SASH WINDOWS AND OTHER JOINERY, YORK HOUSE, MALTON

Sash or sliding windows were invented around 1670 and appear in Holland, Britain andthe USA. Sash is a bastardisation of the French ‘chassis’, and so refers to the box-frame of the sliding window.

architrave detail, early sashwindow, York House

Sash windows were adopted, and thus popularised, by Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor-General of the King’s Works, who used them to bold effect at Hampton Court Palace

between 1689-94, their having been first used at Whitehall Palace in 1670 (Hall, 762005). It was during the Palladian and later Georgian period that sash windows becamethe norm.

Inside moulding of glazingbars, same early sash window,ovolo section. Shutters lost.

The earliest sash windows were without cords and pulleys and only the lower sashcould be opened, the upper one being fixed. The sash box was visible from theoutside, and tended to carry mouldings, therefore. Some windows of this patternsurvive in York House. The glazing bars of these are robust, with an ovolo moulding.The outside faces of the sash boxes carry significant moulding, mirroring thearchitrave detail of the stone surrounds introduced into the house sometime before1720. The glazing bars to the outside are plain chamfers.

These early survivals retain all paint layers applied to them over the years. They areconstructed of pitch pine and seem to have been varnished only in the first instance.There were then subsequent redecorations with lemon yellow, olive green and paleblue before the cream ‘estate colour’ of modern times. The survival of such earlywindows, almost certainly contemporary with the architectural alterations that containthem, is of exceptional significance. It might even be posited that the redesign of thewindows to the house; the introduction of large, high windows, was, at least in part, aresponse to the invention not long before and contemporary chic of the sash window.

early C18 stair window; top sash fixed;robust ovolo moulded glazing bars

attic window from same period, also withupper sash fixed

Throughout the C18, the design and performance of sash windows became moresophisticated. The double-hung sash had become common by the mid-C18. The sashboxes became concealed from the outside view within the masonry of the windowopening. Glazing bars became much finer. Windows from the mid- to later C18 alsosurvive in some rooms of York House, their sash boxes concealed by the stone windowsurrounds, which may have had to be adapted to facilitate this later style of sashwindow. The first paint colour upon these is olive green.

later C18 sash window in north east gable,

slimmer glazing bars

Mid-C18 sash windows, north firstfloor room, east cross wing

The majority of the ground-floor sash windows and those of the former greatchamber, the panelling of which dates from circa 1630, but with windows probably

made larger during the early to mid C18, have been replaced with sash windows ofVictorian pattern, with horns, and much less sophisticated mouldings to the glazingbars. The horns were originally a strengthening response to the use of the sheets ofplate glass that became common in sash windows particularly after 1857, glazing barsbeing reduced to one or two and then eliminated altogether (Hall 80). It is notable,therefore, that the horned sash windows of York House are still glazed with multiplelights, presumably to retain some, at least, of the earlier character of the windows theyreplaced.

Victorian sash window, great chamber

It is important to note that the survival of early sash windows at all is significant. Theseearly survivors are;

south east ground-floor window of the central range;

semi-circular headed stair window within the central range;

north attic windows of the north west gable

Later, but still relatively early C18 sash windows remain in the first floor rooms of theeast and west wings, as well as in the south groundfloor room of the east cross-wingand the gables of the east cross-wing

Where C18 windows survive, they retain their window shutters, although not all ofthese are operative. Where replacement took place, probably around 1903, the earlierwindow shutters were not attached to the new windows, but nailed into their earlierhousing only.

Nailed in shutters, not reattached to C19windows, west cross wing, first and groundfloors

This has been done in the south ground-floor room of the east cross-wing as well asin the south ground floor room of the west. In other rooms, even when windows werenot replaced, the former shutters were nailed or boxed into their housings and no

longer used. This is so in the north first-floor room of the east cross-wing as well as inthe south first floor room of the west.

Throughout much of the C18, curtains were not much used, the shutters being theonly means of reducing or excluding light. They were used at night, or when the housewas vacant (which York House might frequently have been during William Strickland’sownership), for security. Security bars remain upon all shutters that continued to beused into the modern period, and may survive on those that have been nailed open.

Some of the more recent windows retain fixings for blinds.

still operative shutter, east cross wing,south first floor room.

Those shutters that are still functional have three types of hinges – decorated and plainH-hinges that attach main shutter to the window and butterfly hinges that attach theinner shutters to these. Such hinges were nailed, not screwed to the wood, and are soin York House. These hinges are consistent with the period of the joinery of which theyare a part, dating typically from the later C17 and early C18. Indeed, the presence of

such hinges upon joinery throughout the house is likely confirmation of the early C18date for this joinery, whilst later doors, for example have more modern furniture.

