Cooksbridge is the station village in Hamsey parish, about three miles north of Lewes on the A275. Most of its houses are from the last hundred years, and most of it lies outside the South Downs National Park.
How Cooksbridge grew
The railway reached Cooksbridge in 1847, and a turnpike was set up the same year next to Friendly Hall. The village grew around the station. The Hamsey neighbourhood plan dates its housing in layers: Downsview Cottages from the 1920s, Chandlers Mead from the 1950s and Malthouse Way from the late 1990s. It says the parish has about 250 homes, most of them in Cooksbridge, and that Cooksbridge, Old Cooksbridge and Bevern Bridge lie mainly outside the Park. Hamsey and Offham, the older settlements to the south, are largely inside it.
Who decides planning
For most Cooksbridge homes, the planning authority is Lewes District Council. Its Article 4 register lists nothing for Hamsey parish, so for an unlisted house, windows of similar appearance are normally permitted development. Homes in Offham are different: they are inside the Park, in the Hamsey (Offham) conservation area that the Authority looks after, and the parish plan's scoping report counted fourteen listed buildings in Offham and fourteen in Hamsey. Old St Peter's at Hamsey, on its promontory by the Ouse, is listed at Grade I.
What usually suits
The 1920s cottages suit flush casements, which copy the look of simple timber casements. Chandlers Mead and the 1950s houses suit chamfered or flush uPVC casements and a composite door. The late-1990s houses at Malthouse Way are reaching the age at which sealed double glazing units commonly start to mist and hinges wear. Wikipedia covers Cooksbridge under Hamsey parish.
An example from Cooksbridge
Illustrative example of a typical job
Three flush casements for a 1920s cottage near Cooksbridge station
House: A rendered 1920s semi-detached cottage near the station in Cooksbridge, outside the National Park and not in a conservation area.
Spec: Three uPVC flush casements, 1000 by 1200, in white with slim external bars, two downstairs and one upstairs. Scaffold for the upstairs window.
Typically £3,800 to £6,350, supplied and fitted, including VAT.
Outside the National Park the planning authority is Lewes District Council, and casements of similar appearance on an unlisted house are normally permitted development.
