The Elegance of Georgian Sash Windows: A Design Guide

This is the earliest form of sash windows as we recognise them to this day. They are characteristic with their thick wooden astragals “or glazing bars”. They range from sixteen to twenty four almost square panes. As the Eighteenth Century progressed, the classic 6 over 6 sash windows became the accepted norm. The proportions of the sash window are largely responsible for the elegant appearance of Georgian properties.

The width and status of a particular window determined the height of the opening. A window on the main floor is usually a double square , meaning it is twice as high as it is wide. The height of a bedroom window was normally one and a quarter times its width, whereas windows at attic level, where the majority of the  servants rooms were situated, tended to be square.

The late Georgian houses were often built with semi-circular head or elliptical-head windows. Early Georgian windows were made with thick square ovolo mouldings. The astragal and hollow was popular from about the 1730s, followed in quick succession by the sash Ovolo and Lamb’s tongue mouldings which all remained in use well into the Nineteenth Century.