A true mansard roof
No. 5 Vicarage Hill, an 18th-century house of rich red brick, has a true mansard roof, the council leaflet says.
Roofers in Alton
Roofs on Alton's refaced timber frames, mansards and mathematical-tiled fronts
Alton's conservation area leaflet describes timber-framed buildings refaced in stucco, brick or mathematical tiles, and a true mansard roof. We survey each roof and keep the record.
Alton's roofs along the High Street
Mathematical tiles at the Swan
The Swan Hotel has a long High Street frontage partly clad in painted mathematical tiles.
A 14th-century open hall
No. 16 High Street is a 14th-century open hall, one of the timber-framed buildings later refaced.
Map of Alton with Holybourne, Binsted, Selborne, Four Marks marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Alton, a market town at the source of the Wey
Holybourne lies close by to the north-east, Binsted to the east, Selborne to the south, Four Marks to the south-west and Medstead to the west, with Bentley further north-east.
About 19.4 road miles south-west of Farnborough · East Hampshire District Council and Hampshire County Council.
What we can do for your Alton roof
Alton, a roof for each century
Alton's roofs: mansards, tiles and 105 listed buildings
How East Hampshire and Hampshire County Council divide the rules for an Alton roof, what the council's conservation area leaflet says about its mansard and tiled buildings, and which consent route each listed building follows.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | A market town of 105 listed buildings | 105 listed within about 900 m |
| 02 | Mathematical tiles, a mansard and a medieval hall | Timber frames refaced, 1700s and 1800s |
| 03 | Quaker meeting house, parish church and consent | Quaker house needs listed building consent |
Chapter 01 of 03
A market town of 105 listed buildings
Alton: people, listings and conservation area
- 19,429usual residents, ONS Census 2021, Alton parish
- 105listed buildings within about 900 m of the centre
- 1970year the Alton conservation area was designated (extended 1982)
- Grade IParish Church of St Lawrence (NHLE 1338903)
Alton is a market town on the A31 at the source of the River Wey, between Farnham and Winchester, and the 2021 Census counted 19,429 people in the parish. East Hampshire District Council handles planning and runs its own building control team. Hampshire County Council is the highway authority, so scaffold standing on a road or pavement is licensed by Hampshire.
A town built of old buildings
The National Heritage List shows 105 listed buildings within about 900 metres of the centre, a density that shapes every roof decision. Alton's conservation area was designated in 1970 and extended in 1982, and The Butts forms a conservation area of its own. For a house inside either, a repair that puts back the same covering keeps the look. A new material, a changed ridge or a rebuilt stack alters it, and that is a question for East Hampshire before a price is fixed.
Check whether an Article 4 direction applies with East Hampshire: we ask the council whether one covers your address before pricing any change to how the roof looks. The planning permission guide explains how designations change what a roof job needs, and we put the council's reply in your file with the survey photographs, so the decision is on record.
The figure105listed buildings stand within about 900 metres of Alton's centre105 within 900 mSource: Historic England, National Heritage List for England
Scaffold on a market-town street
Hampshire County Council makes the scaffolding firm apply on its customers' behalf, wants 10 working days between application and start, and charges £211.90 for the first two weeks. Streets in a market town can be narrow, with parked cars, buses and shop deliveries, so scaffold plans need care, and a poor plan can block a lane for weeks. We measure the pavement outside, look at the frontage and agree the layout with the scaffolder before an application goes in. A shop below a flat or a pub beside a house means access hours and fire exits have to be planned too, and we plan them with the owner.
Because so many Alton buildings are listed, the order is fixed: survey, written method, consent where needed, then scaffold. A listed building is never a place to find out halfway through that a consent was needed.
Chapter 02 of 03
Mathematical tiles, a mansard and a medieval hall
| Building or feature | What the leaflet says |
|---|---|
| Timber-framed buildings | Refaced or encased in stucco, brick or mathematical tiles in the late 18th and early 19th centuries |
| 16 High Street | A 14th-century open hall |
| The Swan Hotel | Long south-side frontage, partly clad in painted mathematical tiles |
| 5 Vicarage Hill | 18th-century house of rich red brick with a true mansard roof |
| Trades | Cloth, tanning and brewing; cloth firmly established by the 16th century |
East Hampshire's conservation area leaflet describes how Alton's timber-framed buildings, many built by clothiers, were refaced or encased in stucco, brick or mathematical tiles in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Number 16 High Street is a 14th-century open hall. The Swan Hotel has a long frontage on the south side of the High Street, partly clad in painted mathematical tiles. Number 5 Vicarage Hill, an 18th-century house of rich red brick, has a true mansard roof, and the leaflet says there are several such roofs in Alton.
