Flemish tile, Welsh slate and concrete on the River Adur.
Shoreham-by-Sea has roof coverings that tell the story of its port and railway. We survey what is up there, name the material, and put one price in writing.
Adur's conservation area appraisal says the earliest roofing tiles here were Flemish tiles shipped from Holland. North Cottage on North Street, Grade II, is a rare survivor, and roofs like it call for patient relaying.
Old clay tiles on a cottage roof
Slate became common near the railway, brought by train from Wales, and many buildings keep their original slate roofs. A slipped slate is a nail or hook problem, so we look at the fixing before the slate.
Natural slate roof and ridge
The same appraisal calls interlocking concrete Redland 49 tiles the most typical covering across the conservation area today. They are a tile we can survey, relay and, where the roof needs it, strip and replace.
Interlocking concrete tiles in rows
Map of Shoreham-by-Sea and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
Shoreham-by-Sea stands on the River Adur, with the harbour to the south and the river running along its western side.
Shoreham roof notes
Three short chapters on Shoreham's tile and slate history, the Article 4 directions on its oldest streets, and the permissions and licences a bigger job brings.
Stage 01 · Materials
Shoreham grew around a harbour and then a railway, and its roofs reflect both, so the first job is naming the material.
Adur District Council's character appraisal for the Shoreham-by-Sea conservation area gives a tidy account of the town's roofs. The earliest tiles were Flemish, brought across from Holland through the port, and the appraisal adds that clay tiles were also made in Sussex from Roman times, thanks to the local fine clays. Slate arrived later and became common near the railway, shipped from Wales by train, and the appraisal says many buildings still wear their original slate. Interlocking concrete Redland 49 tiles are now the most typical covering across the conservation area, and Church Street is its most intact street for original roof coverings. The 2021 Census puts the built-up area at 23,676 people, so the whole town is a good deal larger than the streets the appraisal describes, and we make no assumptions about yours. The port mattered in other ways too: in the early 17th century Shoreham became the chief centre of shipbuilding in Sussex.
What we note on a Shoreham survey
From the ground it is often hard, and that is why we climb. Flemish and other clay tiles are rounded and slightly uneven, slate is thin, flat and grey, and interlocking concrete tiles lock edge to edge in straight, regular courses. Once we know the covering, we know what sort of failure to expect, and what to put in the loft report: split slate around a rusted nail, a worn clay tile that has lost its edge, or a concrete tile that has slipped from its clip.
The covering decides the method. On slate, the fixing matters most. Cupa Pizarras says hooks have no place on a pitch under 25 degrees, and BS 5534 sets 20 degrees as the lowest pitch for natural slate. A guide to traditional roofing materials says well kept slate can reach 100 years and beyond, so a few failed slates seldom mean a new roof, though old iron nails can rust through long before the slate itself gives up. Our pitched roofing page covers the repair methods for tiles, slates and the timbers under them.
Around the covering we check the chimney stack, because the flashings and the flaunching, the sloped mortar bed gripping each chimney pot, are places a leak can start. Anything made of lead is looked at separately, and our lead work page goes through lead sheet codes and where each weight suits.
Stage 02 · Heritage
The conservation area dates from 1971, and the oldest streets carry Article 4 directions that can change what counts as simple roof work.
Shoreham-by-Sea's conservation area was first designated in May 1971 and extended in 1993, according to the council's appraisal. Elsewhere in the town, Shoreham Airport, founded in 1910 and described in a council document as the oldest airport in the UK, has a terminal building listed Grade II*. Within the conservation area stands the church of St Mary de Haura, built in the decade around 1103 and Grade I listed, and old streets of cottages and terraces where the roofs are part of the view from the river and the harbour. A repair there is judged by how it looks from the road as well as how it keeps the rain out.
