Sash windows in Tonbridge for the Victorian terraces and Edwardian villas
Tonbridge doubled in size after the railway arrived in 1842, and nearly everything built in those decades had sliding sashes. They are the second big group of windows in the town.
The sash streets
South of the river, the terraced cottages put up for railway workers on Douglas Road, Barden Road, Lionel Road, Meadow Road and the Priory Road streets. North of the river, the Slade, which the town conservation area appraisal describes as Victorian terraced and semi-detached houses with many original features. On the higher ground, the villas on Quarry Hill Road and Brook Street, and the late nineteenth-century houses around Dry Hill Park. Then the Edwardian villas of about 1910 round Springwell Road, with two-storey canted bays.
uPVC vertical sliders
A uPVC vertical sliding sash opens the same way as the original, with the two halves sliding past each other. On a terrace where neighbours have already lost their sashes to top-hung casements, putting sashes back is the single change that does most for the front of the house. Ask for horns on the upper sash if the originals had them, and for bars that match the pattern. The Quarry Hill appraisal notes that later houses there had large lower panes with smaller panes above, while earlier ones were divided throughout.
White or a heritage colour
White suits most terraces. A woodgrain or heritage colour costs a little more and reads closer to painted timber, which is why owners of the larger villas often choose it.
Timber box sash
Timber box sash is from £2,650 installed per window, and a uPVC slider costs a little over half that. On a Tonbridge terrace the first repaint comes round after about three years, and after that it is a regular chore. We recommend timber for listed buildings, of which the old town around the High Street, East Street and Church Street has a good number. See timber windows.
A typical sash job
Illustrative example of a typical job
Two front sashes, one up and one down, on a terrace in the Priory Road streets
A mid-Victorian red brick terraced cottage south of the river, in the grid of streets around Priory Road that was laid out when the railway came.
Two white uPVC vertical sliding sashes, about 900 by 1800 mm: one in the front room and one in the bedroom above
Sashes balanced to slide like the originals, with the bar pattern kept plain to match the street
The upstairs sash is fitted from a mobile tower, which is included in the range
Typically £3,000 to £4,400, supplied and fitted, including VAT
