Please, we are small and need all the help we can get. We are not asking for money or donations of any kind, this is not about personal gain.
As well as the need for people to spread the word about regarding what might be happening, we need people who can write, collate, draw, those with access to relevant information, printers.
We will be producing our own info leaflets and 'posters' for people to download and pass on but until then our greatest weapon is word of mouth.
Remember, we are just starting, this is for all of our sakes and of those who come after us.
SAY NO, RESIST THE NEW WINDOW TAX
A quick history behind our last window tax.
A QUICK HISTORY BEHIND OUR FIRST WINDOW TAX
In 1696 in the reign of William III another form of taxation came into force this was known as the “Window Tax” and would last until 1851.
In 1696 there was a financial crisis created by a growing inflation caused by the many conflicts both in Ireland and on the continent. One of the forms of taxation created to help pay the debt was known as the “Window Tax”.
By 1700 reforms had taken place by slashing taxes, auditing the accounts showing irregularities, and finally the nine-year war had come to an end in 1697, but the “Window Tax” would stay for another fifty one years.
The tax would be paid on a house of more than six windows. Unfortunately none of these records appeared to have survived, one way for a person to by pass the tax was to brick up one or two windows over the stated six, even today on some of the older houses the bricked up windows are still there.
In 1792 houses with 7-9 windows had to pay a tax of 2 shillings, and those people with property containing 10-19 windows would pay a tax of4 shillings.
In 1825 the number of widows taxable went from six to eight windows. The Window Tax would be replaced in 1851 with a tax called House Duty.
In 1697, windows became a tax liability. Earlier, it had been hearths, subjected to a much-resented tax first in England and then in the colonies. An illustration of the period shows a householder chasing off a tax assessor with a broom.
If the revenuers couldn’t get in to count the hearths, they could still count the chimneys; but therein lay the loophole. By locating fireplaces in the corners of rooms, next to the center wall, resourceful builders could place two hearths on the first floor and two more on the second, all vented through the same chimney.
So the window tax set its sights on more visible assets, levying two shillings per year on any house with more than six windows, 10 shillings for 20 windows, and 20 shillings for 30 windows or more.
Soon, thousands of windows in London were being bricked in or boarded up to keep their owners within the 6-window exemption. In the countryside, windows were a status symbol and great estates such as Longleat already glistened with hundreds of them.
Loophole: it was the number of windows, not their size, that counted for tax purposes. So it may be more than coincidence that manor houses built since enactment of the tax tend to have fewer—but larger—windows.
The 'now window tax' group would like to thank the creators of this history, it was made usuing the information taken from The History of Longparish, by G. timmings. and much thanks go to the members of the site www.insteadofapes.com who's work also features heavily here.
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