It is difficult to get clarity on the origins of the sash window although the first mention is found in the late 1700's. A painting by Vermeer, 'The Milkmaid' has a woman standing in front of one. Around the same time the inventor Robert Hooke used the window in Ham House. However, the French word chassis refers to a frame and it is believed that via Holland the window came to Britain, and it is now inextricably linked to English culture.
Windows with double rows of glass panes that opened by sliding to one side or upwards, were initially known as 'Yorkshire light'. As the windows became larger and heavier, a rope and sash weight system was developed with the rope connected to the window and a pulley running inside the sealed box frame.
Sir Christopher Wrens, a excellent architect very popular with the royals, made use of these windows in the Whitehall Palace. Hampton Court and Kensington Palace are other examples of royal architecture employing the sash window that were built around this time. This made the windows the must-have in the 1700's and for two centuries they were almost the only style of window used for new buildings not only in Britain but also in all the colonies. Wrens found that, unlike casement windows, the facade of a building is not ruined if the windows are open.
In Georgian times, the sash was the rage and a double hung sash window was created allowing both the top and bottom sashes to be moved. In a wet European climate, the window can be opened at the top to let warm air escape while colder air is drawn in through the gap at the bottom, without allowing rain to enter.
During Victorian times, the windows like everything else were an additional site for the excessive decorations that were favoured by the elite of the day. Leaded lights, latticework, intricate carvings and mouldings were added to their buildings. Windows were grouped in a bay framed with pillars carved in stone. The windows at the bottom of the building were intentionally made longer than those of the upper stories to enhance the effect of perspective.
As with many beautiful objects the advent of mass production methods and industrialization after the First World War, signified the end for this product. The labour involved in hand producing a sash was too expensive and casement windows were easier to produce in factories.
It must be agreed that without the sash window, defects and all, the most interesting urban areas of older European cities would be bleak and characterless.
Windows with double rows of glass panes that opened by sliding to one side or upwards, were initially known as 'Yorkshire light'. As the windows became larger and heavier, a rope and sash weight system was developed with the rope connected to the window and a pulley running inside the sealed box frame.
Sir Christopher Wrens, a excellent architect very popular with the royals, made use of these windows in the Whitehall Palace. Hampton Court and Kensington Palace are other examples of royal architecture employing the sash window that were built around this time. This made the windows the must-have in the 1700's and for two centuries they were almost the only style of window used for new buildings not only in Britain but also in all the colonies. Wrens found that, unlike casement windows, the facade of a building is not ruined if the windows are open.
In Georgian times, the sash was the rage and a double hung sash window was created allowing both the top and bottom sashes to be moved. In a wet European climate, the window can be opened at the top to let warm air escape while colder air is drawn in through the gap at the bottom, without allowing rain to enter.
During Victorian times, the windows like everything else were an additional site for the excessive decorations that were favoured by the elite of the day. Leaded lights, latticework, intricate carvings and mouldings were added to their buildings. Windows were grouped in a bay framed with pillars carved in stone. The windows at the bottom of the building were intentionally made longer than those of the upper stories to enhance the effect of perspective.
As with many beautiful objects the advent of mass production methods and industrialization after the First World War, signified the end for this product. The labour involved in hand producing a sash was too expensive and casement windows were easier to produce in factories.
It must be agreed that without the sash window, defects and all, the most interesting urban areas of older European cities would be bleak and characterless.
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