Why some Historic Buildings have Bricked Up Windows

Have you ever seen an historic building that appears to have one or more of the window openings bricked / blocked up? These are usually neat in how they appear, rendered over neatly as opposed to breeze blocks with untidy mortar joints, though nonetheless quite evident that within the original build of the house there would have once been a window. Mostly larger property you will note this on, it could simply be one window which was bricked or at times several to include one within the property frontage and usually on the sides also.

So why are these window openings now blocked up? Well we can blame William III for this way back in 1696 when a window tax was introduced (said to have been introduced so to cover revenue lost by the clipping of coinage)! What this taxation did was to burden out the tax to those who could afford, ie those with bigger homes thus more likely to have plenty of windows. Property with less that 10 windows were exempt from paying and the more windows you had the more you had to pay per window (For example, for a house in 1747 with ten to 14 windows, the tax was 6d per window; it increased to 9d with more windows.) This taxation system did not always work out well for all situations as some larger tenanted property with multiple rooms / apartments also saw heavy taxes due for windows which the landlord had to pay and simply passed the costs on to their tenants.

We all hate paying taxes and many people looked at avoiding the payments and this is where the blocked windows we see today happened as such – People started to brick up windows to reduce their costs which in turn also reduced the amount of windows added to new build property at the time.

Though highly unpopular, the window tax lasted until 1851 where it was final dismissed following research and demands from the medical professionals at the time who claimed that the lack of natural light and ventilation caused ill heath.

In 1850, Dickens wrote about the window tax in Household Words, a magazine that he published for a number of years:

The adage ‘free as air’ has become obsolete by Act of Parliament. Neither air nor light have been free since the imposition of the window-tax. We are obliged to pay for what nature lavishly supplies to all, at so much per window per year; and the poor who cannot afford the expense are stinted in two of the most urgent necessities of life.

Bytheway, a brick tax was introduced in 1784 during the reign of King George III, we will leave this story for another time…

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Changes to mortgage affordability to support sales as house price growth cools

House price growth has slowed to 1.6 per cent annually, down from 1.9 per cent at the end of 2024, as buyer interest cools and the number of homes for sale continues to expand Buyer demand is one per cent higher than a year ago, while the number of homes for sale is 12 per…
Read More
Love or Hate Rightmove
Breaking News

Rents rise to new record despite boost in supply

The average advertised rent of homes outside of London has risen to a new record this quarter of £1,349 per calendar month (pcm), however it is the smallest increase in rents at this time of year since 2020: London rents also rise by 0.1% (+£3) to a 14th consecutive new record of £2,698 pcm this quarter…
Read More
Breaking News

Size Matters in Planning

The House Builders Association (HBA), the housebuilding division of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has reignited its campaign for the planning system to adopt five clear site size definitions, replacing the current, arbitrary ones of ‘Minor’ (one to ten homes) and ‘Major’ (ten and above). Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the NFB, said: “In…
Read More
Breaking News

Popping the Asking Price Bubble

Where in the Uk Can Buyers Snap Up Property Bargains and Where Properties Go for a Premium Above Asking Price   New research from fast selling property company, Upstix has uncovered the UK’s most surprising postcodes for snapping up a property at bargain prices this year, highlighting a widening gap between sellers’ expectations and the…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Highest demand to lease office space since pre-pandemic

The latest insights from the UK’s number one commercial property website Rightmove, reveals that the number of unique enquiries to lease office space is at its highest point since pre-pandemic, as businesses look for spaces that meet modern requirements. Demand to lease office space is 19% higher than the same period a year ago and…
Read More
Planning disputes on new build land
Estate Agent Talk

Planning consultations for major infrastructure to be streamlined

Robert Bruce, a planning and infrastructure partner at law firm Freeths LLP, said he: “Welcomed the change as a significant step to speeding up the DCO process and the focus on the quality and effectiveness of the consultation, rather than box ticking and a risk averse approach to pre-application consultation due to the current legal…
Read More