The double oak-grained doors from the hall into the south ground floor room, forexample, have ‘H’-‘L’ hinges from the early period.

Unlike most early C18 doors in the house, these retain their brass door furniture. That

from most others has been removed in the recent past, after the building fell empty.

Front door, brass furniture removed,revealing bare wood, showing it to have beenoriginal.

plain and decorated H-hinges andbutterfly hinges, window shutters,south ground floor room, east cross-wing.

Wrought iron shutter stay, same room

Early C18 cupboards, east cross-wing,

decorated H-hinges

It may be considered unusual that the heavy early C18 door that gives egress into therecess within the giant arch of the south elevation is attached by H-L hinges. These arelarge, and larger than the largest recorded by Hall. They have decorated ends.

side door, early C18, note stay bar

The front door, of similar age, by contrast, has a somewhat thicker but slightly cruderstrap hinge upon a pintel at the bottom, a lighter, nailed hinge to the top.

lower strap hinge, front door

This door, too, has a security stay.

There are other, later hinges in the house, of course, some of them upon earlier doorsthan themselves. Notable examples are the self-closing hinges to the heavy, partlyglazed door on the first floor between the landing and the west cross-wing.

This door is partly glazed, with glazing bars of identical design and proportion tothose of the surviving early sash windows. Unusually wide, it was made to fit an earlieropening that may once have been a window onto an open courtyard, and may be takento be contemporary with the earliest surviving windows, circa 1712. It has raised andfielded panelling to the lower, unglazed section, both sides of the door, making itunusually thick and heavy.

The majority of doors that remain in situ in the house, as well as their mouldedarchitraves date from a similar period; some smaller doors in rooms of slightly lesserstatus after 1712-20, may be a little earlier in date. These latter doors are two-panelled, which was common in higher status rooms between 1670-1730 (Hall 40).There are several doors that are later, mid-C18-C19. The door into the under-stairarea, for instance, as well as a small door within the understair area itself.

latticed under-stair door, late C18 or C19. Thisdisplaced an earlier door in this space thebutterfly hinges of which remain in situ to theother side of the frame.

Typically in York House, the earlier doors are made of pitch-pine, the later ones ofother species of pine.

It is notable that whilst two-panelled doors survive in the west cross-wing, they arepart of a unitary redesign of these rooms in the early years of the 18th century. In thesouth first-floor room of the west cross-wing, for example, the doors into the roomand from the room into the closet created by the addition of the central range areidentical. Both are almost certainly contemporary with the panelling. Similarly, the highstatus bedroom to the north of the east cross-wing, which has bolection mouldedpanelling from the early C18 has matching two-panelled doors to the room and to thecloset. In common with all higher status doors in the house, there are raised andfielded panels to both sides of the doors. The two-panelled door was of high statusduring the later C17, as evidenced by illustrations of Samuel Pepys’s library from 1687

(Saumarez Smith 32) and remained sufficiently so to remain in Sir Robert Walpole’sCabinet room in 1735, as painted by Joseph Goupy. (Saumarez Smith 110).

These particular doors are of a piece with the cupboards at the east end of the landing.

A similar, but wider two-panelled door (‘two-panelled’ describes the style, not theexact number of panels), survives across the landing into the north first floor room,the closet door of which also survives although all the panelling in this room has beenlost, if, indeed, it ever was, except beneath the windows.

The rooms at this end of the house, whilst their panelling is contemporary with that atthe east end, were of slightly lower status; the pattern of the doors is similar, however.

There are as many doors in the house that are of eight panels. Hall notes that six-panelled doors became established from the earlier C18, and remained so throughoutthe Victorian period. The doors in the central and east ranges of York House, however,do not conform with this pattern – nor with the two-panelled arrangement that wascommon in the earlier period. Whilst the absence of any reference to eight-panelleddoors in Hall might make them seem unusual, they appear in paintings and architect’sdesigns, as well as in surviving buildings from the Baroque through to the laterGeorgian period. Such a design is shown in Edward Stevens’ proposal for a LondonHouse of 1763 (Saumarez-Smith 249), as well as in James Stuart’s design for ThePainted Room at Spencer House, 1759 (Saumarez-Smith 212). William Kent’s 1727‘section of a neo-palladian hall’ also shows double doors of this pattern Saumarez-Smith 74). Several examples of doors illustrated in Richard Hewlings’ essay on Baroquestyle in The Elements of Style (Calloway 1991/1996) are of the 8-panelled style.Calloways essay on the Early Georgian Period shows similar examples, but only asexterior doors. The eight-panelled door seems to have evolved slightly earlier than thetwo-panelled door and continued in use, especially for particularly tall doorways evenafter the two-panelled door became common. It seems then to have been adopted byacademic Palladian architects as especially appropriate to their design intentions, evenwhen the six-panelled door had become dominant. Notably in York House the eight-panelled doors are held upon H-L hinges. This is true today of front and side doors. Itwas true of the relocated door in the post 1903 butler’s parlour, though the rebatesand indeed parts of earlier H-L hinges remain visible. These doors, then, date from atleast the ealier C18. If anything, they may be earlier than this. They are not Palladian.In this context, it is notable that the door into the great chamber is of this pattern,

