Roofs in a Surrey town with a Grade I church.
Horley is a Surrey town with a Grade I church, a 15th-century inn and part of the Massetts Road conservation area. Its roofs range from old stone slabs to modern tile.
In 1911 the Victoria County History described the Six Bells Inn, dating from the 15th century or earlier, with a steep roof of Horsham slabs. Stone slabs are heavy and old, so we survey them with care and talk through options before touching anything.
Old stone slabs on a gable
St Bartholomew's timber tower is clad in oak, and so is its slender spire. The church roofs kept Horsham slabs until the 1881-2 restoration, then were re-covered with tiles. The covering on an old Horley building can be much younger than its walls.
Timber-clad church tower and spire
The Victoria County History said the opening of the Brighton line in 1841 changed Horley's character, where before the town was a small place clustered round the church. Buildings of different ages share the same streets, so no two surveys here start alike.
Mixed tiled roofs on a town street
Map of Horley and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Horley is a Surrey town north of Crawley, in a Wealden clay parish where branches of the River Mole meet.
Working in Horley
Three short chapters on how Horley's old roof coverings were laid and renewed, what listing and the conservation area ask of a repair, and the Surrey rules for bigger jobs.
Stage 01 · Old coverings
Horley's written history names stone slabs, oak cladding and tiles on its oldest roofs, and each one wants a different way of working.
The Victoria County History of 1911 noted next to the churchyard the Six Bells Inn, dating back to the 15th century or earlier, with a steep roof of Horsham slabs, half-timbered walls and a fine brick chimney. The same account says the church's timber tower is clad in oak and topped by a slender spire of the same material, and that Horsham slabs stayed on the church roofs until the restoration of 1881-2, after which they were roofed with tiles. Taken together, that tells us that a Horley roof may carry stone, timber or fired clay, and that the covering you see may be far younger than the building under it.
Reading an old Horley roof
Slowly, and with the owner told what we find at each step. Horsham slabs are thick stone pieces, much heavier than modern tiles, and they sit on timbers that have carried that weight for generations. Before we say anything about price we look at the rafters and battens from the loft, check where the slabs have slipped or flaked, and photograph the chimney, the valleys and the eaves. A slab roof needs a different kind of access from a tiled one, because walking on old stone can break it, so we plan ladders, crawl boards or a scaffold platform before anyone steps onto the slope. Where one or two slabs have gone, a repair with matching slabs can be the right answer. Where the timbers are tired, the honest answer may be more involved, and we say what the survey shows before suggesting anything.
Matching is simpler. Slipped tiles, a split hip or a ridge sitting on crumbling mortar are quick jobs on most houses, and our pitched roofing page explains how we deal with them. What does not change is the habit of looking before pricing. A gutter that overflows onto the wall, a missing flaunching round a chimney or a split lead flashing can all cause a leak that looks like a tile problem from inside the house, so the survey follows the water to where it enters. We trace it from the stain on the ceiling back through the loft, along the rafters and out to the point on the roof where it gets in, and the photos show you each step of that route. You then see the cause for yourself, and the price covers the cause, not only the stain.
Stage 02 · Protected roofs
Part of Horley lies in the Massetts Road conservation area, and listed buildings range from a Grade I church to houses on Brighton Road.
Horley's church of St Bartholomew is listed Grade I, entry 1378035 on the National Heritage List, first listed in 1966. The town also has 32 and 34 Brighton Road, listed Grade II, and a barn ten yards north of the Six Bells that is listed Grade II as well. A separate layer of protection covers part of the town: the national dataset records the Massetts Road conservation area. If your house, outbuilding or shop is in or beside one of these, the first job is finding out which rules apply to it.
It depends on the work and on the building. Consent is required where works would affect a listed building's character. A matching repair sits on the lighter side of that line, but stripping and re-covering a roof or changing its materials is not. The planning team at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council will confirm what applies at your address. We would rather you asked before we book a start date than afterwards, and the written price says clearly that the consent question has been put to the council. Slab and tile roofs on old buildings are often mended piece by piece, so the photographs we take also become a record for any later application.
Terms on a protected roof
A listed roof is judged on what the repair does to the building's character.
Churches follow a different route. An Anglican church that is still in use follows the diocese's faculty system rather than listed building consent, and other denominations have approval routes of their own. Churchwardens and treasurers asking about a roof should tell us at the first call which denomination you are and whether the building is in use. We then know which permission to ask about, and how long it might take before we can order materials.
Not every old building in Horley is listed, and not every house in the conservation area is protected in the same way. The council holds the boundary map, and it is the quickest way to find out where a house sits. For anything beyond a plain repair, our guide on planning permission for roof work explains the questions to ask. The answer shapes the survey, the choice of materials and the date, so we like to hear it early. Tell us about it in your first message, and send the house name or number so the right entry can be found.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Horley is in Surrey, so building control and scaffold licences follow different arrangements from the West Sussex side, while Gatwick's crane rule is the same on both.
Crossing from Crawley into Horley takes you from West Sussex into Surrey, and a different set of public bodies. Planning in Horley is handled by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, and its building control team is the Southern Building Control Partnership, which also serves Mole Valley and Tandridge. The county council is Surrey County Council. None of this changes how a slipped tile is repaired, but it changes who you ring when a job outgrows a repair, and we know which council to contact for a Horley address.
Horley follows the Planning Portal's test and not Crawley's own wording. Under it, 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof are the lines: below both, an application is not normally needed. Approval is required, though, for any covering that increases the roof's weight by 15 per cent or more, however small the area. If the survey points towards a whole slope or more, we contact the partnership before fixing a start date, and our roof replacement page shows the order of work on a full re-roof.
Before pricing a Horley roof
Scaffold that stands on a public road, a pavement or any other highway needs a Surrey County Council licence. Surrey asks for 10 working days' notice at least, and the fee is £208 for each 28 day period. The council does not say who should apply, so ask the scaffolder, and we plan the first day to follow the licence. A drive or garden is your own land, where scaffolding needs no licence at all.
Only when lifting equipment is involved. Gatwick's permit page covers cranes within 6 km of the airport and gives two exceptions: equipment under 10 m high, or equipment shielded all round by taller trees or structures. Ordinary scaffolding is not mentioned there. Where a job calls for a crane or other tall lifting equipment, the distance from your address gets checked before the lift is planned, and the airport's permit process is followed. Bats and nesting birds are protected too, so we look for them first. Send a photo of the roof, your road name and your postcode to get a survey booked.
Often a few slipped or flaking slabs can be replaced with matching ones, but we only know after a survey of the slabs and the timbers beneath them. A listed building, like the barn near the Six Bells, needs a word with Reigate and Banstead Borough Council before work begins. After the survey and the council's reply, you get the price in writing.
Part of Horley lies within it, according to the national conservation area dataset. The boundary is the council's, and a planner will check your address against it. Replacing like with like raises few questions, but speak to the planners before changing what the roof is made of or how it looks. Mention the boundary when you book the survey.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's building control is the Southern Building Control Partnership, which also covers Mole Valley and Tandridge. Small repairs do not need an application, but a big re-roof, or a switch to a heavier covering, may. We ask the team before agreeing a date on those jobs and the written price records what they said.
A licence applies if the scaffold has to stand on the public road or footway, and Surrey County Council charges £208 per 28 day period. You only pay if the scaffold cannot stand on your own land. Who applies is worth asking when you book, as the council's page does not say. Whoever quotes you, ask whether the price covers scaffolding and VAT.
Send us a roof photo and your road name, say if the building is listed, and we will arrange the survey.
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