Terms from Shoreham's records
The council's records show an Article 4 direction for Church Street, and a newer one for the Old Shoreham conservation area that came into force on 20 January 2023. A direction like this lets the council withdraw specified permitted development rights across a defined area, which can turn an everyday roof or chimney job into one that needs a planning application. The Old Shoreham notice, for example, removes permitted development rights for roof alterations including roof coverings, rooflights and solar panels where the work fronts a highway or public right of way, and for any chimney, flue or soil and vent pipe wherever it sits on the house. Put the question to Adur District Council's planners, and let us know their reply, so the quote reflects it. Our planning post explains where permitted development fits in the wider picture.
In the oldest streets, ask Adur what applies before the scaffold goes up.
Not by itself, but the direction can change that, which is why the question comes first. Adur's planners can tell you exactly what the Church Street direction covers at your door, so assume nothing and ask. For a house that is also listed, such as North Cottage on North Street, listed building consent is a separate matter from permitted development.
We approach old roofs gently. For a house on Church Street we photograph the existing covering before work begins, so you and the council can compare it afterwards. Where tiles or slates are sound, we lift, sort and relay them rather than replace the lot, and we match anything new for colour and profile in daylight. Where a terrace shares one roof line, we look at the neighbouring houses from the ladder as well, because a slipped slate on one side often has a story that carries on next door.
Stage 03 · Permissions
A matching repair needs nothing. Larger jobs bring Adur's planners, the shared building control team and sometimes a highway licence.
A repair in matching materials seldom needs paperwork. Forms appear once the scope widens, the material is swapped, or the scaffold has to sit beyond your boundary. In Shoreham-by-Sea the planning authority is Adur District Council, and building control is a shared service run by Adur and Worthing Councils.
The Planning Portal sets two tests, 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof. Under both, building control approval is not normally needed. A new covering 15 per cent or more heavier, or one with a different fire performance, tips a job over into needing approval. On a bigger slate or tile job we contact the shared team before fixing a date. Read our roof replacement page for the shape of a full re-roof.
Before a larger job starts
Putting scaffolding on the footway or carriageway is a matter for West Sussex County Council's licensing team, the highway authority for Shoreham. Its minimum is 10 working days' notice, counted from application to erection, and a month of scaffolding is listed at £266, with an extension listed at £178 if the job runs longer. Nothing on the council's page says who files the form, so we settle the licence jointly with whoever supplies the scaffold and set the start date to match. Scaffolding kept within a drive or garden sidesteps the highway licence, although parking may still need suspending. A front elevation on a busy street needs more planning than a rear gable, and we weigh that at the survey.
Shoreham also has flat roofs on extensions and outbuildings. Approved Document L counts a fresh flat roof covering as renovation, and its energy rules grow stricter the more of the building's envelope is renovated at once. We raise that with building control at the survey when a flat roof is part of a bigger project, and we mention the insulation level in the written price.
Bats, their roosts and any bird's nest in use are all protected by law, so a roost or an active nest found in the roof halts the work until we have taken advice. To begin, describe the roof, add the street and say whether the house faces the road. That tells us how to handle ladders and deliveries before we arrive.
Sound tiles can often be lifted, sorted and relaid, with new ones used only where a tile has failed. Adur's appraisal names Flemish tiles as the town's earliest, and North Cottage on North Street is a listed example. If your house is listed, ask the council's planning team before work starts, then we describe the job precisely in writing.
The council's records show directions for Church Street and for the Old Shoreham conservation area, the latter in force from 20 January 2023. The Old Shoreham notice brings roof coverings and rooflights that face a highway or public right of way under control, and chimneys anywhere on the house, so those changes may need an application there. Ask Adur District Council about your address before agreeing the work.
West Sussex County Council's page leaves it open, so we sort out the licence jointly with the scaffold supplier and confirm who applies when you book, so the start date is not held up by paperwork. The council wants at least 10 working days' notice, and one month of scaffolding costs £266. Private ground avoids the licence entirely, though materials and waste still need a planned path through the property.
Rarely, if the rest is sound. Well kept slate can reach 100 years or more, so a handful of slipped slates usually points to rusted nails or failed hooks. We check the fixings across the slope, replace what has failed, and tell you plainly if the nails are tired enough that stripping the slope is the sensible choice.
Send your street, the covering if you know it, and any slipped slates or tiles, and we will shape the survey around them.
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