He drilled a whole through the shutters so he could watch the delights come by. As she passed, Tom got struck down by her beauty and was blinded. So the story goes but other stories differ especially when that lady Godiva was named in the Doomsday book. Owning most of the land in Coventry, you would have a serious say on what taxes was payed to the Earl. Tom was only introduced later to the folklore in the 1700s 700 years later. so whether this part of the story is true or not is a different matter.
question is was it more about a moral principle because the folklore was pretty much the same till the 1700s and no mention of “Peeping Tom”. It has been mentioned that she paraded through the town with knights by her side and the crowd coming out to greet her.

internal shutters were made to be built into a wall

Shutters were used everywhere in the 15- 16th century because most people could only afford this. The top part of the window would have glass installed in the frame. The shutters were used on the lower part of the window so that it would block out the light. It also regulated air flow and protected us against unwanted visitors and insects.
When the windows were more common in the 17th century and people was installing internal shutters. These were a form of draught-proofing and light control system.
The shutters that we are on about are the shutters that are built into the walls. This would give the windows a perfect finish and a certain elegance to them. Whether these were full length shutters or mid-height, they were always built the same as making a door. It was constructed with stiles bottom, mid and top rails and panels.
These were locked the same as the original external shutters with a bar on the inside of the shutters.
This would add extra security for the property and privacy which was more important. Over time the windows were getting bigger and bigger, there homes would start to be part of the local scenery. People would start to look inside the properties of other people or their neighbours Its basic human nature to know things about other families and how they live. Maybe therefore this why peeping tom first got introduced into Lady Godiva’s famous folk lore in the 1700s. This would remind people of not doing this and it could have consequences.

Why did the design of shutters change in the regency period

So, people would start to alter the designs of the shutters and start putting benches underneath the shutters. This would allow the window space to be now usable and add storage into the area. Designs started to change again and start designing horizontal sliding shutters to keep more of the internal space. This would still give you privacy from prying eyes that was needed without all the light being lost. These would be used especially when you have a wall of windows in a row along a wall. otherwise the windows would have an independent bay for each window which would lose space.
Sswr has seen the influx of plantation shutters in old properties were sometimes they look odd. These are made for different types of buildings and don’t match the surrounds of the home itself. Making a shutters requires some thought, to what materials that you use and the design. One of the reasons is that is that if you use a timber that is just normal joinery grade pine. Eventaully it would warp in the heat and dry out very quickly and render them unworkable.

Why shutters are made in certain material.

Sswr Ltd use at bare minimum Southern Yellow Pine. Even though this is pine it is classed as a hardwood and a grade 3 Timber. Shutters can be made in any type of hardwood material you do have to watch out for tanning. Certain woods are very acidic and if it is painted and absorbing the heat the water can molicules can dry. this is more apparent in the sap of the wood and will leave a stain hence the name.
The shutters that we make are the same principle as the plantation shutters that you see everywhere that are all made in China and imported. They have a Subframe around the shutters and internal stops. These can be designed so that internal trims can be used as well were the subframe meets the sill and the sides to create a flush finish.
the Shutters that we are showing you in this picture have all been hand built in our own dedicated workshop facilities. We collect the timber ourselves so that we can get perfect grains in the timber without any knots or any natural defects.

Handmade segmented shutters made in worthing.

We made these to a custom design on a segmented window that we restored on a project in Worthing. These were quite tricky to make and required old fashioned accomplished joiners to create these shutters.
These are created from a template to make the arches of the windows. There was not much that was true considering that the internal frame was already there.
These shutters come fully finished with a 4 coat spray finish and can come in many different designs, colours or laquered.
The furniture is a big thing with this and as we were doing basically a cottage style building in Worthing than the hinges and furniture were all done in hand forged fixings from the Anvil range from our distributer.

We can also offer a unique twist to this and get hand forged handles, hinges and locks. This is from a Blacksmith that we work with on certain projects in the past.
Please feel free to ask about our range and what we can do for you when transforming your home and we look forward to hearing from you. We cover the following areas: Brighton and Hove, Lewes, Hassocks, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Crawley, Gatwick, Uckfield, Seaford, Cuckfield, Eastbourne, Pevensea, Hastings, Shoreham, Horsham, Worthing Pulborough, Chichester, Arundel, East Sussex and West Sussex