Alton's trade was built on cloth, tanning and brewing, and by the 16th century the cloth industry was firmly established. That wealth paid for the buildings, and it is why a town of this size has so many old ones. The leaflet's refaced timber frames show that a front can be newer than the structure behind it, so our survey looks at the frame beneath as well as the surface.
What a mansard asks of a roofer
A mansard roof has two slopes on each side, the lower one steep and the upper one shallow. The steep lower slope usually holds dormer windows, and the join between the two slopes is a line of flashing. A mansard therefore has more junctions per square metre than a plain gabled roof: dormer cheeks, dormer roofs, the break between slopes and the hips at the corners.
Each is a place where lead, zinc or a membrane has to do its job. Lead flashing, according to MyJobQuote, can last for over 80 years, a lower bound, but it does not last for ever, and the oldest flashings on a mansard are often the first to fail. We photograph every junction from the roof or a tower and note which need renewal.
Mathematical tiles are wall cladding, not roof covering. They are tiles hung to look like brick, and they meet the roof at the eaves and the gable ends. If a hung tile at the eaves comes loose, water gets behind it. We check these joints on a survey, because a leak that seems to come from the roof may begin in the wall. A stain on a first-floor ceiling beside a hung-tile gable is a common clue, and it sends us to the junction first.
Our lead roofing and leadwork page explains how flashings, dormers and valleys are renewed, and the pitched roofing page covers the slopes themselves.
Chapter 03 of 03
Quaker meeting house, parish church and consent
Alton's four principal listings
- Grade IParish Church of St Lawrence (NHLE 1338903)
- Grade II*Alton Quaker Meeting House (NHLE 1338904)
- Grade II*Westbrooke House (NHLE 1094199)
- Grade II1 Amery Street (NHLE 1094209)
The Parish Church of St Lawrence is listed Grade I and is in use as a Church of England church. That puts it under the ecclesiastical exemption, so roof works go through the faculty system, not listed building consent from East Hampshire. The decision is made by the church's own authorities after an application describing the work.
The Alton Quaker Meeting House, with its front boundary wall and burial ground walls, is listed Grade II*. A Quaker building does not benefit from the exemption, because no denomination other than those named in the exemption order does. Listed building consent from East Hampshire is needed for work that affects its character, and the same applies to Westbrooke House, listed Grade II*, and to 1 Amery Street, listed Grade II.
What a consent application needs
An application for a listed roof needs evidence. The planning officer wants to know what the roof is now, what the proposal changes and what it keeps. Our survey photographs, measurements and written method answer those questions, and the same file serves a conservation officer, a church architect or an owner's heritage adviser.
We photograph the covering, ridge, hips, valleys, chimney flashings and eaves, and we record the size and colour of tiles or slates where a match is needed. If lead is involved, we note the position and the code we propose. Royston Lead's brochure lists code 5 for flashings, pitched valleys and box gutters, and code 4 for soakers and flashings.
Nothing is ordered until consent is in hand, so you are never committed to materials for work the council has not yet agreed.
A leaking listed roof still has to be made safe at once. A temporary cover, laid with the proper photographs, protects the building and its interior while consent is sought. The permanent repair follows once the right consent is in place, and the temporary work is removed without trace.
The right order also protects the building's character. A listed roof that has been patched in the wrong material can look worse than one left alone, and it can be costly to undo. Careful records at the start avoid that outcome, and they let the next owner see exactly what was done.
Alton roof questions, from mansards to the Quaker meeting house
My Alton house has a mansard roof: is it harder to repair than a normal pitched roof?
It has more junctions, which means more places to check. Dormer cheeks, the break between the steep and shallow slopes and the corner hips all depend on lead, zinc or membrane. We photograph each one, mark the worn ones and write a single price for the repairs the evidence supports, nothing extra.
Do mathematical tiles on an Alton front count as a roof job?
They are wall cladding, but they meet the roof at the eaves and the gable ends, where water can get behind a loose tile. We check those joints as part of the roof survey, and if the cladding itself needs repair you are told and shown the fault in a photograph.
Does the Alton conservation area stop me changing a roof covering?
It does not stop repairs. A like-for-like covering keeps the look, whereas a new material, ridge or chimney changes it. The Alton area was designated in 1970 and extended in 1982, so we ask East Hampshire's planning team about any change before pricing it, and keep their reply on file.
Which consent covers roof work on the Quaker Meeting House?
Listed building consent from East Hampshire. The Quaker Meeting House is listed Grade II* and does not benefit from the ecclesiastical exemption, which covers the Church of England and a few other denominations only. A faculty is the route for St Lawrence's Church, not for Quaker buildings, and the owners apply.
Roofs we survey around Alton and Holybourne
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Give us your Alton street and the fault, and we will visit, photograph the roof and check for listing.
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