Roofs by the Westerham line: hips, lost chimneys, listed buildings.
Dunton Green is where the Westerham branch left the main line. Its station has a hipped roof with the chimneys removed. We check hips, stacks and listings, then price in writing.
Kent's heritage record describes the station as hipped, with its canopy and chimneys removed. A hip is the sloping corner where two slopes meet, and we check its tiles, fixings and foot on any hipped house.
Hipped tiled roof corner
Broughton Lodge and The Duke's Head are both Grade II listed. A roof job on a listed building starts with the council, so we ask before we price and wait for the answer in writing.
Old tiled roof beside a chimney
Each Dunton Green house can be checked with Sevenoaks District Council for conservation area status. We also confirm with its planning team before a job alters how the roof looks, and keep repairs matched to what is there.
Tiled roofs along a village street
Map of Dunton Green and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Dunton Green lies north-east of Crawley in Sevenoaks district, where the branch line to Westerham opened in 1881.
Notes from the Westerham line
Three chapters: hips and lost chimneys, the two Grade II buildings, and the Kent and Sevenoaks paperwork behind a larger re-roof.
Stage 01 · Hips and stacks
Kent's heritage record describes the station as hipped, with its canopy and chimneys removed, which is a fair guide to what we check.
The Kent Historic Environment Record describes Dunton Green station as a single-storey, weatherboarded building with a hipped roof, typical of its line. Its canopy and chimneys have since been removed. A hipped roof slopes on all sides, and the hip is the sloping line where two slopes meet at an outside corner. That line carries its own row of hip tiles, and it is a busier spot than the open slope beside it.
We start at the foot of each hip, where the tiles are cut to fit and the hip tiles bear down. Slipped cuts show first there. Next comes the top, where the hips meet the ridge (the line along the highest point), and then the hip tiles themselves: are they bedded in mortar, held by clips, or both? Marley reads the 2014 revision of BS 5534 as ending reliance on mortar strength alone for these fittings, which is why a bedded hip now needs a clip or screw as well. The standard is not law, and it admits some of its advice may not suit old roofs. We therefore judge each roof as we find it. Our dry ridge and dry verge page explains the clipped system. Underlay at the hip line matters too, because rain runs down both slopes into that angle.
On a hipped roof survey
The station lost its chimneys, and plenty of houses have lost theirs too. Once a stack has gone, the roof has to be closed up properly: matching tiles across the gap, new battens and underlay, and no scraps of old flashing (the metal that seals the joint) or flaunching (the mortar crown that holds the pots) left to crack. A patch that does not match the slope around it is a mismatch that lets the rain in. Checkatrade's October 2026 cost guide gives a typical range of £260 to £340 per metre for removing a stack, with a project figure of around £1,800. Removing the breast inside the house is another matter: the Planning Portal says building regulations approval will always apply, because breasts are part of the structure. If a stack still stands and worries you, our chimney repairs page covers flashings, repointing and caps. The survey photos show you each hip and any repaired patch up close, so you see what we see before you decide.
Stage 02 · Listed buildings
Broughton Lodge and The Duke's Head are both Grade II, so a roof job on either starts with a question about consent.
Among Dunton Green's listed buildings are Broughton Lodge, first listed on 16 January 1975 (entry 1085927), and The Duke's Head Public House (entry 1253964). Both are Grade II. A listing changes how a roof is handled, so it pays to know early whether yours has one.
Yes, because the roof is part of the building the listing covers. Section 7 of the 1990 listed buildings Act is the rule behind it: works that would affect a listed building's character are not allowed unless they have been authorised. Whether a given repair affects character is a question for the council, so we ask Sevenoaks District Council's planning team before we price, and we wait for the answer in writing. The existing covering, the way the tiles are laid and the ridge detail can all decide how the council sees a repair. That is why we photograph the roof thoroughly at survey and note anything that looks old, so it is repaired rather than swapped out.
