Roofs in a long chalk-slope village rebuilt by one landowner.
East Horsley stretches along the northern slope of the chalk, most of its houses rebuilt by Mr Currie, owner of the combined manors from 1784 to 1829. We climb up, photograph and price in writing.
Between 1784 and 1829 Mr Currie rebuilt most of the houses in the village, which the Victoria County History called compact and well built. A roof of that age needs checking at the fixings, not just at the surface.
Brick house with an old tiled roof
An early porch at the church was roofed with Horsham stone slabs, and by 1911 the church roofs were tiled. We treat stone, tile and slate each on its own terms, and we weigh any change of covering.
Old stone slabs and clay tiles
East Horsley has listed buildings, among them the Little Malt House, and its pavilion and wall are listed too. Work that changes a listed roof's character needs consent, and we ask that question first.
Old brick barn with tiled roof
Map of East Horsley and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
East Horsley is a long, narrow parish on the northern slope of the chalk between Guildford and Leatherhead, its station nearly a mile north.
Inside an East Horsley roof job
Three short chapters on houses rebuilt during the Currie ownership, the stone and tile history behind old coverings, and the Guildford and Surrey paperwork that comes with a larger job.
Stage 01 · First look
When one landowner rebuilds most of a village, its roofs share an age, and they tend to show their age in the same places.
The Victoria County History records that Mr Currie, who owned the combined manors from 1784 to 1829, rebuilt most of the houses in East Horsley, and it called the village compact and well built. Horsley Towers, built in Elizabethan style by Sir Charles Barry between 1820 and 1829, belongs to the same period. That is a long time ago, and a roof from the early nineteenth century may have been re-covered since. Whether yours has been is the first thing we try to work out.
We look at the underside from the loft before we look at the top. Old timber, hand-cut joints and rough sawn battens suggest an original structure, while thin machine-cut laths and modern felt tell of a re-cover. The tiles tell a story as well: a mix of colours and sizes means repairs from different dates, and a uniform slope points to a single re-roof. This matters because the repair that suits old, thick timbers is different from the repair that suits a recent covering, and the quote names which one you have.
What we test on an older roof
The things that hold the roof together tend to go before the tiles themselves. Nails corrode, so tiles slide; mortar on the ridge crumbles; lead at the chimney splits along its folds. For clay, a minimum life expectancy of 60 years comes from the Building Research Establishment, and Marley puts concrete near 60 years while warning that this is no guarantee. Either can outlive several sets of fixings. Our pitched roofing page explains how we renew fixings and relay tiles rather than strip a sound slope.
On a house of this age, yes. A chimney stack stands in the weather on all four sides, and its pointing is exposed to rain and frost. We look at the joints, the cement bed that holds each pot, and the flashing that seals the stack to the slope, and we check whether an old aerial bracket or satellite fitting has pulled at the brickwork. A cracked bed or open joint lets water run down the flue wall and show up as a stain on a bedroom ceiling. Our chimney repairs page covers what each repair involves.
Stage 02 · Materials
East Horsley's records mention Horsham stone slabs and tiled church roofs, a reminder that old coverings come in several heavy materials.
The Victoria County History notes that the church porch of 1869 replaced an apparently ancient porch roofed with Horsham stone slabs, and that in 1911 the church roofs were tiled with all-modern timbers. Stone slabs, clay tiles and later coverings all appear in the story of one building, and that is a useful picture of how a roof gets re-covered over the centuries.
Heavy coverings need sound timber, and weight is what we check before we plan any change. If a roof is stripped and re-covered in something lighter, the load falls and the timbers are happier. Going the other way, to a heavier material, matters more: the Planning Portal puts the line for Building Regulations approval at a 15 per cent or greater rise in the covering's weight. For that reason we measure and weigh up the old and new coverings before we price, and we recommend a structural engineer or surveyor for a heavier replacement.
Covering terms
Sometimes closely, and sometimes only by reusing what you have. Reclaimed tiles can be sorted and relaid on the visible slope, with new or second-hand ones used on a rear slope where they are hard to see. Our answer on matching old roof tiles covers the choices. We note the size, thickness, colour and nibs of your tiles so the match is made against your actual roof, and we show you the samples in daylight before an order goes in.
They can. Old plain tiles are often cambered and varied, and their edges and nibs are where they fail, with the nib breaking and the tile dropping out of line. We replace those one at a time and keep the sound ones, which saves cost and keeps the slope's texture. On a house with a mix of tile ages, we keep a running list of what is replaced and where, and give it to you with the photographs at sign-off. Spare tiles that survive the job are stacked in the loft or the garage, labelled, for the next repair.
A heavy old covering is only as safe as the timbers underneath it.
The same attention goes to the roofline, the name for the fascias, soffits and gutters along the eaves. Fascia boards, soffits and gutters take the weather first on any roof, and a section of rotten board can be replaced without renewing the whole run.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Guildford Borough Council and Surrey County Council both have a say on bigger East Horsley jobs, from area status to scaffold.
Matching repairs are simple for houses that are not listed, and Guildford can check your address against its conservation area plans. Listed buildings are the exception, and Guildford Borough Council, the planning authority, is where to confirm the position for any particular address. Surrey County Council looks after the highway.
Guildford runs its own building control service, described on its site as independent, impartial and not for profit. The Planning Portal sets two limits, under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, and a replacement that is heavier, or that reacts to fire in another way, moves the job out of the simple category. If a job is likely to cross those lines we speak to Guildford before fixing the date. Our roof replacement page describes the stages of a full re-roof.
Who to ask in East Horsley
If scaffold would sit on the pavement or the carriageway, Surrey County Council's licence applies. Applications go in 10 working days ahead of the start, the charge is £208 per 28 day period, and the application fee is non-refundable. Ask each firm that quotes who makes the application; our scaffolder and we arrange it together and plan the start around it. A house on a plot with a long front garden can often avoid the question altogether by using private ground.
Every species of bat in England has full legal protection, roosts included, and GOV.UK puts roof work, whether repair or replacement, among the things that can harm them. So the survey includes a check for droppings and gaps at the eaves and ridge. If any appear, the job halts while advice is taken and you hear the options, well before tiles come off. A short delay at that point protects the bats and keeps the work lawful.
Before you call, photograph the slope, stack or eaves that you are worried about and note your East Horsley postcode. If you know the rough age of the house or the last time anyone worked on the roof, that helps too, since it narrows what we expect to find under the tiles and how long the survey will take.
Not because of its age alone. Old roofs tend to fail at the nails, the ridge mortar and the lead before the tiles are spent. We test the fixings and the battens, lift a few tiles, and tell you whether repair or relaying is the better buy. The price in writing follows whatever the survey turns up.
Ask first. Matching repairs fall outside planning because they leave the outside appearance unchanged, but a new colour or material may not, particularly if your road sits in a conservation area. Guildford Borough Council decides planning here, and its officers can also say whether a listing such as the Malt House's applies to your building.
Guildford Borough Council runs its own building control service. For small repairs there is nothing to file, but a re-roof that approaches the Planning Portal limits, or fits a heavier covering, should be raised with them. We make that call early and record the answer in the quote, so the start date holds no surprises.
A handful of clear pictures of the problem area, shot from the lawn or the pavement, with your postcode, a mention of any listing and, if you know it, when the roof was last worked on. After that we book a visit, climb up, take our own photographs, and return a single total in writing, with the findings laid out so you can decide.
Send pictures of the slope, stack or eaves worrying you, with your East Horsley postcode, and the survey gets booked.
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