The sash window comes in many forms, but none, perhaps, are so iconic as the Victorian box sash window. While the original style was built to be flat and vertical, in a time when narrow streets and alleys would not have allowed for larger windows that jutted outwards, the box sash was a very popular Victorian innovation that has since become synonymous with the window style.
Following the Industrial Revolution, the Victorian Era was a time of advancement and great strides in the development of glass technology, among many other things. Victorian homeowners were fond enough of the original sash window, but the upper classes especially sought after something a bit more exclusive, a bit more refined that what was the norm. As such, the Victorian style featured canted bays as opposed to owed ones, forming the iconic box shape of the box sash.
The upper classes proved that they could have what the working classes could not, with their properties featuring large box sashes that expanded outward from the house, creating, inside, an ideal sitting space. The original sash barely had room enough for a small window sill, but the Victorians’ ingenuity meant that they could make use of a window seat at which to sit and watch the world go by. This only further made clear the class differences of the time, during which the cramped terraced properties of the working classes had only dim streets and alleys to look out on.
The Victorians are most often associated with the large single-paned style without glazing barsas it was a sign of wealth and status at the time to have one’s windows upgraded to this style, though the multi-paned variety was also a common sight on many properties. At everywhere from Windsor Castle to 10 Downing Street, and many other period properties and heritage sites, can be found original sash and box sash windows. There is nothing else quite like the box sash, an undeniably British fixture in architecture, without which many properties would lose something essential to their appearance. Following the Victorian Era’s expansion and inevitable decline of the Empire in that time, box sash windows, among other varieties, can be found all over the world in many of the British Empire’s former colonies, proving the box sash to be a truly adaptable and steadfast design.
For all your sash window queries and needs, you should talk to The Original Box Sash Windows Company. Since 1979 they have become renowned for their specialist sash window knowledge, building and installing box sash windows that are both authentic to the original style, as well as being adaptable and functional enough to meet all the requirements of the modern window. This timeless style is their specialty, and they offer everything from double-glazing to draught-exclusion, proving that the sash can be just as elegant and innovative as it has been for centuries. Visit their website at www.boxsash.com to view the wide array of products and services that they can offer you to. Guaranteed, they can offer you something to suit your needs.