Bidborough is a small village north-west of Southborough, about four miles from the centre of Tunbridge Wells. Its name probably comes from Old English for Bitta's burial mound. It became a parish of its own in 1218, after separating from Leigh, and has a conservation area round its old centre.
St Lawrence and the High Street
The parish church of St Lawrence, listed at Grade II*, stands on a spur above the High Street. Its medieval walls are large, roughly dressed blocks of local sandstone, probably quarried just south-east of the church, under a west tower with a small spire. The chancel was largely rebuilt and the south aisle added in 1876 to 1877 by Ewan Christian, and the church has eight early twentieth-century windows by Morris and Company.
Around it, the village has a cluster of listed buildings for its size. They include 6 and 9 High Street, Bakers Cottage, Sycamore Cottages, School House and the Old School, Deacon House, and The Grange, which is Grade II*. Further out are Bidborough Court, Bidborough Ridge Cottage and several farmhouses and cottages. All of these need listed building consent for new windows.
What gets fitted here
Because the village is small and many of its older buildings are listed, Bidborough enquiries tend to fall into two groups. For listed cottages, timber made to the existing pattern, or secondary glazing on the inside, is usually the answer, and the surveyor will say so. For twentieth-century and later houses there's no historic pattern to follow. Flush or chamfered uPVC casements, slim aluminium and new garden doors cover most jobs.
For unlisted older houses inside the conservation area, the rule is the same as in the other villages: new windows can be fitted without planning permission if they look similar to the old ones. Matching the pane pattern and choosing a muted colour against sandstone or brick is what makes the difference.
More on the village: Bidborough on Wikipedia.