Holland Park Living
Windows
Casement windows
Until Georgian times, the casement window, attached to the upright side of the window frame on a hinge and opened out to the side, was universally used. By 1720 it had mostly been superseded by the sash window. But casements continued to be used on first-floor balconies where they served also as a door onto the balcony.
Sash windows
The sash window was invented in about 1670. The sash window consisted of two windows or sashes, one above the other, known as a 'double-hung sash' . Each sash could be moved up or down on pulleys and counter-weights concealed in the window frames. The lead counter-weights caused the window to stay in place once it was opened. The entire cased window frame was then recessed behind the brickwork so as to be invisible when viewed from outside. Windows up to the first floor usually had panelled shutters internally, which folded back into cased reveals, and could be secured across the opening with an iron bar.
Venetian windows
In the early part of the 18th century, Venetian windows were popular. These consisted of three sets of sash windows grouped close together. The narrower side windows were rectangular. The main central window had a round arched top higher than the side windows.
French windows
In Regency times, new windows were often built right down to the ground. Sills of existing windows were often lowered. This progressed to windows that could open out like casement windows. They were called “French windows” although there is not really a French connection. They were particularly used to give access at the back of the house to the garden or into the newly fashionable ground floor conservatory, or at the front onto the first floor balcony.
Bow windows
Georgians did have bow windows. But these rarely occur in London, where the Building Act 1774 prohibited bay windows projecting further than 10 inches into the street.
Heads
The rectangular or straight head window is common in Georgian houses. Windows were sometimes framed by columns, as doors were. Late Georgian houses often had semi-circular or curved heads, in which case they might also be framed by an outer arch of brick, in a fan design, round the semi-circular tops of the windows.
Paint colour
Early Georgian windows were generally painted white. From the 1780s onwards, windows were often painted in dark colours, particularly to contrast with a stucco façade. It was a late Victorian fad to repaint them white.
Blinds and shutters
Regency sash windows almost always had interior shutters to keep in the heat, since curtains were just fixed drapes which did not close across the windows. External roller blinds were popular.
Proportions
Georgian rules of design, derived from Palladian architecture, set down the appropriate proportions for the windows on different floors. The windows from the main floor upwards would usually be the same width. But where the main floor windows would be twice as high as they were wide, the bedroom windows would be only 1½ times as high, and the servants’ quarters in the attic would have windows only as high as they were wide.
Glass
The design of windows was dictated by the quality of glass. There were two methods of producing window glass. “Crown glass” – the quality product – was made by putting a blob of molten glass on a rod and then whirling it around until centrifugal forces caused it to spread out like a huge pizza. It was then deposited on a bed of sand and cut up into individual panes.
'Georgian' glass
Glass was valuable so even the bit at the centre where the rod was removed would be used. This is the origin of the “bottle glass” effect so beloved by modern manufacturers of mock-Georgian bow windows. In fact, it was never used on external windows.
Cylinder glass and '6-over-6 sashes'
Cylinder glass - rougher but cheaper - was made by swinging a blob of molten glass round in a circle so that it lengthened into a cylinder, then laying it out on a sand-covered metal plate and cutting the cylinder open so that it rolled out into a roughly flat piece which could be cut into panes. These methods produced fairly small but heavy panes, so Georgian sash windows were usually 6-over-6 arrangements, meaning 6 panes in each of the two sashes.
Plate glass and larger panes
In 1832 Lucas Chance discovered a way to produce much better glass from the cylinder method, which he called “plate glass”. This revolutionised window design. Because the panes were larger and thinner, windows no longer needed such thick glazing bars. Also metal came to be used, which allowed for even thinner glazing bars. 4-over-4 and 2-over-2 became standard arrangements. By early Victorian times, it was possible to have a sash with a single pane of glass. One Victorian practice was to have glazing bars in the top sash, and a single pane of glass in the lower sash. The Victorians frequently replaced unfashionable multi-paned windows from Georgian times with new, larger-paned varieties.
Coloured glass
Coloured glass was a feature of Regency homes. If the central panes became larger, Regency windows often had narrow panes round the border containing coloured glass.
Glazing bars
The glazing bars or 'astragals', which hold the panes of glass in place, developed throughout the Georgian period. Early astragals were square. They eventually became much thinner and were given attractive moulded shapes, particularly on the inside. Late Georgian windows sometimes had decoratively shaped bars and window panes at the top, particularly under a curved window head. During the 1820s and 1830s Gothic windows became fashionable, with glazing bars forming a pointed arch. The structure was weakened by having fewer astragals. So in Victorian sash windows, you will often find that the vertical side pieces of the upper sash have a wedge piece, known as the “horn”, protruding at the bottom under the rail, to give it extra strength.
Window tax
In 1696 a Window Tax had been introduced which taxed the owners of houses which had more than a certain number of windows. In 1766 the number of windows which triggered the tax was reduced to 7; and in 1784, it was reduced to 6. If you see period houses in London with the window openings bricked up, it may have been done at this time to avoid this tax. But sometimes it is a genuine architectural effect. If a real window would have been structurally impossible because of some internal feature like a flue behind it, a blind window in the form of a recess was often built into the facade to maintain the harmony with the real windows.
