Flint-filled frames, listed cottages and a barn roof in the Surrey Hills.
Gomshall is part of the Surrey Hills National Landscape, with listed cottages and a listed barn. We work out what covers each roof, explain the repair, and quote one total in writing.
The village record describes an old house on the road to Gomshall with an overhanging gable and spaces between its timbers filled with flints. A gable that projects needs its verge and barge board checked closely.
Gable end of an old timber house
1-4 Malthouse Cottages and 9, 10, 11 and 12 Queen Street are all listed Grade II. On a listed roof the repair has to respect the building, and consent can come before any change to its character.
Row of cottages with tiled roofs
A barn 35 yards east of Edmonds Farm House is listed Grade II. A barn roof is a long, plain run of covering, so access, ridge length and the state of the timbers drive what we recommend.
Long barn roof with clay tiles
Map of Gomshall and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Gomshall is a village on the Tillingbourne, east of Shere, between Guildford and Dorking, inside the Surrey Hills National Landscape.
The Gomshall roof run-down
Three short chapters on the landscape designation around Gomshall, how its older buildings behave under a roof, and the Guildford and Surrey arrangements for a bigger job.
Stage 01 · Designation
Gomshall sits inside a protected landscape, so ask first before adding a dormer, cutting in a roof light or swapping the covering.
The Surrey Hills National Landscape takes in Gomshall. Its former title was Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; the Surrey Hills organisation says it was among the earliest places in the country to be designated, in 1958. The law still uses those older words, and they matter for roofs, because land designated that way counts as what the planning rules call article 2(3) land. Guildford's Shere Conservation Area reaches to within a kilometre of Gomshall, so a house on the Shere side should be checked against its boundary, alongside the landscape designation and any listing on the building itself.
For everyday repairs, nothing. Re-fixing slipped tiles, renewing a ridge or clearing a gutter does not alter the look of the house. The difference shows when you want to add something: a dormer, a roof window, a new chimney or a different covering. Some permitted development rights work differently on article 2(3) land, and the answer depends on the house. Our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out the rules, so we do not repeat them here. For the position at your own address, ask Guildford Borough Council's planning team.
In a protected landscape, ask what the rules allow before the order goes in.
Gomshall at a glance
It deserves a conversation before an order is placed. A roof window is a small job on paper, but its size, its place on the slope and the direction the slope faces all bear on the planning rules and on the building regulations for the opening. Our roof windows and skylights page explains what we look at, from the rafters around the opening to the flashing kit that seals the frame. If a loft room is planned, send a plan or a photo of the slope and we will talk through what to ask the council.
The covering, the ridge and verges, the flashings, any underlay we can reach, and the loft for daylight, damp and ventilation. Photos of your own roof come to you along with the findings, so you see what we saw in the loft and on the slope. The quote is a single written total. Where the job might need consent from the council, the quote names it plainly and leaves you to decide whether to ask first. If your house is among the listed buildings in the village, tell us before we visit and we will plan the survey around that.
Stage 02 · Old buildings
Gomshall once had a tannery and a brewery, and the listed cottages and barn that remain show how its older roofs are built.
The Victoria County History records that in 1911 Gomshall had a tannery and a brewery, and that Gomshall and Shere station opened in 1849. It also notes an old house on the road to Gomshall with an overhanging gable, its timbers set with flints instead of plaster or brick, and a Congregational chapel founded in 1825 in a village that never had a church of its own. A place like that collects buildings of many ages, and no two roofs are quite alike.
A gable closes the end of a pitched roof in a triangle of wall, and along its sloping top edge runs the verge, where the last tiles stop. When the gable overhangs, the verge is exposed to wind and rain from below, so the bedding, the clips and the barge board need a close look. Loose verge tiles let water in at the edge, and a rotten barge board announces itself with flaking paint and soft timber. Our dry ridge and dry verge page covers the clip-fixed alternative to mortar.
Historic England lists 1-4 Malthouse Cottages from 14 June 1967, along with 9, 10, 11 and 12 Queen Street and a barn east of Edmonds Farm House, all at Grade II. Works that affect a listed building's character need listed building consent, so we recommend a conversation with Guildford Borough Council before a covering is changed or a new opening is cut. A barn also brings scale: long ridge runs, wide slopes and a greater need for safe access than a small cottage, all of which shape the plan and the written price.
Flint and timber walls soak up water from a failing gutter or a cracked flashing, and the damage often shows indoors, far from the leak. Before recommending a larger repair, we look at where the roof meets the wall and where the downpipes empty. Renewing a few metres of flashing or a split gutter joint costs less than chasing damp through old walling later. The survey records each of these points in photos, so the findings are clear when you read the quote, and nothing is left to guesswork. If we find a hidden problem once the roof is open, we pause, show you what is there and agree the extra work with you before it is done.
Words from an old village
Stage 03 · Permissions
Guildford Borough Council handles planning and runs its own building control, while Surrey County Council looks after the highway licence.
For Gomshall, one office covers planning and building control: Guildford Borough Council, whose page calls its building control service independent, impartial and not for profit. Roads are the county's business, so scaffold licences come from Surrey County Council. A small repair never reaches either office. For a larger job we put the right question to the right desk, and report back to you before work is booked.
The Planning Portal's guidance is that a building control application is not normally needed when under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is involved. Approval is needed when a new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier than the roof it replaces. A listed building or a change of design raises further questions. The survey tells us which of these applies, and a larger re-roof is quoted on that basis, with the question put to the council in writing.
Gomshall: the survey
Surrey asks for a licence whenever scaffolding sits on a road, a pavement or any other public highway. It charges £208 for a 28 day period, with applications due 10 working days or more ahead of the start. A scaffold on your own drive, lawn or yard needs no highway licence. Where the poles have to stand on the highway, we raise the question of who applies with the scaffolding firm before you are given a start date. Check that any quote you hold says whether VAT and scaffolding are in it, because a figure that leaves them out only looks lower. On a cottage with a long, low frontage the scaffold can be a sizeable share of the job, so it is worth knowing where it sits.
Bats and nesting birds come with legal protection, and we plan for them in the loft before a single tile is lifted. GOV.UK includes roof repairs in the work that can affect bats. Should the loft show droppings or an active nest, the job halts and the next move is agreed with you rather than assumed. Tell us if you have seen bats around the house at dusk. After the survey you receive the photos and the plan, and a short message each day while the work is going on.
The Surrey Hills National Landscape is article 2(3) land, where some permitted development rights are narrower than elsewhere, so check before you order. Guildford's planning officers give the answer for a specific house, and our planning guide explains the routes in more depth. We can survey the slope and suggest a position for the opening.
If the work affects the character of a listed building, listed building consent is required. Re-covering in the identical material may be treated differently, but the council makes that judgement, not us. Ask Guildford Borough Council with our survey photos in hand, and hold off until you have a written reply before any work begins.
Every house here falls within the Surrey Hills National Landscape and several buildings are listed, while the Shere Conservation Area lies a short way west. For a house towards Shere, ask Guildford Borough Council which of the three applies. A call to Guildford Borough Council's planning team settles which rules apply to your house, before you commit to any changes or order anything, and it takes only a few minutes.
Surrey's published terms say a licence is needed for scaffolding on the highway, at £208 per 28 day period, with applications 10 working days ahead. Nothing on that page names the applicant, so we settle it with our scaffolding firm before the job is priced. Poles set wholly within your own land bring no highway licence into it.
Say whether the building is listed and what you want done, attach a photo of the slope, and we will book a survey.
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