The word ‘glazing’ is a derivative of a Middle English words that meant ‘glass’. Any person who is able to professionally install or maintain glazing of any kind is known as a ‘glazier’ and they will have the skill to install windows, double glazing and triple glazing in homes, apartments, businesses and buildings. Glaziers were first required very early on in the life of glass, when it was discovered that it could be made in sheet form and inserted into holes in the wall to make light come through and protect the home from the weather. As early as the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans, glass was used, but in buildings it was a new concept. However, sheet glass was remarkably popular, but highly expensive.
Daylight Robbery
During the Medieval period stained glass was installed used in churches and plan or leaded glass was installed into some of the more affluent homes. However, according to some legendary stories glass was so expensive and the more windows a home had the more tax it was made to pay. This is why you will see medieval homes with few windows and those that it does have will be small and this is where the term ‘daylight robbery’ was said to have originated. Because of the taxes that were placed on people with large windows or many windows, people felt robbed of their daylight simply because of the amount of tax paid. Windows was small and although some daylight got in it was also still rather dingy inside. Being that this was also before the days of double glazing, the less window that a home had also meant it was less drafty. Middle England areas such as Wrexham, Derbyshire, Worchestershire and rural areas had to make do with shutters made from wood, unless they were a land owner and had their own money. Even then, the taxes were extortionate and depending upon who was in power as Monarch at the time and how greedy they were.
Double glazing was actually invented during the 1930’s but was not available in the UK until much later. Some homes were ‘modernized’ in the mid 1970’s to include double glazing and gas central heating, which was not commonplace until then.
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