unlikely as it is that this doorway is contemporary with the panelling of this room.

‘eight-panelled’ door, great chamber, bearing same redundercoat as circa 1630 panelling (although the paintschemes probably began later than this).

Door into south groundfloor room, west cross-wing. This door and the panelling of the north wallwere relocated probably 1903, but the door isoriginal. An identical architrave surrounds a long-blocked doorway into the giant arched recess,suggesting that there was another door of thisdesign also. This door may have been moved fromhere, or from the west exit from this room, nowmuch-reduced in width.

The large front and side doors – the latter certainly contemporary with the addition ofthe central range – are also of an eight-panelled arrangement, their proportions similarto all other doors of this type in the house.

side door

front door

There is a six-panelled door into the north groundfloor room of the east cross-wing,

matched by one into the closet in the same room, as well as a six-panelled door intothe south groundfloor room of the same wing. This is clearly more recent than thearchitrave it occupies.

This may reflect changes made by the younger William Strickland after the death of hisfather, also William, in 1725 and before the property was sold to the WatsonWentworth family in 1739. It is my opinion at least, that it was he also who removedsome of the upper levels of panelling in the first floor rooms on the south of the east,

and north of the west cross-wings, soon after they were installed, introducing nailedfabric instead. Panelling was also removed in the north groundfloor room of the eastcross-wing, which had probably become the dining room of the house by this time.

In the attic, there are a number of surviving early doors – into rooms and intocupboards. Their pattern clearly reflects the lower status of the attic living quarters. Itis not certain at which time the attic was lath and plastered. Evidence of limewashingto the walls within the eaves storage spaces and behind the stud walls suggests thatthe studding, lath and plaster was not the earliest finish and was an improvement ofthe servants’ accommodation. However, the current (if much stripped out) arrangementwill have existed by 1712. Some of the doors may date from the earlier C17.

Closet door, north room of west cross-wing, attic. Board construction. Notewooden latch.

two-panelled door into same room; H-Lhinges; early C18. Opposing door into southroom is identical. Perhaps these two roomswere of slightly higher status than theremainder of the attic – for more seniorservants.

Much more simple door intonorth room of east cross-wing,perhaps earlier

A door jamb earlier than any of these, moulded and with a stop, made of oak, survivesin the cellar, recycled as a supporting timber of the staircase into the cellars. It maywell be of C16 provenance.

Most circa 1712 architraves are moulded, reflecting the same early classicism as isseen on the stonework added to the building in this same period.

circa 1712 architrave around later door,south groundfloor room, east cross-wing

early C18 two-panelled door, north first floor room,

east cross-wing

closet window architrave in same room; door tocloset identical to that above, of a piece with thepanelling in this room

Architrave and panelling, closetdoorway

Architrave and part of door, south

groundfloor room, west cross-wing

South side of kitchen doorway architrave,north of west cross-wing

North side of same

Hall arcade

In summary, then, there are important survivals of early C18 joinery, hinges and doorfurniture in York House. The importance of these early features must be the primaryconsideration in their current and future repair and conservation. The mouldings anddimensions of the early windows will be drawn and recorded. They are currently in agenerally sound structural condition, although some minor repair is necessary.

These details are some of the individually important elements within the generalsignificance of the house as a whole.

nigel copsey april 2008

References:

Linda Hall Period House Fixtures and Fittings 2005 Countryside Books, Newbury

Michael Tutton, Elizabeth Hirst, Eds Windows, History, Repair and Conservation 2007Donhead, Shaftesbury

Charles Saumarez-Smith Eighteenth Century Decoration; design and the domesticinterior in England 1993 Harry N. Abrams, New York

Stephen Calloway, editor The Elements of Style 1993 Reed International London