Sash windows in Sevenoaks Weald, around the village Green

Sevenoaks Weald lies immediately south of the town on the Low Weald. It was simply called Weald until the parish was formed in 1894 from part of the ancient parish of Sevenoaks. St George's church began in 1821 as a chapel of ease, so that villagers did not have to climb up to St Nicholas in the town, and Thomas Graham Jackson added the chancel in 1871. Long Barn, where Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West began their garden in 1915, is on the edge of the village.

The conservation area, appraised by the council in 2013, is centred on the Green, with Long Barn Road, Church Road, Windmill Road and Hurst Lane around it. The buildings it describes include the Methodist church on the Green, opened in 1843, the primary school of about 1874, the Windmill pub of the late 19th century, and Patience and Prudence Cottages of about 1909, with half-timbering inspired by the Garden City movement.

Weald is different in its materials from the villages on the Downs side of the town. The appraisal notes plenty of good brickwork and white painted timber cladding near the Windmill pub, and says plainly that Kent ragstone does not feature here. Some brick has been painted or rendered, which the appraisal warns against.

A mixed set of windows

The appraisal found timber casements, sliding sashes, proprietary metal windows and plastic replacements side by side, though the commonest type is still the single-glazed, white painted timber window. It warns against replacements that change the opening size or use unsuitable materials. We have not found an Article 4 direction controlling windows here.

On a Weald cottage that already has a mix, restoring the frontage means choosing one pattern and applying it across the whole front, rather than copying whatever is there. Where the house was built with sashes, a white sash with the original bars puts it back; where it was built with casements, a flush casement does the same job better.

Background: Sevenoaks Weald on Wikipedia.

Planning a frontage in Sevenoaks Weald? Ask for a survey or call 01732 900157.