Roofs over greensand walls, timber frames and two Grade II* inns.
Godstone lies on the greensand below the North Downs, with timber-framed cottages and listed inns around The Green. We survey, photograph and then put one total price in writing.
Near the church stand a pair of 17th-century half-timber cottages and a group that looks 16th-century. A frame this old moves, so we read the timbers and the tile fixings together before we plan any repair.
Half-timbered cottage with tiled roof
The Bell Hotel and the White Hart are both listed Grade II*. Altering how either roof looks or is built brings in listed building consent, so that question is settled before the repair plan is fixed.
Old inn with steep tiled roof
A slice of the village falls inside the Godstone (The Green) conservation area. We match your address against that boundary with Tandridge's planning team before suggesting anything that alters how a roof looks.
Village green with tiled roofs beyond
Map of Godstone and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
A greensand village below the North Downs on the London to East Grinstead road, with Tilburstow Hill, 591 feet, rising to the south.
Godstone in three stages
Three chapters: what soft greensand does to a wall, how listing shapes a repair, and the Tandridge and Surrey sign-offs if a job grows.
Stage 01 · First look
Godstone's older buildings use local stone, timber frames and tile, so our first look is about what the walls will hold on to.
The Victoria County History of 1912 says building stone was quarried from the Upper Greensand at Godstone, and adds that it does not stand up well to alternating wet and drought. That single remark explains how we look at roofs here. A wall that sheds its face or crumbles at the joints gives a roof less to grip, and the abutment, the place where a slope meets a wall, is the first spot to show it. The village sits below the North Downs on the London to East Grinstead road.
A lead flashing is tucked into a groove cut in the wall, called a chase, then wedged and pointed. If the stone around the chase has crumbled, the lead has nothing to hold it, and water runs behind. So at the survey we press the pointing, look at the stone either side and judge whether a new flashing will stay put. Where it will not, we repoint with a mortar matched to the wall before the lead goes in. Our lead work page shows what goes into a lead flashing once the wall is ready for it.
Water from above matters just as much. A gutter that spills at a joint or a downpipe that has lost its shoe sends water down a soft wall, and over a few winters that loosens the very pointing the flashing depends on. We trace stains on the stonework back to the roof edge before we blame the lead, and we tell you when the fault is a gutter, not a slope.
Words for old walls and roofs
The same history describes the White Hart as a two-storey house of the mid-16th century on an H plan, and the cottages near the church as half-timbered, with the almshouses beside them added in 1872 to designs by Sir Gilbert Scott. It describes the Bell Inn as an early 18th-century building with a tiled roof. A tiled roof over an old frame is rarely square, so rafters, plates and battens all get a careful look, and we photograph anything soft.
Marley reports a Building Research Establishment minimum of 60 years for clay tile, yet buildingconservation.com calls that figure an unreliable guide for handmade peg tile, so each tile is judged in hand. Sound old tiles are lifted, sorted and relaid with new battens and underlay where we can, because they carry the colour and texture the street is known for. Our pitched roofing page describes how that work is staged.
Stage 02 · Listed buildings
Several of Godstone's best-known buildings are listed, so the question before a listed roof job is who has to agree to it.
The National Heritage List records the Bell Hotel as Grade II*, first listed on 11 June 1958, and the White Hart as Grade II* too. Number 66 High Street carries Grade II, listed in 1984. Your own house may or may not appear on the register, and the surest way to find out is to ask Tandridge's planning team or check the list entry for your address before any work is priced.
Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 allows no works affecting a listed building's special character unless they have been authorised. Refixing a few slipped tiles with identical ones sits at one end of the scale; a new covering, a changed pitch or a different ridge sits at the other. We cannot decide that for you, and neither can anyone but the council, so we raise the question before the scaffold goes up rather than after.
