Kenley grew up the valley in phases, and every phase left different windows
Kenley's windows change as you climb the valley: 1860s sashes with margin lights on Welcomes Road and Uplands Road, Victorian terraces down at Roke, post-war semis in between. JM Glass & Glazing work as glaziers in Kenley from a Croydon base at 24 Waddon Close, CR0 4JT, reglazing the sash boxes, matching coloured and obscure panes, and putting new sealed units into the frames you already have.
The railway reached Kenley in 1856 and the houses followed it up the chalk. The 1860s put large detached villas on the western hillside, the stock still standing on Welcomes Road and Uplands Road, on generous plots. The 1880s brought smaller houses and the shop parade along Godstone Road, itself a valley road laid out back in 1790. By the end of the century the lower ground at Roke had filled in, so Roke Road, Roke Lodge Road and Little Roke are mainly Victorian terraces and modest semis. Interwar and post-war semis, bungalows and cul-de-sac infill went in between all of it, and out along Hayes Lane there are period houses and converted farm buildings, Welcomes Farm among them.
Six streets apart in Kenley you can go from an 1865 sash box to a uPVC casement fitted in 1998. That is why we look at a job here before we price it. It also matters that Green Belt wraps Kenley on three sides. Almost nothing new gets built, so nearly every call we get in CR8 5 is about improving a house that is already standing. And the ground is steep. Plots off Valley Road, Hayes Lane and Old Lodge Lane are often split level, and carrying a big sealed unit round the back on that gradient is a two-man job, sometimes a scaffold one. Access affects the price, so we want to see it first.
The hillside villas on Welcomes Road, Uplands Road and Hayes Lane
Tall timber sashes in the original openings, often with margin lights, coloured glass and heavy stone or render surrounds. Those should not be swapped for casements. We reglaze and repair what is there, or fit slim double-glazed units into the existing sash boxes so the sightlines survive. Houses of this size also ask for roof lanterns, orangery glazing and full-height rear glass. Edge Building Products made one of our roof light refurbishments their Installation of the Month for July 2025, 44 shaped double-glazed units into Edge 50mm capped aluminium glazing bars. That is the sort of one-off glass work the bigger Kenley houses tend to want, alongside glass balustrades on the split-level plots.
Roke, Little Roke and the terraces on the valley floor
Two-over-two sashes, arched heads, fanlights over the front doors and tiled porches, on a tight grain with nowhere to pitch a scaffold. Most window repairs in Kenley down here are cords, beads, rotten bottom rails and cracked panes rather than whole new frames. Where a later replacement window has gone cloudy, misted double glazing in Kenley is a straightforward fix: we measure the failed unit, have a new one made, and swap it into the frame you already own. The interwar and post-war semis further up the hill are the same story with bigger bays.
- Glass replacement in Kenley: cracked and smashed panes in windows, doors and side panels, single or double glazed
- Misted and blown sealed units measured, made and swapped into the frames you already have
- Sash reglazing and repair on the Victorian stock, including margin lights and coloured glass
- Glass cut to size in Kenley: shelves, table tops, cabinet glass, picture glass, polished edges and drilled holes
- Made-to-measure mirrors, splashbacks and shower screens for CR8 5 kitchens and bathrooms
- Emergency call-outs and boarding up after a break-in or a broken pane
The commercial work in Kenley runs down the Godstone Road frontage. That parade grew up in the 1880s and it is still mostly small independent units (the Co-op at number 60, Kenley Wine Merchants, Top Cafe at number 8, Cornell & Varley the DIY shop at 18-20), with Jewson's trade counter further down at 265. Add Kenley Memorial Hall at number 92, which opened in 1922 and was reopened by Douglas Bader in 1975, All Saints Church, the gliding clubs up at the aerodrome, and Purley town centre a mile north on the same road.
Shopfront glass, door glass and boarding up
Several of those units still have proper shopfront proportions: stallriser, pilasters, a real fascia. A stock aluminium frontage wipes all of that out, so where we can we keep the opening and change the glass. Shop front glass replacement in toughened or laminated, door glass and patch fittings, and reglazing after a break-in. If a pane goes through out of hours we board the opening first and come back with the glass once it has been made. All Saints is Grade II listed, built in 1870 and enlarged in 1897 and 1902, so anything touching historic fabric there needs consent sorted before a glazier turns up, and we will say so rather than start.
