Spire covered in oak shingles
St Nicholas has a bell-turret and spire covered with oak shingles, on a timber frame dated to about 1500.
Roofers in Alfold
Roofs round a shingled spire on the Surrey-Sussex border
Alfold is a wooded parish on the Surrey-Sussex border, centred on a Grade I church and tile-hung cottages. Our surveys read each roof slope by slope.
Alfold's church lane, spire and glass-makers' graves
Horsham slabs on church roofs
The 1911 history records Horsham slabs on the chancel, aisle and porch roofs, with tile-hung cottages round the lane.
Houses on the listed roll
Alfold House and Alfold Stores with the Magnolias are Grade II*, among 11 listed buildings within 500 m.
Map of Alfold with Loxwood, Ifold, Dunsfold, Plaistow marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Alfold, on the border south of Cranleigh
Loxwood lies south of Alfold, Ifold and Plaistow south-west, Dunsfold north-west, Rudgwick east, Cranleigh north-east and Kirdford further south.
About 25.3 road miles south-east of Farnborough · Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Alfold, a border parish's roofs
Alfold's roofs, from Surrey's rules to a shingled spire
Which council handles a roof job on this side of the Surrey-Sussex line, what the 1911 history says about the parish's clay, woods and church roofs, and what the conservation area and listed houses change.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Waverley and Surrey, with a change due in 2027 | West Surrey Council from 1 April 2027 |
| 02 | Wealden clay, glass-houses and a shingled spire | Spire framework dated to about 1500 |
| 03 | Alfold's conservation area, Grade I church and listed houses | Grade I church, two Grade II* houses |
Chapter 01 of 03
Waverley and Surrey, with a change due in 2027
| Role | Body for Alfold addresses |
|---|---|
| Planning authority | Waverley Borough Council |
| Building control | Waverley Building Control, the council's own service |
| County council and highway authority | Surrey County Council (until 31 March 2027) |
| Council from 1 April 2027 | West Surrey Council from 1 April 2027, replacing both |
| Scaffold on the highway | A licence from Surrey County Council; applicant to be confirmed |
| Civil parish | Alfold, 1,145 usual residents at the 2021 Census |
Alfold lies on the county border, and which council applies depends on which side of the line a house stands. Alfold itself is on the Surrey side, so Waverley Borough Council decides planning questions and also runs a building control service of its own. Surrey County Council is the highway authority for the roads here. Until 31 March 2027 that is the whole picture.
What changes in April 2027
From 1 April 2027 West Surrey Council replaces Surrey's county and district councils, and Waverley is one of the districts that joins it. Surrey County Council's own wording is that for now nothing changes in the way you receive services. For a roof job we take that to mean the dates matter: work booked now and finished before the change follows today's arrangements, and for work that runs past it we confirm the position with you before any scaffold is ordered.
The Planning Portal gives the national tests for a re-roof. No Building Regulations application is normally needed for a re-roof affecting less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof, and a covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight needs approval. We take the figures from the survey, slope by slope, and give them to you before a date is booked. Waverley's service, or a registered building control approver, then handles any application.
The figure25%of the building envelope: one of two limits that decide whether a re-roof needs an application25% envelope limit50% roof limitSource: Planning Portal, building regulations for re-roofing
Surrey County Council charges £208 for each 28-day period of scaffold licence on a road or pavement, asks for applications a minimum of 10 working days ahead, and leaves the applicant unnamed. On a rural lane the question is often whether poles can stand on your own land, where no licence is needed. Where a lane is narrow, the licence also governs how long it can be partly closed, which is why we agree the schedule with you first.
Houses set back from a lane often have a drive, and a drive can take a scaffold and a skip together. The survey measures the width of the approach and notes any overhanging branches, because a delivery lorry needs both height and room to turn.
Chapter 02 of 03
Wealden clay, glass-houses and a shingled spire
Alfold in four published details
- 2,974 acresarea of the rural parish on the Surrey-Sussex border
- About 1500date of the church's timber bell-frame and spire framework
- Spire coveroak shingles on the church bell-turret and spire
- Horsham slabscover the chancel, aisle and porch roofs
The Victoria County History of Surrey, in 1911, describes Alfold as a rural parish on the Surrey-Sussex border of about 2,974 acres, lying on Wealden clay and wooded. It adds an odd detail: glass-houses once stood in Sydney Wood, and Aubrey saw the graves of French glass-makers in the churchyard, though the industry was already extinct in his time.
The church roofs and the lane
St Nicholas's church has walls of Bargate stone rubble, a bell-turret and spire covered with oak shingles, and a timber bell-frame and spire framework dated to about 1500. The chancel, aisle and porch roofs were covered with Horsham slabs, and the history notes tile-hung cottages grouped around the church lane. Hanging tiles on a wall are a different job from tiling a roof, though the two meet at eaves, abutments and window heads, and a leak there can be blamed on the wrong one.