Words on a listed roof job
Historic England's national register is searchable by address or postcode, and it is the place to look. If your house is on it, tell us when you ask for a survey, so the written price waits for the council's view instead of guessing at it. Our guide to re-roofing a listed building sets out the usual steps from first photo to start date.
For an ordinary repair in Dunton Green the main question is the roof itself, though the district's planners can say if your road has a conservation area designation. Matching the old tiles keeps the house looking as it does today. A change to the covering, the colour or the roofline is a different question from a repair, and Sevenoaks District Council's planning officers can answer it before you commit. A conservation area and a listing are separate things, so we ask about both when we visit. A neighbour's roof may be older or newer than yours, and each slope gets read on its own evidence.
On a listed roof, the council's answer comes before our price.
On a roof that has had earlier repairs, the survey notes which tiles are original and which were swapped in, because a mixed slope is common after years of patching. We photograph the join so you can see where the old work ends and the new work begins.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Dunton Green sits under Kent County Council for highways and Sevenoaks District Council for planning and building control, which shapes a bigger job.
Most small repairs never meet a form. Paperwork enters when a job turns into a re-roof, or when scaffold has to stand where the public walks or drives. Dunton Green is in Kent, so the county council is the highway authority, while Sevenoaks District Council covers planning and runs its own building control.
It does, when the scaffold obstructs the public highway; a frame built on a front lawn or side passage that belongs to the house stays outside the licensing system. Kent's guidance puts the application on the scaffold firm rather than the homeowner: the firm that is placing the structure should be registered with the council and apply for the customer. Its published permit for scaffolding on the highway is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, with a site inspection charge of £78 where one is deemed necessary, and applications should reach the council 5 working days before the licence is meant to start. The scaffolder and we set the date together around those steps. Checkatrade's October 2026 guide quotes £700 to £1,300 for scaffolding a new roof, so when you weigh up quotes, check whether each one includes VAT and scaffolding.
What the survey shows in Dunton Green
The Planning Portal's test for skipping building control has two halves: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope affected, and less than 50 per cent of the roof. Weight is the other trigger: a covering 15 per cent heavier or more needs approval, and the Planning Portal advises getting an engineer or surveyor to assess the structure before the old covering comes off. Sevenoaks District Council runs its own building control service, so on bigger jobs we put the question to it directly and the figure in your quote follows what it says. If the survey points to a whole new covering, our roof replacement page walks through each step of that bigger job.
Bats and the places they rest are protected by law, and the government's own guidance counts reroofing among the jobs that can harm a roost. The loft check at survey is where we look for droppings or a bat itself. If either appears, the job pauses and we go through the choices with you before a tile moves. Begin with a picture of the hip, stack or slope that bothers you, sent with your Dunton Green postcode.
Look at the patch where the stack stood. Kent's heritage record notes that the station lost its chimneys, and the same gap exists on houses. The covering should match the slope, the battens and underlay should be whole, and no old flashing or flaunching should be left to crack. A survey shows the patch up close, with photos.
Yes in principle, but works that affect a listed building's character need listed building consent. Broughton Lodge and The Duke's Head are both Grade II here. Ask Sevenoaks District Council's planning team before any work, and give us the answer in writing. We then price the job against what the council has agreed, not against a guess.
Only if it obstructs the public highway. Kent's page expects the scaffold firm to hold the registration and apply for the customer, at £52 per week for 2026 to 2027. Scaffold standing on your own land needs none. Once a date is chosen, the scaffolder and we confirm that the licence is in place before the poles go up.
As one total price in writing after the survey. What drives it is the number of hips, the access, how well the new tiles match and whether the hips are bedded or clipped. Checkatrade's June 2026 guide gives a typical range of £70 to £100 per metre for repairing a dry hip, before VAT is added.
Photograph the hip, stack or slope you are unsure about, add your Dunton Green postcode, and we will come back with a survey slot.
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