The Green's old hamlet core
The Green, the Memorial Gardens, St Peter's Church and St Stephen's School formed the core, the council's appraisal says.
Roofers in Hersham
Victorian cottages round The Green, between the railway and the Mole
Hersham became its own parish in 1851, with The Green, St Peter's and St Stephen's School forming the old hamlet's core. We survey its cottages and newer houses.
Hersham's roofs, from The Green outwards
Faulkners and Mills Road cottages
These roads on the west side of The Green hold Victorian cottages, many altered by later extensions.
Holy Trinity and St Peter
Holy Trinity chapel of ease was yellow brick of 1839; Pearson's St Peter's of 1887 is brick and stone.
Map of Hersham with West End, Elmbridge, Esher, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Hersham, in the old south of Walton parish
West End, Esher and Claygate lie to the east, Walton-on-Thames and Upper Halliford to the north-west, Weybridge to the west, and Cobham to the south.
About 21.3 road miles east of Farnborough · Elmbridge Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Tiles, flat roofs and gutters in Hersham
Hersham, green, railway and Mole
Hersham's Green, its Victorian cottages and Elmbridge's rules
Who decides roof work in an Elmbridge village, how a hamlet on The Green became a parish in 1851, and what the Hersham Village conservation area and its listed church and cross mean for a repair.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Elmbridge decides, Surrey licenses, East Surrey follows | East Surrey Council from April 2027 |
| 02 | A hamlet on The Green that became a parish | 12,630 residents, Hersham built-up area |
| 03 | Hersham Village conservation area, listed church and cross | Designated 30 August 1989 |
Chapter 01 of 03
Elmbridge decides, Surrey licenses, East Surrey follows
| Role | Body for Hersham addresses |
|---|---|
| District council and planning authority | Elmbridge Borough Council |
| Building control | Elmbridge Building Control Services |
| Highway authority | Surrey County Council (until 31 March 2027) |
| Scaffold on a public road | Licence from Surrey County Council |
| From 1 April 2027 | East Surrey Council replaces Elmbridge and the county |
Hersham falls under Elmbridge Borough Council for planning, and Elmbridge Building Control Services provides the building control service on the council's behalf. Surrey County Council is the highway authority. Elmbridge is one of the councils that will become part of East Surrey Council on 1 April 2027. Hersham lies 21.3 road miles to the east of our A325 start point in Farnborough, and 16 miles directly.
When building control gets involved
The Planning Portal's test sets the starting point. A re-roof stays below the application line while it touches under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof; where a covering is heavier by 15 per cent or more, approval is needed after a structural check. On a Victorian cottage with a later extension, those percentages need working out roof by roof, because the main roof and the extension are separate areas with separate coverings. We measure each, and report the result in the survey so that a conversation with the building control service starts from numbers.
You can use Elmbridge's service, or hand the file to a registered building control approver, a private firm on the register that opened with the 6 April 2024 regime. Whichever you choose, a re-cover in a heavier material is the case to raise early. Because a cottage and its extension are separate roofs, we may report two answers for one house, and that is normal.
The figure25%of the envelope and under half the roof are the Planning Portal's re-roof limits25% envelope limit50% roof limitSource: Planning Portal, building regulations for re-roofing
Putting a scaffold on the road
Surrey County Council licenses scaffolding on a public road. It charges £208 for every 28 days, with a renewal at the same price, and wants applications in at least 10 working days beforehand. Where a cottage sits close to the pavement, the scaffold may stand partly on it, and then the licence matters. We mark the layout at the survey and agree who files the application with the scaffolder, so the start date accounts for the wait.
Until 1 April 2027, services carry on under the present councils, and any paperwork for a job booked now names them. After that date the new council is the one to ask, and we note the change on your records, so the job file names the right council at each stage.
Chapter 02 of 03
A hamlet on The Green that became a parish
Hersham, as the records give it
- 21.3 road mileseast of Farnborough, from the A325
- 12,630residents, ONS Census 2021, Hersham built-up area
- 1851year Hersham became an ecclesiastical parish
- 1887year Pearson's St Peter's church was built
The county history of Surrey records that Hersham became an ecclesiastical parish in 1851, formed from the southern part of Walton on Thames, roughly the part south of the railway. A chapel of ease, Holy Trinity, was built of yellow brick in 1839, and the present church of St Peter, by J. L. Pearson, dates from 1887 and is of brick and stone. The 2021 Census counted 12,630 usual residents in the Hersham built-up area.
