A village of 810 people
The 2021 Census counted 810 people in the Cross in Hand built-up area. We never assume one house matches the next, so every survey starts from the roof itself, its fixings and its loft.
Tiled cottage roof in a village
Roofers in Cross in Hand
Roofs in a small High Weald village with a listed windmill.
Cross in Hand counted 810 people at the 2021 Census and lies within the protected landscape of the High Weald. We survey each roof as it stands and set out one price in writing.
What stands in a village of 810 people
A Grade II* windmill
Cross In Hand Windmill, also called New Mill, is Grade II* listed, and Mill House is Grade II. Listing belongs to those two buildings, not to the lanes and gardens around them, so neighbours are judged separately.
Weathered roof on an old building
Inside the High Weald
Cross in Hand sits within the High Weald, a protected landscape that carried the older legal name of Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so rules on altering a roof's look can differ from town streets. Repairs that change nothing visible stay simple.
Tiled roofs in wooded countryside
Cross in Hand, in the Wealden district
Map of Cross in Hand and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Cross in Hand is a village in East Sussex, inside the High Weald, in the district run by Wealden District Council.
- Distance
- 28.2 road miles from Crawley, to the south-east
- Drive
- About 47 minutes
- Council
- Wealden District Council and East Sussex County Council
- Planning authority
- Wealden District Council
- Cross In Hand Windmill
- Grade II*, list entry 1183064, listed 13 October 1952
- Mill House
- Grade II, list entry 1353399
- Population
- 810 (Census 2021, built-up area)
A Cross in Hand roof, step by step
Reading roofs in a small High Weald village
Three short chapters on what the High Weald tells a roofer, how its protected landscape and listed buildings shape consent, and which councils answer which question here.
Stage 01 · Background
A small village in the High Weald
In a village of 810 people we assume nothing, so a Cross in Hand survey starts from the roof, not from a pattern book.
Cross in Hand is a small place: the 2021 Census counted 810 people in its built-up area. We hold no record of how its houses are roofed, so which buildings carry tile, which carry slate and which have been re-covered in something newer is answered by looking, slope by slope. No street name settles it.
What do High Weald buildings tell a roofer?
The High Weald's own settlement pages mention timber-framed buildings clad in weatherboard, and say that sandstone, brick and tile are widely used because of the sandstone and clay in the ground. That describes the landscape, not any one house here, but it tells us what to watch for: tiles and timber meeting at the eaves, where a failing gutter can soak the boarding below it. Photos taken at the survey show you exactly how yours is built. Chimneys and flashings on older buildings get the same attention, because a stack is where two materials meet and water finds the gap.
Our Cross in Hand check sheet
- Covering
- Tile type and condition, slope by slope
- Ridge and verge
- Mortar or dry-fix, and how held
- Eaves
- Boards and timber ends probed
- Gutters
- Joints, falls and downpipe runs
- Access
- Drive, lane and room for scaffold
Does a country roof need different repairs?
The repairs are the same; the logistics change. A long drive or a wide garden gives room for scaffold on private ground, where no highway licence is needed, while a narrow lane may offer none. Deliveries and rubbish skips need a clear way in, and neighbours on a shared lane should hear when lorries are due. The survey settles those points, and the written price reflects them.
On an exposed site, the ridge and verge take the strain. A mortar bed on its own stopped being accepted as the fixing for ridge and hip tiles with the 2014 revision of BS 5534, Marley explains, and each bedded piece should be held mechanically as well. For dry systems, BS 8612 is the test standard covering ridge, hip and verge. Our dry ridge and dry verge page explains both methods, and the survey photos show which your roof has.
Age is only a guide to the covering. Marley's figure for concrete tiles is about 60 years, a typical life rather than a promise, while for clay tiles the minimum life expectancy quoted by the Building Research Establishment is 60 years, a figure an article on building conservation says misleads on old peg tile. What wears first is the detail around the tile. Our pitched roofing page covers how those repairs are made.
Stage 02 · Protected setting
A windmill and a National Landscape
The village sits inside a protected landscape and has two listed buildings, so the consent question comes before the roofing question.
Cross In Hand Windmill, also known as New Mill, was first listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952 (entry 1183064), and Mill House is listed Grade II (entry 1353399). Whether a Cross in Hand house sits in a conservation area is for Wealden District Council to confirm. The High Weald itself covers 1461 square kilometres across parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey and is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
What does a National Landscape change for roof work?
The law still uses the older name, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and National Landscape is the current brand. Planning law groups such land with conservation areas and National Parks as article 2(3) land, where some permitted development rights are narrower than elsewhere. A repair that changes nothing visible makes little practical difference. For anything that alters the shape or appearance of a roof, ask Wealden District Council's planning team first, and read our planning permission for roof work post for the starting points.
