The struggle of taking the front wall off my house has all been worthwhile cos I have discovered an original mullion window which I think was blocked up when the leaded light window was inserted a couple of hundred years ago.
It looks like the window was carved out from one board of elm cos the verticals and the horizontals are all the same piece of timber. I've not seen one like that before, but I shall now start looking closely at other mullion windows and will discover that carved mullion windows are ten a penny!
There! I thought I'd share my excitement with you all
Anna
-- ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Plaster conservation, freehand modelling in lime / ^^ \ // Overmantels, pargeting etc |____|
It is a 500 year old timber frame building and when it was built light came in through a mullion window running from waist height up to the eaves. The house was built before the time when glass was generally available so the window space had diamond cross section timbers running vertically about 6 incehes apart through the window hole. Hence "diamond mullion window"
Come Georgian times the required standard of comfort in the home had changed somewhat, so the mullion window was blocked up, a new hole was made next to it and a leaded light window was inserted.
The outside of the house has probably been rendered from day one, so I expect it was re-rendered after the Georgian modernisation. In 1960 the house suffered from a fire and was then modernised again. The (lime plaster on lath) render was replaced with (concrete on expamet) render at ground floor level, which has trapped moisture and done the sole plate (horizontal timber near ground level) no good at all.
I have removed the concrete and revealed the mullion window in doing so. Rick Lewis the sexy timber framer is coming next week to replace the sole plate.
Then as necessary I shall replace the hazel wattles, hurl daub at the wall and leave it to dry while I go and do some paid work. Later in the summer I will cover the wall with lath and lime plaster and limewash which is what it was designed for. The insulation properties of the wall should be much improved too.
Anna
-- ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Plaster conservation, freehand modelling in lime / ^^ \ // Overmantels, pargeting etc |____|
It is possible Anna that your leaded window is older than "Georgian".
From around 1760, with the advent of improved flat glass making techniques, the larger paned rectangular "Georgian" windows began to be installed in more affluent homes. Of course there will have been an overlap of styles for several years and yours could be a late leaded window.
Yes you're right. I've just been looking in "Elements of Style" and it says panes were diamond shaped in the 16thC, rectangular (like mine) in the 17thC, but then shows pictures of windows with panes like mine and dates them as "Early 16thC" and "First part of the 17thC". Then it says "By 1700 sash windows were common" so the windows will be earlier than that.
The front of the house is shrouded in tarpaulins at the moment and I'm not taking them down just for you lot :-) In a week or so, the timber supplier will stop gadding round France, supply the replacement sole plate and my timber framer will be back on site. Photos will appear on my website after that.
Anna
-- ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Plaster conservation, freehand modelling in lime / ^^ \ // Overmantels, pargeting etc |____|
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