Page 12 - Oundle Life Feb 2021

4" or 10cm, and the latter concealing the sash box behind the masonry reveal – both designed to limit the spread of flame. While these new laws applied first to London properties, they soon propagated to the provinces where best practice and high fashion merged. Further enhancements across the same period saw the glazing bars go on a diet as all timber elements became more slender, letting-in more light, and taking-on an altogether more delicate
feel (Fig. 5).
Then in 1832, Lucas Chance from Stourbridge started producing a new
thicker, stronger, ‘plate’ glass which
could be cut into bigger sheets without compromising its strength. Thereafter,
new windows were redesigned to accommodate plate glass and the
traditional six-over-six sash windows
quickly changed to become two-
overtwo. (Fig. 6) While the plate glass
was strong, the frames were weakened
without their internal bracing and over
time many failed, so ‘horns’ were added to the junction of stile and meeting rail in the late C19
5
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to create stronger joints that were better able to withstand the twisting forces applied every time a sliding sash was raised or lowered (Fig. 7).
As you stroll around Oundle, with this brief overview in hand, you will find a mixture of periods and styles – sometimes on the very same building elevation – as window frames and their sliding sashes have been replaced down through the years to keep up
with changing fashion. In some prominent and perhaps extreme cases such as Dryden House
...the same period saw the glazing bars go on a diet as all timber elements became more slender
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