A cottage window is a casement window divided into small panes by glazing bars. Ours are made to measure in pine or alu-clad pine, in 34 layouts from two panes up to 32. You choose the bar width, whether the bars sit on the glass or inside the sealed unit, and the colour inside and out.
Every window is built to the millimetre from the measurements you enter, so you see your price before you order. Warranty runs to 10 years on timber and 12 years on alu-clad timber.
Cottage window 3 light
Cottage window 6 light
Cottage window 9 light
Cottage window 12 light - horizontal glazing bars
Cottage window 2 light top glazing bar
Cottage window 4 light top glazing bars
Cottage window 6 light top glazing bars
Cottage window 8 light top glazing bars
Cottage window 2 light
Cottage window 4 light
Cottage window 6 light
Cottage window 8 light
Cottage window 4 light horizontal glazing bars
Cottage window 8 light horizontal glazing bars
Cottage window 12 light horizontal glazing bars
Cottage window 16 light horizontal glazing bars
Cottage window 6 light
Cottage window 12 light
Cottage window 18 light
Cottage window 24 light
Cottage window 8 light
Cottage window 16 light
Cottage window 24 light
Cottage window 32 light
Cottage window 4 light
Cottage window 8 light
Cottage window 12 light
Cottage window 16 light
Cottage window 5 light
Cottage window 9 light
Cottage window 6 light
Cottage window 7 light
Cottage window 9 light (4-1-4)
Cottage window 13 light
The glazing bars. A cottage window is a casement window where the glass is divided into a grid of smaller panes, and it is the bars doing the dividing that create the look.
You will see the same thing called several things. Trade names include astragal bars, Georgian bars and muntins. On older cottages every pane really was a separate piece of glass held in a timber frame, because large sheets of glass were expensive and hard to make.
Modern cottage windows keep the appearance and drop the drawback. You get one sealed glass unit behind a grid of bars, so the window insulates like a modern window and still reads as a period one from the street.
Panes are counted in lights. A six light cottage window has six panes, whether that is one sash divided into six or two sashes divided into three each.
You have six options, and the choice changes both the look and how easy the window is to clean.
Four widths sit on the glass. The bars are glued to the outside and the inside of the sealed unit, at 25 mm, 25 mm in a design profile, 42 mm or 60 mm. Narrow bars look delicate and suit small windows. Wide bars give a heavier, more defined grid, which works on larger openings and on stone cottages where the frame needs visual weight.
Two widths sit inside the glass. Georgian bars, at 18 mm or 26 mm, are fitted within the sealed unit rather than on its faces. Nothing interrupts the outside surface, so the glass wipes clean in one pass.
You can add a spacer between the panes, in black or white, aligned with the bars. It closes the small visual gap where the bars meet the glass and makes each pane read as genuinely separate.
Not sure which to pick? Bars on the glass give the most authentic period look. Georgian bars inside the unit give the easiest maintenance. Both are available on every layout on this page.
Both start as the same pine frame. The difference is what protects the outside face.
Pine is painted or glazed at our factory and can be repainted in any colour later. It is the option most conservation officers prefer on period and listed buildings, because it can be maintained and repaired rather than replaced. It needs repainting when the surface starts to dull, which on a south facing elevation comes round sooner.
Alu-clad pine carries a 1 mm aluminium skin on the outside. The timber inside stays timber, so the room still reads as a wooden window, but the weather never touches the wood. You wash the frame with pH neutral soap a couple of times a year and that is the maintenance done.
No. Our cottage windows come in pine and alu-clad pine only. If uPVC is what you need, we are not the right supplier and we would rather tell you now than after you have measured up.
Here is the honest comparison. uPVC costs less and never needs painting. On a cottage it has two drawbacks: the bars are usually applied to a wider profile, which reads differently up close, and planning departments frequently refuse it on listed buildings and in conservation areas.
Timber costs more and asks for a coat of paint every few years. In return you get a slimmer sightline, a frame that can be repaired instead of replaced, and a material that passes conservation scrutiny.
If you want the look of timber with the maintenance of aluminium, alu-clad pine sits between the two.
Start with the grid on the windows you already have, then match the number of panes rather than guessing.
A two or four light window suits small openings, cottage bathrooms and anywhere the wall is thick and the hole is modest. Six and nine light windows are the most common on the front elevation of an English cottage. Twelve light and above suit tall Georgian and Victorian openings, where a fine grid over a large pane is what the elevation expects.
Horizontal bars only, with no vertical divide, give a lower and wider look. That works on long low cottages and barn conversions.
Top glazing bars put the grid in the upper section and leave the lower panes clear. You keep the period detail at eye level from outside and an unbroken view from inside.
Three things to settle before you order, and only one of them is about the window.
How to find the price for your cottage windows
If you’re on the lookout for a cottage window, you can easily find it here. Enter the relevant dimensions and choose between various specifications – one window at a time. After the price has been calculated, you can place your order online straight away.
Create your own cottage windows – creative solutions
You can create your cottage windows precisely as you wish. You decide the number of glass panes and casements – we have everything from one casement with two panes to four casements with a total of 32 panes of glass. It is your imagination that defines the limits on how to piece together your cottage windows. Cottage windows fit perfectly with a french door or a gorgeous low-priced stable door. The possibilities are numerous and give your home a unique personal touch.
At SparWindows you’ll always find good deals on cottage windows and double side hung windows.
Read about casement windows and top guided windows – you’ll find all standard types of windows and doors at SparWindows.
A cottage style window is a casement window whose glass is divided into a grid of small panes by glazing bars. The bars are also called astragal bars, Georgian bars or muntins. Modern versions use one sealed glass unit behind the grid, so the window insulates like a new window and looks like an old one.
Not from us. We make ours in pine and alu-clad pine only. uPVC cottage windows are sold elsewhere in the UK and cost less, but planning departments often refuse them on listed buildings and in conservation areas, and the wider profile changes how the bars look at close range.
Often yes, but you need listed building consent first, and your council may specify the material and the number of panes. Painted timber is the usual requirement. Talk to your conservation officer before you order, and copy the grid of the existing windows unless you are told otherwise.
Glazing bars are glued to the outside and inside faces of the sealed unit, in 25 mm, 42 mm or 60 mm. Georgian bars sit inside the sealed unit, in 18 mm or 26 mm. Bars on the glass give the more authentic period look. Georgian bars leave a flat outer surface, so the glass is easier to clean.
We supply, we do not fit. Windows are delivered to your address and you use your own joiner or fitter. Installation guides and videos are on the site so you can see the job before you start. If you want fitting included, a local installer is the better route.
