Replacement windows in Upper Beeding, across the river from Bramber

Upper Beeding faces Bramber and Steyning across the Adur, joined to them by Beeding Bridge, rebuilt in brick in 1785.

The village has two conservation areas, which Horsham District Council maps separately: the High Street, and Hyde Street, an old track at the foot of Windmill Hill. The High Street holds some of the oldest houses in the district. Horsham Museum's heritage trail for the village picks out Manor Cottage, a two-bay timber-framed house of the mid-1600s; Candytuft, from the mid-sixteenth century and later split into three cottages; Holly Cottage of 1736, home to the village's first postmaster; and Bridge House, which was rebuilt in brick in the early 1900s in place of a flint building. Opposite the King's Head, the Farmer's House and Manor House began as one early 1700s residence.

On houses like these, casements are the usual window, and any listed building needs consent for changes. We would suggest flush casements matched to the existing pane pattern, or timber on a listed house.

Later Beeding

Away from the two old streets, much of the village is twentieth-century housing. The Shoreham Cement Works in the Beeding chalk pit, which opened in 1883 and closed in 1991, employed many people from the village until it closed. Those later houses have no period pattern to follow and are good candidates for aluminium or a plain uPVC casement.

Planning

Upper Beeding sits on the northern edge of the South Downs National Park, with Beeding Hill and Truleigh Hill to the south inside it. Check the National Park Authority's map to see which side of the boundary your address falls; outside the Park, Horsham District Council is the planning authority. The civil parish also includes Small Dole and Edburton.

Houses on the west side of the village look across the Adur valley to Steyning, and frames facing that way take the weather. Check the bottom rails and sills on west-facing windows before you decide between repair and replacement.

For an Upper Beeding survey, call 01903 948046, or send your details.

Background: Upper Beeding on Wikipedia.