Replacement windows in Ashurst Wood, on the ridge above East Grinstead

Ashurst Wood sits on a ridge about 122 metres above sea level, a mile south-east of East Grinstead and just off the A22, which here follows the old Lewes Road ridgeway. It is a parish in its own right only since 2000, and until 1993 the village was split between East and West Sussex. Today it is in Mid Sussex District, and the whole village lies inside the High Weald National Landscape.

Old farms and the houses that followed the railway

For centuries this was farmland. Water Farmhouse is sixteenth century, Great Surries seventeenth, and Homestall Lodge, part of which dates from around 1300, is listed Grade II*. The railway links of 1855 and 1884 brought wealthier buyers out from London, and houses followed. After the Second World War suburban building expanded the village, and those post-war houses now make up a large part of what needs new windows.

North of the village, Mills Rocks is a Site of Special Scientific Interest made of sandstone outcrops. The village is built mainly on Tunbridge Wells Sand and Wadhurst Clay, which is why springs rise in its woods.

What applies to your windows

Ashurst Wood has no conservation area on Mid Sussex's list. Being in the High Weald does not stop a house replacing its windows, so for most homes the rule is simply that the new windows should look similar to the old ones. The village's own Neighbourhood Plan, for 2015 to 2031, aims to keep its character as a rural village, and that matters for extensions and new houses more than for like-for-like windows.

The listed farmhouses are the exception: any window change there needs listed building consent. For the post-war houses, flush or chamfered uPVC casements are the norm. Upstairs windows on the ridge need a scaffold tower, which is a real part of the cost on a small job.

Read more on Wikipedia.

An example job in Ashurst Wood

Illustrative example of a typical job

One small landing window on a post-war house in Ashurst Wood

A post-war semi-detached house of the kind added to Ashurst Wood after 1945, on the ridge just off the A22.

• One small uPVC flush casement, about 600 by 900mm, on the upstairs landing
• White, double glazed, a single opening sash with a friction stay
• Scaffold tower for the upstairs opening included

Typically £1,250 to £1,600, supplied and fitted, including VAT.

The scaffold makes up a large share of a one-window upstairs job. Adding a second upstairs window at the same visit costs far less per window.

See all eight example jobs.