Before touching a listed roof
The answer is matching, and matching is slow work. We take a sample of the existing tile before ordering anything, look at its size, colour and camber, and compare it with what the supplier can offer. Old tiles vary from course to course, so a roof relaid in one flat colour looks wrong against its neighbours. Where possible we reuse sound tiles on the visible slope and put reclaimed or new ones on the less prominent faces, and the survey photos show which is which. Lead gets the same treatment: the same code, laid the same way, so the details read as they did.
If your roof is natural slate, the Confederation of Roofing Contractors puts well-maintained slate at 100 years or more, which is why a slipped slate usually points to tired nails and clips rather than a worn-out covering. The almshouses beside the church date from 1872, so roofs of that age may carry repairs from several different decades, and we read those repairs as part of the history.
On a listed roof, the repair that matches what is there stands the best chance.
Where an inn, almshouse or cottage roof is steep or hard to reach, scaffold replaces ladders. Access is worked out on the survey visit, tell you what stands where, and keep the road clear for anyone using the main street. Our answer on re-roofing in a conservation area sets out what changes when a roof is judged for its setting.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Godstone sits under Tandridge District Council for planning and Surrey County Council for the highway, with shared building control behind both.
The Green's conservation area, mapped on the national planning dataset from council-supplied boundaries, takes in part of Godstone. Tandridge District Council holds the planning decisions. If a repair keeps the tile you already have, a conservation area adds very little to the job. A different covering, another colour or a new roof shape is the moment to bring Tandridge's planning team in, ahead of any order for materials.
Tandridge's building control comes from the Southern Building Control Partnership, which the council calls its local authority building control team. By the Planning Portal's yardstick, an application is usually unnecessary when the work stays below 25 per cent of the building envelope and below 50 per cent of the roof, and a heavier covering, by 15 per cent or more, alters the answer. If your survey points to a large strip, we ring the partnership before settling a date, and the quote records what they said.
Poles standing on a Surrey road or pavement call for a county council licence: the application goes in at least 10 working days ahead, and the fee is £208 per 28-day period. Land you own, such as a drive or back garden, falls outside the scheme. Ask who is applying when you compare quotes; the scaffolder and we sort the paperwork out between us, and the start day is set by the notice period. Neighbours around the green hear from us beforehand, and we tell them again when the scaffold is coming down.
Before anyone climbs, we agree where materials will be stacked and how waste leaves the site, so a narrow village frontage is not blocked for longer than it has to be. Each day we tell you what is being done and what is next, and each evening the site is left tidy and secure. Tiles that are to be reused are stacked and covered, and the slope is never left open to the weather overnight. When the work is finished, you receive photos of the completed roof alongside the survey set.
Who decides what
Roofs shelter wildlife too. Old village roofs can hold a bat roost, and the law guards bats and the places they shelter. Droppings in the loft or a gap that bats use mean we halt and plan the next move with you. A photo of the slope, abutment or ridge that worries you, sent with your Godstone postcode, is all we need to book a survey.
Often they can. Sound tiles are lifted, sorted and relaid on new battens and underlay, with matching tiles added only where some are cracked or worn at the nibs. The survey photos show how many fall into each pile. Old plain tiles vary in size and colour, so we match against a sample before ordering anything, and the written price follows.
If the house is inside the Godstone (The Green) conservation area, which covers part of the village, a matching covering is the easy route. Give us your address and we check it against Tandridge's map, then confirm with its planning team. Should you prefer a different tile or a changed roofline, put that to the council before anything is ordered.
If the building is listed, anything that alters its character needs listed building consent, and the council decides what counts. The Bell Hotel and the White Hart are both Grade II*; your own house may or may not be listed. Check the list entry or ask Tandridge before pricing anything, and tell us the grade so the repair is planned to match.
Only when it sits across the carriageway or footway. Surrey County Council asks for at least 10 working days' notice and charges £208 per 28-day period. Your own drive or back garden needs no highway licence. Ask who is applying when you compare quotes; we sort the licence out alongside the scaffolder and shape the start date around the notice.
Message a photo of the abutment, ridge or tile line that worries you, with your Godstone postcode and a note if the house is listed.
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