Sash windows for Crowborough's Victorian and Edwardian houses
The sash is the window of Crowborough's first growth, from the railway terraces in Jarvis Brook to the villas and semis on the hill. Most of these houses are outside any conservation area, so a uPVC sash is usually allowed and costs roughly half what timber does.
Sash windows prices
Per unit, supplied and fitted, including VAT, with the old frames removed and the opening made good. See all typical prices for worked examples.
| Window or door | Size basis (mm) | Fitted, inc. VAT |
|---|---|---|
| uPVC vertical sliding sash, white | 900 x 1800 | £1,505 to £2,190 |
| uPVC vertical sliding sash, heritage colour or woodgrain | 900 x 1800 | £1,775 to £2,575 |
| Timber box sash | 900 x 1800 | £2,650 to £3,800 |
| Aluminium heritage sash (slim vertical slider) | 900 x 1800 | £2,710 to £4,305 |
| Tall heritage or conservation sash, slim units and true bars | 1100 x 2400 | £4,700 to £7,900 |
Where Crowborough's sash windows are
Crowborough was a scatter of cottages until the railway reached Jarvis Brook in 1868. Building took off between 1875 and 1900, and almost everything from those years and the Edwardian decade after was built with vertical sliding sashes.
- Jarvis Brook: Railway View on Victoria Road (1895), Ferndale Terrace on Western Road, and the Peace, Coronation and Ladysmith Cottages on Western Road from about 1901.
- Crowborough Hill and Poundfield: modest semi-detached villas at Farningham Road and Rosehill Gardens, and the Edwardian semis of West Street and Green Lane.
- Whitehill Road and Queen's Road: Edwardian semis that have survived well, usually with a canted bay below and sashes above.
- The high ground: the bigger Victorian villas on Church Road, Beacon Road and Southview Road, though many were demolished after 1945 and their plots built over.
Which sash suits which house
White uPVC sash
£1,505 to £2,190
The usual choice for a Jarvis Brook terrace or a Poundfield semi. Run-through horns and slim meeting rails keep the look of the 1890s window. No painting, which matters on a west-facing front up Crowborough Hill.
uPVC sash in heritage colour or woodgrain
£1,775 to £2,575
Cream, sage or a woodgrain foil for a house where white looks too bright against the red brick and tile-hanging.
Timber box sash
£2,650 to £3,800
Weights, pulleys and a painted finish. The right answer for a listed house or one under an Article 4 direction, which in this area means a few village streets rather than the town.
Aluminium heritage sash
£2,710 to £4,305
A slim vertical slider with a powder-coated finish. A premium product in its own right, close to timber in price, not a cheaper substitute for it.
Tall conservation sash
£4,700 to £7,900
Slim double-glazed units and true glazing bars for the tall windows of the bigger Victorian villas and older village houses.
Timber or uPVC: the honest comparison
For a 900 x 1800 mm opening, a timber box sash costs £2,650 to £3,800. A white uPVC sash for the same opening costs £1,505 to £2,190, roughly half. Painted timber also needs repainting every five to eight years, and sooner on an exposed elevation. On Crowborough's ridge that means the south-west face of most houses on Beacon Road, Warren Road and the streets round the golf course.
Timber is still the right choice where the council requires it: a listed building, or a house under an Article 4 direction. In Crowborough town that is very rare. The Crowborough Cross pub is the only listed building in the town centre, and there is no Article 4 direction covering windows in the town. In the villages it comes up more often. See timber windows and the planning guide.
What the survey checks on an old sash
Victorian sashes in Jarvis Brook usually sit under a brick arch or a timber lintel that has been carrying load for well over a century. The survey checks whether the arch has dropped, whether the stone or timber sill is sound, and whether the box frame is doing any structural work. Those repairs are priced after the survey, not hidden in the window price.
Since June 2022, replacement windows are expected to keep or improve background ventilation, so a new sash in a bedroom will usually carry a discreet trickle vent in the head.
Get a price for your house
Tell us the street, the house and roughly how many windows. A FENSA-registered installer will arrange to survey and send a written quote.