Roofers in Shoreham-by-Sea

The old town of Shoreham-by-Sea grew around the church of St Mary de Haura, built in the decade around 1103 and listed Grade I. Adur District Council's character appraisal says the Shoreham-by-Sea Conservation Area was originally designated in May 1971 and extended in 1993. It describes cobblestones, pebbles and flint with brick quoins in the earlier buildings, painted render or stucco on the terraces, and clay tile, Welsh slate and later concrete tiles on the roofs. That mix on a single street is the first thing to grasp before anyone prices a repair, because a patch in the wrong material shows from the pavement and, inside a conservation area, can become a matter for the council.

1.1 Flemish tiles and the oldest roofs

The appraisal says the earliest roofing tiles in the town were Flemish tiles brought from Holland through the port, and it names North Cottage on North Street, listed Grade II, as an excellent survivor. A roof like that is a poor candidate for a standard replacement. Handmade clay varies in thickness and curve, so a gap left by a missing tile is rarely filled by a modern one without a visible difference. The sensible job is to lift, sort and reuse what is sound and renew only the cracked pieces. Where a stack or a wall meets the slope, a lead flashing is tucked into the mortar joint and folded down over the tiles to carry water away. Our chimney repairs page shows how that junction is rebuilt.

1.2 Church Street and its Article 4 direction

The appraisal calls Church Street the most intact street for original roof coverings in the conservation area, and it carries an Article 4 direction. Householders have national allowances, called permitted development rights, for certain jobs without applying to the council; a direction takes some of those allowances away for a defined area. This one removes the rights for alterations to roof slopes and for erecting, altering or removing a chimney, where the work fronts a highway, waterway or open space. A repair that leaves the roof looking as it did is a different matter from changing the slope or the covering on a frontage. Ask Adur District Council's planning team what applies to your address before you order a single tile.

1.3 Reading an old roof before touching it

On a roof this old we climb up and look at the battens (the narrow timber strips under the covering that carry every tile), the nails, the ridge and the lead where it meets the walls. Every fault gets a photograph, taken so you can follow the reasoning on your own roof: repair, patch or replace, and why. Where a patch is enough, we tell you that and stop there.

Shoreham looks outward as much as inward. In the early 17th century it became the chief centre in Sussex for shipbuilding, according to the Victoria County History, and the town still sits on the River Adur with the harbour to the south and the river to the west. A roof beside the harbour or the river takes the sea weather directly, from gales and driving rain to the salt in the air close to the shore. Instead of guessing, we read what the weather has already done: lifted ridge tiles, loose verge edges, tired flashings, gutters that have lost their slope.

3.1 Old Shoreham and the 2023 direction

Upriver, Old Shoreham has its own conservation area and its own Article 4 direction, in force from 20 January 2023. Where work fronts a highway or public right of way, it withdraws the allowances for other alterations to a house roof, covering roof coverings, rooflights and solar panels. Chimneys, flues and soil and vent pipes are caught wherever they stand, road frontage or not. That is a wide direction, and it catches more jobs than most owners expect. Replacing a covering with a different one, adding a rooflight or putting panels on a front slope all mean talking to the council first. Our skylight planning permission guide covers the roof window side.

3.2 Shoreham Airport and other listed buildings

Founded in 1910, Shoreham Airport is the oldest airport in the UK, and its terminal building is listed grade II*. The council's appraisal for Old Shoreham records both facts. Protected buildings in Shoreham are not confined to the old core, and each has its own entry on the national list. For a listed house or outbuilding, anything beyond a repair in matching materials may need listed building consent, and we look the entry up before pricing, because the grade tells us how much freedom the roof allows. Mending in matching tile or slate sits very differently from swapping a covering.