Discovering Why All Historic Homes In The Chiswick Area Have Sash Windows

By Damian Hounslow


A routine question on the lips of most visitors to London, England is why all historic homes in the Chiswick area have sash windows. It is a valid question to ponder as it's plain to notice that many of the older homes and public houses sport similar sashes in the region, and to fully comprehend the reason for this one has to examine a little of the history in this part of London.

Sash windows themselves date back to the 1600s and to Sir Isaac Newton's colleague in natural philosophy, Robert Hooke. As Hooke was a preeminent designer of inventions and a pioneer of English architecture, the fact that he is largely credited with the design and initial implementation of sashes throughout the world is little surprise.

Hooke is well known throughout London for many of the city's most famous and iconic buildings. As such, the situation of Chiswick in the center of London's residential suburbs begins to cast light on the prevalence of the sash-style windowpanes in the zone.

Speaking of the many monuments of London, the long-standing landmarks of this region have long sported the sashes that would later serve to function as Chiswick's distinguishing characteristic. Centuries after Hooke's era in the 1800s, construction efforts were drawn back to his unique style in the creation of new urban and suburban areas near fishing bodies of water in the center of London. The eventual establishment of Chiswick's residential zone took it's cues from the older public houses ('pubs' and taverns) nearby.

The Griffin Brewery, established in Chiswick for over 350 years to this day, has served as one of the reasons for the abundance of popular public houses in the region. Nearly all of these older pubs sport the sash windows, and thus aided in giving the outlying residential zone the modern architecture style seen by tourists today. Since most of the older buildings are almost exclusively pubs, it stands to reason that the majority of the landmarks will have the similar-styled panes.

As a marketing device, sashes worked wonders for early pub owners thanks to the several benefits of the design. With the wider surface for writing text or logos onto the panes, these types of fixtures represented the best option to prominently display sales and marketing material. This is one of the biggest reasons for the proliferation of the style in the urban zone today.

The wider length of the fixtures also allowed passerby to view inside the establishments, and get a good look at any wares or patrons that were inside as an easy means of attracting new business. In other words, both good business sense as well as superior architectural style are reasons why all historic homes in the Chiswick area have sash windows!




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment