A Potted History of Shutters

In the UK we tend to think of shutters as being closely associated with life on the continent, and the hotter Mediterranean countries in particular, or perhaps the colonial style dwellings in the US. We do, however, also have a longer and richer history of shutters in the British Isles than you might imagine.

From Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean
Their prevalence in the Mediterranean stems from the fact that they were first employed in Ancient Greece and, due the climate of the region, they have never ceased to be a popular and convenient solution. Shutters have always been used as a way of simply covering a window space and the original Greek designs would have consisted of basic stone constructions, latterly of marble, to do the job.

The Ancient Greek shutters not only filled the window space (and therefore provided privacy and insulation against the outside elements) but gave the dweller better control over the temperature in the building by blocking direct sunlight, whilst still allowing air to circulate for ventilation. This key feature led to their spread across the Mediterranean and, with this spread, their construction switched to the more practicable and flexible material of wood.

Shutters in Britain
Shutters were commonplace in the British Isles from the Medieval period to Victorian times. The reason behind their initial and longstanding popularity was also the cause of their fall from prominence in the 20th century - the availability and affordability of glass.

We now take it for granted thanks to modern production techniques but in Medieval England glass was rare, expensive and seen as a luxury. As a result only the wealthier homeowners could afford to fill their window spaces with glass panels and even then they often only installed it in the top half of the space (above the sash). To fill the bottom half they would instead use solid shutters to keep the elements out.

As the centuries rolled by and glass became more affordable, shutters became more of a decorative internal feature, however during the Victorian era a change in the approach to house building with thinner walls replacing the thick constructions of previous centuries meant that exterior shutters, which could be reached through the shallower window recesses, made a resurgence.

The Birth of Plantation Shutters
The shutters that we commonly refer to as Plantation Shutters these days came into being through the European colonisations of the Americas, in the south of modern day USA as well as the Caribbean. In particular, the Spanish popularised the louvred shutter across the region, which went on to become common in the homes of the wealthy owners of the burgeoning cotton and sugar plantations. Their popularity no doubt stemming from their aptness, in such a tropical climate, to regulate temperature

Settlers from England and France also took the shutter to the eastern board of the US and the slightly narrower louvred shutter (in comparison to the wider Spanish counterpart) is still poplar in colonial style buildings in New England to this day.

The Louvred Shutter
What we now consider as louvres or louvred panels are thought to have originated as vents built into the roofs or turrets of buildings to allow ventilation for the smoke and steam produced by kitchens, whilst also keeping out the weather. However, some of these early designs may not be that recognisable as louvres to us today as they could vary from timber to ceramic constructions and could sometimes take the form of caricatures with gaps in the features rather than simple slats.

There is also a quaint story of origin which assigns the creation of louvres to the court of the French King Louis XIV who wanted to prevent his guards from being distracted by bathing beauties in the pools of the Palace of Versailles, shortly after the court’s transfer from the palace at the Louvre. By installing shutters with controllable slats he was able to achieve this whilst still being able to observe the women for himself.

Modern Shutters
The humble shutter is now making another resurgence in the UK as not only an interior dressing for window spaces but also an exterior window dressing, a replacement for interior and exterior doors and component of furniture. Their popularity still owes a lot to the fact they allow the user to manage the temperature and light levels in a room although they now also provide more advantages in our modern crowded dwellings as a flexible solution to manage privacy and noise levels.

In addition there is a growing desire to achieve a more historical look in our homes and in particular to reinstate features which may have been faithful to the age of the property, and as such shutters are now making a re-appearance in homes dating from the Victorian era and before.

Modern production techniques mean that shutters, whether louvred or solid, can be made to sate any interior design requirement, fitting any space or aesthetic and providing bespoke flexibility. So if you want to discover what people across the world have benefited from for thousands of years, there has never been a better time to investigate that perfect wooden shutter.