1000-year-old window is unearthed in Berkshire church

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Britain's oldest working window frame has been unearthed in an ancient church.

Incredibly, the window dates back to before the Norman Conquest of 1066 and was found in St Andrew's Church in Boxford, Berkshire. The church was built by the Anglo-Saxons.

The window has been hidden for 150 years after it was covered up by the Victorians during renovation work.

It is one of just a handful of windows in the country that pre-dates 1066 but is the only one that still opens.

But rather than having glass in the window there is instead a wooden shutter.

Experts from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings have confirmed the findings and said the window is 'remarkable in its completeness.'

The inside of the window is hidden from view by an important monument, but the outside of the window is now on permanent display for the enjoyment of present and future generations.

Britain's oldest working window frame built 1,000 years ago found buried in wall of Saxon church


By Daily Mail Reporter
23rd September 2010
Daily Mail

Builders working on a tiny Saxon church have unearthed Britain's oldest working window, dating back to pre-1066.

The wooden-framed window was built 1,000 years ago but lay buried in the wall of St Andrew's Church for about 150 years after it was covered up by Victorian renovations.

It has now been revealed after shocked workmen spotted the distinctive frame while renovating the Saxon building, in the village of Boxford, near Newbury, Berkshire.

Archeologists and historians have studied the workmanship of the window and have found that it dates back to before the Norman Conquest.


The tiny wooden frame measures 2ft tall by 1ft wide and had been buried in the church's wall

It is one of just a handful of windows in the country that pre-dates 1066 but is the only one that opens.

The opening was first uncovered in July this year as the small church underwent restoration.

Workmen carefully removed a concrete render, which had been placed on the outside of the north wall of the church in the Victorian era.

They unpeeled the concrete to reveal a rough-hewn oak frame of the 2ft by 1ft window, containing a wooden panel of the same material which would have been tied using hemp as a hinge.

Stunned church staff called in archeologists and medieval specialists, who determined the method of building the window dated back to well before 1066.

The oldest known door in Britain was constructed in the 11th Century during the reign of King Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). The historic door in Westminster Abbey in London is rumoured to be the site where a man was stripped of his skin in punishment for a religious crime. The door, which measures 6.5ft by 4ft, was made from one tree which probably grew between AD 924 and 1030. It opens into the octagonal Chapter House, where monks used to meet for daily prayers in the 13th century. It is now used as a storeroom.

Experts from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings have confirmed the findings and said the window is 'remarkable in its completeness.'

The window is now fully displayed at the church - one of just five specimens dating back to before the Norman Conquest, and believed to be the only one with a working shutter.



The small wooden frame on the side of the church is thought to have been used to allow a draft of fresh air through the building

Andrew Plumridge, conservationist and church architect at St Andrew's, said: 'It's really very exciting - it is one of just three windows in the whole of Britain which pre-dates the Norman Conquest.

'It was discovered during a general restoration programme for the church.

'A concrete render had been placed outside over the window by the Victorians and was beginning to crack and let in water behind it.

'Part of the renovation was to take off the render, but when they took it away they noticed a small window filled with loose flint.

'We took the flint out to see what was underneath but we were not prepared for what we would find.

'It is a wooden frame made from oak, with an oak shutter on a string side hinge which probably would have been made from hemp. It has been described rather inelegantly as an ancient cat flap. Although it hold a working shutter, the window cannot open fully nowadays due to an enormous monument on the inside of the building.

Mr Plumridge said: 'We have decided not to reveal the inside of the window, because there is a huge monument in the way which is too important for us to move.

'We will leave this for future generations to discover and enjoy.' Julian Munby, archeological advisor for the Oxford diocese, said: 'It's an interesting find and very exciting indeed.

Daylight robbery

The phrase "daylight robbery" is derived from the time when the people of England were taxed for the number of windows they had on their homes.

The Window Tax was introduced in 1696 under King William III and was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of income tax. At the time, many people in England were opposed to the income tax as they believed that the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable government intrusion into private matters and a potential threat to personal liberty.

When the window tax was introduced, it consisted of two parts: a flat-rate house tax of 2 shillings per house (£11.12 as of 2010), and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten windows. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid a total of four shillings (£22.25 as of 2010), and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings (£44.50 as of 2010). The number of windows that incurred tax was changed to seven in 1766 and eight in 1825. The flat-rate tax was changed to a variable rate, dependent on the property value, in 1778. People who were ineligible for church or poor rates, for reasons of poverty, were exempt from the window tax.

Window tax was relatively unintrusive and easy to assess. The bigger the house, the more windows it was likely to have, and the more tax the occupants would pay. Nevertheless, the tax was unpopular, because it was seen by some as a tax on "light and air" or "daylight robbery."

The richest families in the kingdoms used this tax to set themselves apart from the merely rich. They would commission a country home or a manor house whose architecture would make the maximum possible use of windows! In extreme cases they would have windows built over structural walls. It was an exercise in ostentation, spurred by the window tax.

The tax was not repealed until 1851.

'It is believed to be a Saxon window, dating back to pre-1066, and is therefore one of the oldest in Britain.

'The window is cut from a single timber and has a shutter, making it the oldest working window we are aware of.

'The Romans would have built some windows using glass, but none of these exist in Britain any more.

'It has been covered up for very many years and was only discovered during building work - it is a very important find.'

Matthew Slocombe, from the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, said: 'We were hugely excited when Andrew told us of his discovery.

'This is such a rare and unusual find.

'It is a great privilege to be able to see the work of a Saxon craftsman who lived more than 1,000 years ago.

'It's a delight to see that a traditional, wooden, hand-crafted window can stand the test of time more than a millennia after its construction.'

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