Roofs in a High Weald village centred on its crossroads.
Balcombe's conservation area dates from 1984 and its council lists clay roofing tiles, local stock brick and ornamental barge-boarding among its features. Older buildings carry Horsham slabs, so each roof is read on its merits.
Mid Sussex District Council lists clay roofing tiles and local stock brick among the conservation area's features. A repair there should put back clay that matches, so the tile and its colour are recorded at the survey.
Clay tiles on a brick house
The same booklet mentions ornamental barge-boarding on some London Road properties. The board along a gable edge is decorative and exposed to rain, so we look closely at it before touching the tiles beside it.
Painted boards along a roof gable
The Victoria County History records old Horsham slabs on St Mary's church and on timber-framed houses including Great Coopers Corner Farm. Heavy stone on old timbers is a specialist survey, and we say plainly what we find.
Old stone slabs on a steep roof
Map of Balcombe and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
The village stands at 316 ft on a spur of the forest ridge, with the railway in a tunnel under the north of the parish.
Balcombe survey diary
Three short chapters on the old Horsham slab roofs, the clay tiles and barge-boards that the council protects, and the permissions that follow in the High Weald.
Stage 01 · Oldest roofs
Balcombe's recorded history includes a church and farmhouses roofed in Horsham slabs, and that kind of roof needs a different survey from a tiled one.
Balcombe sits at 316 ft on a spur coming down from the forest ridge, and its parish had good building-stone quarries, according to the Victoria County History. The same account describes St Mary's church, with its 15th-century west tower, and says the roofs of its south chapel and south aisle are covered with old Horsham slabs. It also records that Great Coopers Corner Farm, dating from about 1550, and an early 17th-century house in the village are timber-framed and roofed with the same slabs. For a roofer, that is a clear sign that stone-covered roofs are part of Balcombe's story, and that some of them sit on timber that has carried the load for centuries.
On a slab roof survey
Horsham slabs are thick pieces of stone, far heavier than a clay or concrete tile, and they hang from a timber frame that has been moving gently for generations. When we survey one, the loft matters as much as the slope. We look at rafters and battens from inside, check where daylight shows through, and then go out onto the roof only after we have decided how to spread our weight, since old stone breaks underfoot. Photos of each slipped or cracked slab, and of the timbers behind it, go into the survey so you can see the extent of the trouble for yourself.
Sometimes, if matching slabs are found and the fixings behind them are sound. A repair on a roof like this is a conversation about materials: sourcing slabs of the right size and thickness, deciding how they are held, and agreeing what happens if the frame behind them turns out to be weaker than it looks. We would rather talk it through before pricing than offer a number we might have to change. If a building is listed, a call to the council comes before everything else, and the written price reflects the answer.
The tunnel and the quarries are a reminder that this is a place where stone, brick and clay were close to hand. Not every old Balcombe house is covered in stone, of course, and a house with a tiled roof gets the survey that suits tiles. Where the roof is clay tile, our pitched roofing page explains how we repair slipped tiles, battens and underlay, and the next chapter deals with the tiles the council itself describes.
Stage 02 · Conservation area
Part of Balcombe was designated a conservation area in 1984, and the council's own list of features reads like a roofer's checklist.
Part of the village was designated a conservation area in 1984, centred on the village crossroads, and the boundary was extended in March 1990. Mid Sussex District Council lists natural and traditional building materials including clay roofing tiles and local stock brick, and ornamental barge-boarding on some London Road properties, among the features that give the area its character. Three of those items sit right on a roof: the clay, the brick of the chimney stacks and gable walls, and the board along the edge of the gable.
A barge-board runs along the sloping end of a gabled roof, the line we call the verge, and it hides the ends of the roof timbers behind it. On London Road, the council says some of these boards are ornamental, so they are worth keeping. Rain and sun work on them from the top and the front, and a board that has softened at the lower end can let water into the roof timbers behind it. We check the board with a probe, look at the tiles that sit above it, and repair or replace like for like where we can. Our dry ridge and dry verge page covers the modern alternative to mortar at a verge, which is something to ask about only after the council has told you what it expects.
Terms on a Balcombe gable
In a conservation area, the right repair is the one that leaves the street looking unchanged.
Clay tiles weather unevenly, and a handful of bright new ones can look odd against old ones for years. Our approach is to record the tile's size, shape and colour at the survey, look for reclaimed or new tiles that match, and place them where they are least visible. Where a slope needs more than a patch, we show you the options and what each does to the look of the roof. The planning team at Mid Sussex District Council decides what counts as a change to a protected street, and we would rather you asked them before we start than afterwards. Chimney stacks in local stock brick are part of the same view from the street, so we look at the pointing, the flashing and the flaunching where the pot is bedded, and we repair them in matching mortar and brick.
The gutters and fascias below the tiles are part of the same picture, and our gutters, soffits and fascias page shows how we deal with them when a leak starts at the eaves.
Stage 03 · Rules
Balcombe lies in the High Weald National Landscape and a conservation area, so a bigger job brings questions to settle first.
Balcombe is in the High Weald National Landscape, formerly called an area of outstanding natural beauty, and part of the village is a conservation area. Both count as article 2(3) land, where some permitted development rights are narrower than elsewhere. Our guide to planning permission for roof work sets them out so we do not restate them here. The planning team at Mid Sussex District Council has the final word on your address.
St Mary's is a Church of England church, listed Grade I, and church roofs in use follow their own consent route. For the Church of England that is a faculty from the diocese, not listed building consent. If you are on the parochial church council and need a quote for roof work, tell us at the first call and we will explain what we can provide for the faculty application, such as survey photos and a written description of the repair.
Before a bigger Balcombe job
It does when the poles stand on a road or pavement. The highway authority is West Sussex County Council, whose page asks for at least 10 working days between application and erection and charges £266 for one month. The page does not say who must apply, so put that question to the scaffolder when you book. A scaffold wholly on your own land needs no licence, so a drive or garden with space is worth looking at first. If the poles have to go on the road, we also tell your neighbours which days to expect them, so a delivery or a school run is not caught out.
Mid Sussex District Council runs its own building control service. According to the Planning Portal, a re-roof normally needs no application while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is touched, but a heavier covering needs approval. Bats are fully protected and roof work can affect them, so we look for them at the survey. For a full re-roof we plan the order of work with you in advance. Send a photo of the roof and your address, and mention whether the house is old, listed or on London Road, so the survey can be planned for the right kind of roof.
Sometimes, if matching slabs exist and the fixings and timbers behind them are sound. We check the frame from the loft before stepping on the roof, as old stone breaks easily. If the building is listed, such as St Mary's, ask the right authority first. The written price follows the survey and the answer you get.
Mid Sussex District Council lists clay roofing tiles, local stock brick and ornamental barge-boarding among the area's features. A like-for-like repair keeps those in place, so we record the tile colour and the board profile at the survey. If you want to change the covering or the look of the roof, ask the council's planning team first.
A Church of England church in use goes through a faculty from its diocese, not listed building consent. Other denominations have their own routes. If you are on the church council, tell us the building's status when you call, and we will provide survey photos and a written description of the work to support your application.
Yes. The Planning Portal says a covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight needs approval, whatever the area, and swapping clay for stone slab or slate can do that. Mid Sussex District Council runs building control, so we ask its team on bigger jobs before fixing a date.
Tell us your road, attach a picture of the roof, and say whether the house is listed, and the survey can be booked.
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