The Kenley Aerodrome Conservation Area and its Article 4 direction
This is the one real planning constraint on our patch, so it is worth being straight about it. The Kenley Aerodrome Conservation Area was designated in 2006 as Croydon's twelfth, and it straddles the Croydon and Tandridge boundary around Hayes Lane and the plateau. An Article 4 direction was confirmed by the Secretary of State on 13 July 2007. In plain terms that removes permitted development rights on the properties it covers, so window and door changes that would be automatic elsewhere in CR8 need checking with the council before anyone orders anything. We are not planning consultants and we do not put applications in for you. What we will do is flag it before we quote, and price a repair or a like-for-like reglaze as the alternative, which on those buildings is usually the better answer anyway.
One more thing worth saying plainly, because plenty of Kenley houses are having whole windows done. We are glaziers: we fit and replace glass. We are not on a competent-person scheme, so where a job means replacing whole frames and needs signing off under Building Regulations, that has to go through building control. Ask us and we will tell you which side of that line your job falls.
Getting to Kenley from our Croydon base
We work out of 24 Waddon Close in Croydon, about four miles from Kenley in a straight line and roughly five by road. It is one of the quicker runs we do, because most of it is dual carriageway: straight down the A23 Purley Way to Purley Cross, then onto the A22 Godstone Road and into the valley. Fifteen to twenty minutes off-peak. Purley Cross gyratory is the pinch point, so allow twenty-five to thirty at rush hour. We are in Purley, Riddlesdown and Coulsdon most weeks, so a Kenley call often slots into a run we are already doing. For an emergency glazier in Kenley, we aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, and we will tell you honestly if we cannot.
Glazing services we provide in Kenley
Same van, same glass rack, whatever the Kenley job turns out to be. This is what we get asked for most in CR8 5.
Areas near Kenley
We also cover South Croydon, Purley, Coulsdon, Sanderstead, Riddlesdown, Caterham. See every area on our areas covered page.
Frequently Asked Questions
About fifteen to twenty minutes off-peak. We are at Waddon Close in Croydon, roughly five miles away, and most of the run is dual carriageway: the A23 Purley Way down to Purley Cross, then the A22 Godstone Road into the valley. Purley Cross backs up badly at rush hour, so allow twenty-five to thirty minutes then.
Possibly, but check with the council first. The conservation area was designated in 2006 and carries an Article 4 direction confirmed in July 2007, which removes the permitted development rights you would normally have. Part of it sits in Tandridge rather than Croydon. Repairing or reglazing the windows you have is usually simpler than replacing frames, and we can quote for that.
Usually just the glass. If the frame is sound and only the sealed unit has failed, we measure each pane, have new units made and swap them into the existing frames. Bay windows in the Kenley semis often have several different sizes in one bay, sometimes with shaped or leaded panes, so we measure every one rather than assume they match.
Yes. Those 1860s villas have tall timber sashes in their original openings, often with margin lights and coloured glass. We reglaze and repair them, and where you want double glazing we can fit slim units into the existing sash boxes so the frames and the sightlines stay as they are. We do not turn them into casements.
Often, yes. Tell us the sizes, the thickness and what it is for, whether that is a shelf, a table top, cabinet glass or picture glass, and we will cut it and bring it out to CR8 5. We can polish edges and drill holes. Toughened and laminated glass takes longer, because it has to be made to size before it can be cut.
Ring the mobile on 07956 138 582. We aim to make a property safe the same day where we can, which normally means clearing the broken glass and boarding the opening, then coming back with the right pane once it has been made. Shopfronts are usually toughened or laminated, so tell us which it was when you call.
Yes, both. The 1860s villas on Welcomes Road and Uplands Road still carry margin lights and coloured panes, and where one is cracked we lift the panel, repair the lead and set it back, or copy the pattern off the light next to it. Obscure glass is simpler. Bathroom and landing panes in the Roke terraces come in set patterns, so show us the broken piece and we will match the pattern and the thickness.
We are glaziers, so the glass is what we do. On most Kenley houses that is all it needs: the sealed unit has failed and the frame is sound, so we swap the unit and leave the frame in place. It is quicker, and it costs a fraction of a new window. Sash boxes can usually be repaired and reglazed rather than replaced. If the frame itself has gone we are not a replacement-window company, and in the aerodrome Article 4 area the council would need asking first anyway.