single pane may have replaced the lower portion of this
window but the upper light has a wonderful piece of stained glass work,
involving over 200 tiny rectangular pieces of coloured glass. Delft |
| The spectacular reflections created by 17th century crown
glass are well seen in this large window with heavy stone mullion and
transom in the Town Hall. Delft |
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This building is dated 1548 and the windows may well be original. They pre-date the introduction of the the top hung sash. Mullion and transom are of massive timber, the upper lights, divided by substantial wooden glazing bars, are fixed. The lower sashes are casements that hinge inwards, in the French style, allowing external shutters. The upper, fixed, sashes have internal wooden shutters hinged at the top and opened with a pole. |
| Still from the film Girl with a Pearl Earring. The picture shows a reconstruction of Vermeer's house in 1663. The top hinged shutter that covers the upper fixed sashes is seen top right. the lower side hinged casements are protected by external shutters. |
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The main feature of French windows is that they are put on backwards. Casements hinge inwards. This has the singular advantage of allowing shutters but it plays havoc with one's ornaments.
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These tall casements are set at the inside edge of the wall
and hinge inwards, allowing room for the pot plants behind the shutters.
All the timber, probably oak or chestnut, has been left unpainted. The
shutters are made of two layers of boards nailed together, an inner
horizontal set and an outer vertical layer. Arles |
| Sometimes the flowers take precedence. Another pair of
tall inward opening casements in bare wood with substantial glazing bars.
The timber framed house is from the 16th century. Chinon |
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No, the curtains aren't striped but stained glass has been
used in these windows. There are fixed lights above pairs of inward
opening casements. Tours |
(This collection may gradually grow, as and when I get round to uploading my picture collection. And if you've got a digi-photo of a window that you would like to contribute to this page please send it down the wires)
Contact: biff@biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk
Lincolnshire
©Biff Vernon 2006
