COTTAGE WINDOWS.
Extracted from the Supplement to London’s Cyclopædia of Architecture.
“Windows having been generally among the worst constructed parts of Scotch cottages, the Highland Society offered a premium for the best cottage window, which was awarded to Messrs. M’Culloch and Co. of Glasgow, for the form shewn in figs. 2246. to 2248. This form, of the dimensions shown in the figure, viz., three feet three inches by two feet, without the wooden frame, costs, in cast iron, only 5s., and the glass for such a window may be purchased at 2¾ d. per square. This kind of window admits of being formed of any size, and is equally adapted for workshops, farm buildings where glass windows are required, and cottages.
The dimensions that have been recommended for the windows of ordinary cottages are, thirty-nine inches for the height, and twenty-four inches for the width, within the wooden frames. The size of glass required for these frames is seven and a quarter inches by five and a quarter inches. The sash is divided into two unequal parts, the lower part having three squares in height, and the upper part two. The lower part is permanently fixed, while the upper part is constructed to turn in the vertical direction on pivots, which are situate in the line of its middle astragal; and both parts are set in a substantial wooden frame, which may be either built in while the wall is erecting, or may be set in afterwards in the ordinary way, with or without checked rabbets (§ 911), according to the taste of the proprietor. The window, and its arrangements, will be better understood by reference to the annexed figures.
Fig. 2246. is an inside elevation, fig. 2248. a plan, and fig. 2247. a vertical section, in each of which a portion of the wall is exhibited, and the same letters refer to the corresponding parts in each figure; a is a portion of the surrounding wall; b, the wooden frame of the window; c, the lower sash, which is dormant; and d, the upper and moveable sash.
2246
2248
2247
In fig. 2247. the upper sash is represented as open for ventilation; when shut, the parts of the opening-sash cover and overlap the fixed parts in such a manner as to exclude wind and water; but when ventilation is required, the arrangement of the parts which produce this is such as to enable the housekeeper to admit air to any extent. For this purpose the notched latch, e, is joined to a stud in the edge of the sash; a simple iron pin or stud is also fixed in the wooden frame at s, and the notches of the latch being made to fall upon this stud at any required distance, the requisite degree of opening is secured, and when the sash is again closed, the latch falls down parallel with, and close to, the sash. To secure the sashes when shut, the T bolt, f, in the middle of the meeting bars, has only to be turned one-fourth round, and the moveable sash is held fast in close contact with the other. The figures represent the window as finished up with single dressings, viz., plain deal shutters, facings, and sole, which, at a small expense, would give an air of neatness and comfort to the apartment, and promote a corresponding taste in the other parts of the cottage. Though the dimensions of the window here stated may be conceived sufficient for lighting an apartment of ordinary size, they can nevertheless be varied to suit every purpose. This may be done either by employing two such windows as above described, with a mullion of wood or stone between them, or the single window may be enlarged by one or two squares in width, or in height, or in both directions.” (Highland Soc. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 541.)