Village roofs in the High Weald, around a listed green.
Horsted Keynes is a High Weald village with its own conservation area, set inside the National Landscape. We look at village roofs carefully, show you photographs and price in writing.
5 and 6, the Green, Blacksmith's Cottages and Bowling Alley Cottage are all Grade II listed. Here we mend the roof in matching materials, and we ask the council first about anything that would alter its character.
Old cottage with a tiled roof
The High Weald National Landscape names sandstone, bricks and tiles among its widely used building materials. Matching a tile to an older roof starts with colour, texture and profile, then the roof's own condition.
Clay tiles above brick walls
Timber-framed and weather-boarded buildings are part of the High Weald's character. Where boards or frames meet a roof edge, the eaves and verge details decide whether water gets behind them.
Tiled roof edge above timber cladding
Map of Horsted Keynes and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
A village south-east of Crawley on the Mid Sussex side of the High Weald, with a green at its heart.
The Horsted Keynes roof file
Three short chapters on repairing listed cottages, matching the bricks, tiles and timber of the High Weald, and the two designations that shape a village re-roof.
Stage 01 · The Green
Three village buildings are on the national list at Grade II, so some roofs need a word with the council before work starts.
Horsted Keynes is small. The 2021 Census counted 1,121 people in its built-up area, and the national list records several buildings of special interest close to its centre. 5 and 6, the Green was first listed on 11 May 1983. Blacksmith's Cottages and Bowling Alley Cottage are listed as well, each at Grade II. A listing at any grade is a reason to ask before changing the building.
Carefully, and after asking. The tiles that are already up there are part of what was listed, so the aim is to keep as many of them as will keep out the weather and to replace the rest with ones that match. We lift a slipped tile, check the batten below it and refix. We swap only the tiles that are cracked, spalled or missing. The ridge is checked for loose bedding, and the chimney, with its pointing, flaunching (the mortar cap round the pots) and lead flashings, is looked at as closely as the slope.
On a listed village roof
Because the timbers tell us more than the tiles do. A low roof on an old cottage can have hand-cut rafters, an uneven wall plate and a deep, dark eaves space where damp can hide. From the loft hatch we watch for chinks of light between the tiles, tide marks on the timber, and any rafter feet that have gone soft where the roof meets the wall. Where the timbers pass, mending the covering makes sense, and the photographs prove it to you. If they are not, you see that too, before any decision about the next step.
Where a roof is shared with a neighbour, as pairs of cottages and terraces often are, a repair on one side can touch the other, so we tell both households before anything starts. Rainwater goods matter on old cottages too. Gutters that leak at the joints soak the wall plate below, and that damage looks like a roof fault when it is not.
Our pitched roofing page covers how we repair a tiled slope, and the chimney repairs page deals with stacks, pots and the lead around them. For a listed home, we send the council the survey photographs and a short description of the work before we start, so that what we do on the roof is what was agreed.
Stage 02 · Materials
The High Weald landscape body describes timber-framed buildings and widely used sandstone, bricks and tiles, which is a useful guide when matching an old roof.
The High Weald National Landscape spreads over 1461 square kilometres of three counties. Its website points to timber-framed and weather-boarded buildings, and says the sandstone, brick and tile used so widely across it reflect the rock and clay the area stands on. That tells us what is in the neighbourhood. It does not tell us what is on your roof, so the survey does that.
By hand and by eye. We take a tile from a spot where the roof has not weathered, measure it, and compare the size, thickness, camber and colour with what is available new and what is available reclaimed. Reclaimed tiles come from other roofs and already carry weathering, so they blend in quickly. New handmade clay tiles take years to mellow. We often mix the two, with reclaimed tiles on the slope that faces the Green and new ones round the back where nobody looks.
Not much. A published conservation article warns against applying the 60-year clay tile figure to old handmade peg tiles. We judge each roof by what it shows us: how many tiles have lost their nibs, whether the battens are holding the nails, and how the water is behaving at the eaves.
Old roof words explained
On an old roof, a reclaimed tile that fits beats a new one that does not.
Lead on an old roof deserves respect. One cost guide quotes over 80 years for lead flashing, so we leave sound lead alone and repair splits, lifted edges and failed joints instead of ripping it out. Tile hanging and weatherboard on a gable end need their own check, because if the edge at the verge is open, wind-driven rain gets behind the cladding and into the wall.
One more point about fixings. BS 5534 covers slating and tiling on pitched roofs. BSI's summary admits the standard may not fit every old roof, notably one covered in traditional or second-hand materials, and Marley points out that following it is not a legal requirement. On a historic cottage we consider whether extra clips at the ridge and verge would help the roof or spoil its appearance, and we discuss that with you and, if the house is listed, with the council.
If a slope proves beyond repair, our roof replacement page describes each stage of a full re-roof.
Stage 03 · Permissions
The village conservation area and the High Weald National Landscape both apply, so Mid Sussex District Council is the first call for changes.
Putting back what was already there, in the same material and pattern, is the easy end of village roofing. The paperwork gets heavier as the work gets further from that.
The High Weald is a National Landscape, the current title for land that the statute books still list under its older designation. The village also has its own conservation area. Neither stops a roof being repaired. Both make the council more interested in anything that alters a roof's look, such as a change of tile, a new rooflight or a dormer, so check with Mid Sussex District Council's planners before spending anything on one. Our post on whether roof work needs planning permission covers where a repair ends and a change begins.
Mid Sussex District Council also runs building control here. The Planning Portal puts the line at 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, below which approval is normally not needed, and it adds that a covering raising the roof's weight by 15 per cent or more changes things. We put a bigger job to the council's building control team before we fix dates.
Paperwork in Horsted Keynes
If the scaffold has to stand in the road, West Sussex County Council must license it first: 10 working days' notice at the least, and £266 for one month. Ask who makes the application when you read a quote. If the house stands back from the road, the scaffold can often stay within your own land, and then no highway licence is involved. We look at the approach at the survey, because a narrow lane affects where deliveries and skips can wait.
Because a village roof is often reached along a path or across a green, we settle where tiles can be stacked and which way the rubbish goes out, and we tell neighbours before the scaffold goes up.
A country village also means birds and bats. Active nests of wild birds are protected, and it is an offence intentionally to damage or destroy one, so we check the eaves for active nests before work starts. If we find signs of bats, we pause and speak to you.
To book, photograph the roof from the lane or the Green and mention any listing.
Usually well enough to be hard to spot. We measure a sound tile, compare its size, camber and colour, and look at both reclaimed and new options. Reclaimed tiles arrive weathered, while new clay takes years to mellow, so we often mix them. On a listed house we send the council the samples and photographs first.
A repair that keeps the same materials and look is simple. The designation, together with the village conservation area, makes Mid Sussex District Council more interested in changes to a roof's appearance, such as a different tile, a rooflight or a dormer. Raise it with the council's planning team before you commit, and keep their answer. That keeps surprises away from your start date.
Start with Mid Sussex District Council's planning team. Work that would affect a listed building's character needs listed building consent, and the council decides where a repair ends and a change begins. Send them survey photographs and a short description of the work, and ask them to answer in writing before anyone starts, so that the work done matches what was agreed.
Where it has to go on the public highway, the county council issues a licence, with at least 10 working days' notice and £266 for one month. Ask whoever quotes who applies. Poles kept within your garden or drive escape that licence altogether, which often saves a week or two of waiting. We check the approach and skip space at the survey.
A picture taken from the lane or the Green, and a line on any listing, is enough for us to arrange the survey.
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