Consent terms, plainly put
- National Landscape
- Protected countryside of national standing
- Grade II*
- Particularly important listed building
- Listed building consent
- Permission to change a listed building
- Designated land
- Land where some planning rights narrow
Is a repair near the windmill any different?
Listing attaches to the named building, so a house nearby is judged on its own record. Wealden's planning team can tell you whether yours is listed, and it is worth asking before any quote is agreed. If it is, works affecting its character need listed building consent, and no start date goes in the diary beyond maintenance until you hold the answer. The windmill is for its owner and the council to deal with. Beside a listed neighbour we simply plan access with extra care over scaffold position, dust and falling debris. The roofline as seen from the lane is photographed too, giving you a record to show the council if a question ever arises.
In a protected landscape, a roof is judged partly by how it looks from the lane.
Why does the landscape matter for materials?
A repair here is judged partly on how it sits among its neighbours. Matching a tile's colour, size and profile, and keeping the roofline true, is part of the job. Where new tiles will not blend, we look at reclaimed or closely matched ones, and show you samples against the existing roof in daylight. Where the covering is old peg tile, the 60 year figure is not a dependable guide, so each tile is judged on its condition: whether it rings or thuds when tapped, whether the nibs have broken and whether the peg holes have elongated.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Wealden, East Sussex and sign-off
Two tiers of council share the work, so planning, roads and building control each have a different address.
Planning here belongs to Wealden District Council, while East Sussex County Council runs the roads, with licences handled through East Sussex Highways. Building control is carried out by the East Sussex Building Control Partnership, which does the work for the Eastbourne and Hastings boroughs and the Rother and Wealden districts.
What does road scaffold involve here?
East Sussex Highways lists a licence for scaffolding on the highway at 28 days, new or renewal. It publishes no lead time for an application, wants a request to extend in at least five working days before the licence expires, and wants the fee paid when you apply, before the licence is issued. Its terms also say no scaffolding is permitted on the highway during annual bonfire celebrations, which matters when autumn dates are being set. Nothing on those pages names who applies, which is why we put that question to the scaffolder and settle the licence together. A first application has no published lead time, so applying early is the safe course. Poles that stand inside your own boundary fall outside the licence. Ask any firm quoting whether its price includes scaffolding and VAT.
Who answers what
- Planning
- Wealden District Council
- Roads
- East Sussex County Council
- Building control
- East Sussex partnership, led by Wealden
- Road scaffold
- 28 day licence, fee paid first
- Bonfire season
- No licensed road scaffold
When does re-roofing a Cross in Hand house need Building Regulations approval?
The Planning Portal's test is that no building control application is normally needed when under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Where the replacement covering would weigh 15 per cent or more above the old one, approval is required, and the Portal also suggests taking advice from a structural engineer or surveyor first. The partnership's building control officers can say where your own job falls. If the survey shows a full strip is justified, our roof replacement page describes the sequence.
Outbuildings need a word of caution. The Health and Safety Executive calls any asbestos cement roof fragile and advises assuming asbestos in any building built or refurbished before 2000, so a garage or barn roof is surveyed from the ground or a ladder, never walked on, until the material is known. Every bat and every roost is protected, and government guidance includes roof repair in the list of work that could harm them, so a sign at the survey means the work stops until the next step is agreed. Send photos of the part of the roof worrying you, with your postcode.
Cross in Hand homes: our roof services
Cross in Hand roof and consent queries
Does the High Weald National Landscape affect my Cross in Hand roof repair?
A repair that changes nothing visible is the simple case, and the survey photos then record what was done. The designation matters when the look changes: a new material, a reshaped ridge or an added window. Planning rules for roof alterations can be tighter on this kind of land, so ask Wealden District Council's planning team first and pass the answer to us.
Which heritage records matter for a Cross in Hand house?
Wealden's conservation area boundaries are worth checking for your road first. The village does have two listed buildings, the windmill at Grade II* and Mill House at Grade II, and sits inside the High Weald. Whether your own house is listed is a question for Wealden's planning team or the National Heritage List, which can be searched by address; settle it before any quote is agreed.
Who deals with building control for a roof job in Cross in Hand?
The East Sussex Building Control Partnership, which carries out the function for Wealden, Rother, Eastbourne and Hastings. For a small repair nothing is needed. A larger re-roof, or a heavier covering, is the time to ask them, and the written price allows for whatever their officers say about your house, so there are no surprises once work begins.
Can scaffold go on the road near Cross in Hand in bonfire season?
East Sussex Highways' licence terms say no scaffolding is permitted on the highway during annual bonfire celebrations, so autumn dates for road-side poles need checking first. Scaffold standing wholly on your own land is not a highway matter. We look at the room around your house at the survey and fix dates around any licence.
Tell us about your Cross in Hand roof
Send photos of the ridge, verge or tiles that concern you, with your postcode, and a survey date will be arranged.