Clay tile, slate and Horsham stone roofs under the South Downs.
Lewes roofs run from handmade clay tiles to slate and the odd Horsham stone slate, inside a conservation area and the National Park. We find out what is up there before we price.
The 2023 conservation area appraisal says clay tiles predominate where the town developed earlier, and that handmade clay tiles took over from thatch on the medieval buildings. Repairs here start with matching the tile, not just filling the gap.
Handmade clay tiles on a pitched roof
Slate becomes more common on buildings from the late 18th century onward. When a slate roof leaks, the cause is often at the fixings or the lead around a chimney, so we examine those before the slates themselves.
Slate roof with a lead flashing
Horsham stone slate roofs are rare, with a particularly high concentration in Southover, including Anne of Cleves House and Southover Grange. Where one turns up, we record every course and take advice before a single slab is lifted.
Heavy stone slabs on an old roof
Map of Lewes and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Lewes stands on the southern face of the South Downs, where the River Ouse valley cuts through, and counted 16,070 people in 2021.
Notes from Lewes roofs
Three short chapters on the coverings named in the town's appraisal, who decides planning inside the Park, and how scaffold licensing works under East Sussex Highways.
Stage 01 · Coverings
The conservation area appraisal names the materials on Lewes roofs, which gives us a sound starting point for every survey.
Lewes has little good building stone of its own, which is why flint from the surrounding chalk became a characteristic material. On the roof, the story in the South Downs National Park Authority's 2023 appraisal is different. On the medieval buildings thatch gave way to handmade clay tiles, and clay predominates in the areas developed earlier, and slate becomes more common from the late 18th century on. In the Wallands, the appraisal notes, the villas carry clay tiles with few exceptions. The appraisal also lists mathematical tiles and tile hanging among the local materials, so a wall can carry the same tile-maker's craft as the roof above it. Flint walling shapes the look of the town at street level, and the roofs above have to sit comfortably with it. A good repair is one you notice only because the slope looks whole again.
We begin by working out what the roof is made of and how it was laid: the size of the tile, its colour variation, whether the courses are even, and the way ridge and hip tiles are bedded. A slipped tile can usually be refixed, and a broken one is replaced with a salvaged or closely matched tile so the slope keeps its look. Changing to a machine-made tile, even a clay one, shows from the street, and in this town that is a conversation for the planning officers, not a decision to make on a ladder. Our pitched roofing page sets out the rest of what we do on a tiled slope.
A slate roof tends to give trouble where it meets something else. Nails or hooks that have corroded let slates slide, and the lead around chimneys, valleys and abutments splits or lifts with age. That is why a Lewes slate survey includes the junctions and not only the field of the roof, and why our lead work page matters on older houses. We show you each defect in photos, taken from the roof itself.
Roof words in Lewes
On a Horsham stone roof the approach changes again. These slabs are weighty and irregular, and the appraisal points out that they need a steeper pitch than slate, so we record the courses, mark which stones are sound and agree with the planning officers what matching they expect before anything is moved. It slows the start and protects a roof that would be hard to put back as it was.
Stage 02 · Permissions
Planning in Lewes is decided by the National Park Authority, but building control is no part of its role.
Lewes sits in what the Park calls a recovered area, which means the South Downs National Park Authority deals with planning applications directly. Building control is different: the Park Authority does not handle it. A single roof job here can therefore involve two offices, and part of our work is telling you early which one is relevant.
Nothing above should deter you from a simple repair. A few tiles replaced to match the rest, a ridge rebedded or a flashing renewed are everyday jobs, and the survey tells you at once which kind yours is. The rules come into view when the work reaches the street-facing slope or changes how the roof looks.
Lewes District Council made an Article 4(2) direction on 24 November 1995, confirmed as amended on 12 April 1996, for dwellinghouses in the Lewes conservation area. Among other things it brings in roof alterations to a dwellinghouse where the change touches a slope that fronts a highway, a waterway or open space. It also reaches porches, gates, walls and the painting of previously unpainted surfaces. The appraisal says the direction is due a formal review, so ask the Park Authority for the wording in force before you plan anything visible from the street. Our post on planning permission for roof work covers the general rules.