Oak shingles on a church spire are a specialist matter, and we do not generalise from them to houses. What the account does show is how many materials one small parish can hold: stone slabs, tile and timber, as well as the spire's covering. Our pitched roofing page describes how tiled roofs, ridges and valleys are repaired, and the survey names what each house carries before anything is priced.
Trees, clay and water
A wooded clay parish means leaf fall and damp. Valleys, gutters and the north slopes of roofs hold moisture, and moss follows. Marley does not recommend jet washing tiles, so our roof cleaning and moss removal page describes gentler methods. We clear and photograph each gutter and outlet on a survey, since a blocked gutter on a clay site can send water behind fascias and down walls.
In the parish record
1500approximate date of the church's timber spire framework
2,974 acresparish area, as the 1911 history gives it
Behind every roof in a village like this is a history of repairs by neighbours and local builders. We expect to find slates beside tiles, felt of more than one age and flashings of mixed materials, and we record each so that a repair matches the part of the roof it joins. Where a slope has been patched several times, the photographs show the joins, and we tell you whether another patch is sensible or whether that slope has reached the point where a larger repair is the better buy.
Chapter 03 of 03
Alfold's conservation area, Grade I church and listed houses
| Designation | In Alfold | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Alfold (1970, extended 1989), within about 0.75 km | Ask Waverley before changing a roof's appearance |
| Grade I listed church in use | St Nicholas (NHLE 1352752) | Church of England faculty |
| Grade II* listed | Alfold House (NHLE 1044391) | Listed building consent where character is affected |
| Grade II* listed | Alfold Stores and the Magnolias (NHLE 1044392) | Listed building consent where character is affected |
| Grade II listed | Alfold War Memorial (NHLE 1445240) | Listed building consent for works affecting it |
The Alfold conservation area, which Waverley lists as designated in 1970 and extended in 1989, lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre. Waverley's planning team holds the map that shows whether your house is inside it. A call before the survey is worth making if you are thinking of altering the roof's shape or adding an opening, because the answer shapes what we measure. Ask Waverley too whether an Article 4 direction applies to your address before any change that shows from outside, since the answer can alter what is allowed. Our planning permission for roof work guide explains the rules.
Church, houses and memorial
St Nicholas has a Grade I listing and is a working Anglican church, so its roof repairs go through the faculty system under the ecclesiastical exemption, not Waverley's listed building consent. Alfold House, and Alfold Stores with the Magnolias, are both listed Grade II*, and Alfold War Memorial is Grade II. The national list records 11 listed buildings within 500 m of the village centre. On any listed house, work that alters the character needs listed building consent, and we put the question to Waverley before we price. Alfold House and Alfold Stores both carry the higher Grade II* listing, so their roofs call for careful handling of detail: lead, ridge tiles and chimneys are recorded before anything is touched.
A like-for-like record
For an unlisted house, matching what is already on the roof is the plain case, because section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 leaves out works that do not materially change a building's outside look. A change of covering, a taller ridge or a new opening is where a question starts. Our survey photographs give you a dated record of the existing detail for that conversation, and the council can see the same pictures if you apply. It is easier to agree a change when everyone is looking at the same evidence.
Older houses in a conservation area often have chimneys that are as prominent as the roof. If a stack needs repointing or rebuilding, our chimney repairs page explains the usual work, and the survey records the stack's height, pots and flashings first.
Alfold roof questions, from church lane to county border
My Alfold cottage has tile-hung walls under the roof: who fixes a leak at that joint?
We do, because the leak is usually at the line where wall tiles meet the roof covering, and that line belongs to both jobs. We lift the lowest roof tiles, check the flashing or soaker and the battens behind the hung tiles, and photograph what we find, so the repair deals with the real cause.
Is my Alfold house inside the conservation area?
A conservation area named Alfold lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre, so many houses may be inside it. Waverley's planning team holds the boundary map and can confirm your address. Waverley lists it as designated in 1970 and extended in 1989. Plans for a dormer, or any other visible change, go to the council before we price them.
Does St Nicholas Church in Alfold need listed building consent for roof work?
No. St Nicholas is Grade I listed but still a working Anglican church, so the ecclesiastical exemption applies and its roof repairs follow the faculty system. Waverley's listed building consent covers listed houses and other buildings outside that exemption, such as Alfold House, and we ask before pricing any such work.
How long does an Alfold scaffold licence take?
Surrey County Council wants applications a minimum of 10 working days ahead of the start, and charges £208 for each 28-day period. Who submits the form is left open on its page, so we ask first. Poles kept inside your own boundary need no licence, and the survey shows whether yours can stay there.
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