ROOFS - Dormer Windows

Traditional dormers are pitched roof faced with bargeboards and a simple, modest window. They were usually used for secondary rooms or to give light to attic spaces. Technically a full dormer window is a roof window set within the roof with rows of tiles or slates to all sides, including the lower edge. In Bishop Burton, several such dormers run close to the front wall edge of a building, thereby being supported by the front wall (see image top right), as opposed to being supported within the roof on a purlin, and these are primarily placed upon lower roofed buildings and cottages, where head height was restricted. Pitched roof dormers almost always reflect the pitch of the main roof. There are some departures from this style (see image left) where the dormers are protruding from the roof although they still maintain a pitch running from the ridge to the top of the window.

Fenestration usually echoes the windows of the main house, using sliding sash and reflecting the pane details. UPVC has somewhat eroded this character and struggles to replicate the fine details of a traditional dormer window (see image centre top).

Key features include: modest, pitched roof windows. sliding sash windows echoing main house. Simple decorated bargeboards