Historic windows which have witnessed and illuminated some of our most renowned history, from the attempted escape of Charles I and the revolutionary experiments of Charles Darwin to the final days of Queen Victoria, are now at risk, English Heritage warned today (28 September), as the charity revealed the catalogue of threats causing the decline of windows in England’s most significant historic buildings. From the heat and the rain, to the shortage of heritage carpentry skills and the varying quality of modern wood, these historic artefacts are beginning to deteriorate and decay. Over one million pounds’ worth of repairs will be needed in the next five years and English Heritage has today launched an appeal to support the conservation of these irreplaceable emblems of ancient skill and craftsmanship.

English Heritage cares for around 13,000 historic windows at the country’s most important historic buildings including the Roman town of Corbridge in Northumberland, the site of the Battle of Hastings, Battle Abbey, in East Sussex, and the home of renowned scientist Charles Darwin, Down House in Kent. From medieval stone and timber, Tudor casements and Georgian sashes, to Victorian windows with elaborate ironmongery, caring for these thousands of unique objects exposed to the elements is a highly specialised, time consuming task.

England’s historic windows are at risk from a number of factors and each faces a unique combination of threats including:

• The weather: With more heat, window frames can blister and crack. With more rain, water can seep through vulnerable frames and threaten the very fabric of buildings and their collections, as well as cause wooden frames to become damp and lead to rot.
• Heritage skill shortage: To preserve the past, it is vital to use highly skilled craftspeople who match the traditional skills of years gone by, but the teaching of these skills is becoming less frequent. To maintain the legacy long term, these skills must be kept alive.
• Working with modern materials: Many modern materials are made with different ingredients which can pose a challenge for conservation. Historic lead-based paint has rightly been replaced with eco-friendly modern paints, but these are unfortunately less resilient which means maintenance is needed more often. Similarly, modern wood, which is used in repairs of historic windows, is grown differently to historic wood and its sources have changed. Modern wood is grown quick and tall, leading to a reduced wood density (with less tightly formed rings visible when one cuts through the trees). Such wood when abutted with historic timber can suffer from movement and lead to poor quality incompatible repairs.

Nicola Duncan-Finn, English Heritage’s Senior Estate Manager, said: "When thinking about caring for an historic building, the protection of windows may not be at the forefront of many people’s minds, but these features are important artefacts in themselves. Windows are the eyes of a building and can tell you a huge amount, not only about the status of its owners, trends of the time and the materials available, but uniquely they also bear the hand of their original carpenter and so are irreplaceable.

“We can’t just replace them with a modern alternative, so if they are to survive for future generations to enjoy, we need the public’s support today in order to repair their wooden frames, stabilise their glass and lead fittings, and protect them from harsh weather and potential rot before time runs out."

Historic Windows Appeal:

• £40 can pay for repainting window frames, which are vulnerable to weathering. As well as being true to the original colour and finish, we must prevent rot, which causes damage to casings, sills and sash mechanisms
• £65 can pay for replacing quarries in a leaded light window (typical of 17th-century buildings). This work is urgently needed to stop damaging leakage, which can occur on wet days
• £80 can pay for restringing a sliding sash window

To support the appeal, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/windows