Replacement windows in Kingswood
Kingswood is up on the North Downs at roughly 170 to 200 metres. Cosmo Bonsor's Kingswood Warren estate was sold for building in 1906, and most of the houses at its heart went up between 1909 and 1913.
- Built
- 1909 to 1913 for the core, mostly to designs by Paxton Watson; 1960s and 1970s cul-de-sacs such as Doric Drive
- Walls
- Handmade clay tiles and tile-hanging, multistock brick, roughcast and timber framing under steep roofs
- Conservation area
- Kingswood, designated 10 June 2009; Kingswood Warren is also a Residential Area of Special Character
- Article 4
- None. The 2026 draft appraisal states there are no Article 4(2) directions
The houses
The council describes Kingswood as arcadian, spacious and tree-dominated, and it is: big Arts and Crafts houses in large plots among pines and oaks around Waterhouse Lane, Forest Drive, The Glade and The Chase. The original windows were casements, many with leaded lights, plus Venetian windows. Kingswood Court, by Ernest Newton in 1912, is listed Grade II and has 12-pane sashes with leaded casement dormers.
Kingswood Warren itself, the BBC's research centre from 1948 to 2010, was converted to homes around 2012.
What gets fitted
Because there is no Article 4 direction, an unlisted house here keeps its normal right to replace windows with similar ones. The council's appraisal still discourages uPVC, and most owners want to keep the character that sets Kingswood apart, so two frames dominate.
Steel-look heritage aluminium copies the slim interwar casements: £2,060 to £3,650 for a 1200 x 1200 window, or £3,450 to £6,190 for three panes at 1800 x 1200. Aluminium flush casements, at £1,485 to £2,395, suit the tile-hung elevations. Heavy tree cover means frames stay damp in shade, which counts against painted timber.
More background: Wikipedia, Kingswood. To check a conservation area boundary, use the council's own map before relying on any summary.
Live in Kingswood? Send your postcode and the number of windows.