Lewes is a recovered area, so the Park Authority decides planning applications directly.
First look at a Lewes roof
The town has a Grade I church, St Michael's on the High Street, and Anne of Cleves House in Southover is Grade II*. For a listed house, the Park Authority's line is that routine maintenance and small repairs made in place, to the same pattern, need no listed building consent. A change in the covering, the pitch or the details can need consent, because it alters the building's character. We photograph the existing roof first, so there is a record to compare any proposal against. The conservation area dates from 1970, when the County Council designated it after a campaign by the Friends of Lewes, and was extended in 2012.
On the Planning Portal's test, a job stays clear of building control while it touches under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. The answer flips if the new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier, or would perform differently in a fire. Put the question to your building control body before a full slope is stripped. Our roof replacement page follows a re-roof from first survey to final gutter check.
Stage 03 · On site
East Sussex Highways issues the scaffold licence, and its terms contain a restriction you would not guess.
Where a Lewes house fronts straight onto the pavement, the question of where the scaffold stands often decides the timetable. Poles kept on your own ground do not call for a highway licence. Poles on the pavement or carriageway need one from the highway authority, which for Lewes is East Sussex County Council, working through East Sussex Highways.
East Sussex Highways leaves open who the applicant should be, so we sort the licence out jointly with the scaffolder. There is a published fee for the 28-day licence, and the terms want an extension requested 5 working days before the old licence ends. For a first licence the council publishes nothing on timing, which is why we ask for the licence as soon as the survey has fixed where the scaffold goes.
One clause in the licence terms bars scaffolding on the road while the annual bonfire celebrations run. We check the calendar before we pencil in a start for a street-side scaffold, and tell you honestly if a job has to wait or move to a different week. A scaffold that is in place before the restriction applies is something to settle with East Sussex Highways, not to assume.
Site words explained
Bats and the places where they breed or rest are protected; government guidance includes roof repair and re-roofing in the work that can affect them. Separately, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally destroy a nest that is active or half-built. If the survey shows droppings, staining on a rafter, or a nest, we pause that area and discuss it with you before any tile is touched.
Where scaffold narrows a pavement, we keep a clear walkway and tell neighbours when boards go up and come down.
Gutters, fascias and any lead flashing within reach are looked at while the access is up, so a second scaffold is less likely to be needed.
Each day on site, you are told what is planned, and materials and waste are kept off the pavement as far as the space allows. To start, send your street address, a photo of the slope that faces the road, and whether the house is listed.
Sometimes, but visible slopes call for care. The appraisal describes handmade clay as the long-standing covering, and a machine-made tile differs in colour, texture and edge. Ask the South Downs National Park Authority's planning officers before choosing a different tile for any slope seen from the street. For a few broken tiles, a close match or salvaged tiles are the safer route.
It can. The direction of 24 November 1995 includes alterations to a dwellinghouse roof where the slope fronts a highway, waterway or open space, within the conservation area. If you are unsure whether a simple repair counts, ask the Park Authority, and request the direction's current wording, since the appraisal expects a review. It costs nothing to ask before the work starts.
Anyone who looks at one needs patience. The appraisal calls the roofs rare, naming Anne of Cleves House and Southover Grange. We survey a roof like that, record its courses and agree the repair approach with the planning officers first. If the house is listed, you may also need consent for anything beyond minor repair.
East Sussex Highways issues it, and nothing on its pages names the applicant, so we arrange it with the scaffolder. Any extension wants at least five working days' warning. Bonfire celebrations bring a ban on scaffolding upon the highway, so a start date is checked against them. If the poles can sit on your own forecourt or garden, no highway licence comes into it.
Send your Lewes address and a photo of the slope facing the road, and mention any listing. The survey follows.
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