The Green and the cottages
Elmbridge's statement of designation for the conservation area says The Green, the Memorial Gardens, St Peter's Church and St Stephen's School, built in the early 1840s, formed the core of the old hamlet, and that the Watermans Arms on the north side of The Green was trading by the 1790s. Faulkners Road and Mills Road, on the west side of The Green, hold Victorian cottages, many altered by later extensions. That last point matters for a roof survey. An extension changes the roof: the old slope may be cut into, a new valley or flat roof introduced, and the join between them becomes the weak spot.
St Stephen's School, built in the early 1840s, and the Watermans Arms, trading by the 1790s, show how old parts of the hamlet are. Older buildings may have had their roofs recovered more than once, so the layers matter. We record what the roof has now and note signs of earlier repairs, such as patched valleys or mixed tile sizes, because those signs affect what a repair should do.
When a cottage has been extended, the survey also asks what lies under the old roof. We lift tiles where we can, check the battens and underlay on both the original slope and the extension, and compare the two, since the extension's roof is often the newer one and ages differently from the cottage beneath.
We therefore look at every extension junction on a Hersham cottage. Is the lead where the old and new roofs meet sound? Does the flat roof of a rear addition fall to an outlet, and is the outlet clear? Our flat roofing page explains how falls and coverings are judged, and our pitched roofing page covers the cottage roof itself.
The Green's setting also asks something of a roof job. Because it is a village green with houses facing it, work is seen. We plan scaffold, deliveries and skip positions so that the green and the neighbours' access stay usable, and we tell you what will happen each day before the first pole goes up.
Chapter 03 of 03
Hersham Village conservation area, listed church and cross
| Designation | In Hersham | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Hersham Village (designated 30 August 1989) | Changes to the look checked with Elmbridge |
| Grade II listed church | Church of St Peter (list entry 1188005) | Church of England faculty, not council consent |
| Grade II listed | Hersham Memorial Cross (list entry 1427595) | Listed building consent for changes affecting character |
| Grade II listed | Lytheys (list entry 1294439) and The Barley Mow | Listed building consent for changes affecting character |
| Conservation areas borough-wide | 26 designated, over 2,000 properties | Check your address with Elmbridge |
Elmbridge designated the Hersham Village Conservation Area on 30 August 1989, and says there are 26 designated conservation areas across the borough, taking in over 2,000 properties. A conservation area leaves repairs possible but makes the look of a roof the planning team's concern, so a house near The Green gets one extra step before a price is given. We check with Elmbridge which designation touches your address, and whether an article 4 direction applies, because the directions Elmbridge lists concern particular sites, not roofs.
St Peter's, the cross and the listed houses
St Peter's, listed Grade II by Historic England, is an Anglican church according to mapping data, and an Anglican church in use takes roof work to the faculty system rather than to the council. Hersham Memorial Cross, listed in July 2015, is Grade II, and Lytheys and The Barley Mow public house are Grade II as well. Where a change reaches the listed fabric, listed building consent is the route, and the council decides what that means for a given roof.
Looking after unlisted cottages in the area
Elmbridge says its 26 areas cover more than 2,000 properties, so asking which designation applies to an address is a routine first step, not an exceptional one.
Most homes here are unlisted, and the practical test is whether the repair looks as the roof does now. Re-fixing slipped tiles, re-bedding a ridge to match and renewing lead in the right code all keep the roof much as it stood. Any new type of covering, a changed chimney or a roof window on the front slope would not, and goes to Elmbridge first. Our chimney repairs page covers the care of stacks, flaunching and flashings.
On the unlisted houses, a short written note from Elmbridge's planning team that a repair needs no application is worth having, and we ask for one where the answer is not obvious.
The survey of a cottage in the conservation area records the covering, the ridge, the verge and the chimney from the road, with photographs taken square on, so that Elmbridge's team can see the roof as it stands and compare it with any proposal. You get the same pictures, and the written price covers the whole job.
Hersham questions on extensions, conservation and licences
Why do extension joins on Hersham's Victorian cottages leak before the main roof does?
Elmbridge's appraisal notes that many Victorian cottages on Faulkners Road and Mills Road were altered by later extensions. Each extension adds a join, with lead, felt or tile edges that have to shed water onto the old roof. Those joins age faster than the covering, so we photograph each one on the survey.
Does the Hersham Village conservation area limit roof repairs?
Roof repairs are still allowed; what changes is that the council cares how the finished roof looks. Re-fixing tiles and re-bedding a ridge to match keeps the roof as it is, while a new covering, a changed chimney or a front roof window would change it. We ask Elmbridge Borough Council before pricing any change of that kind.
Who deals with building control for a Hersham re-roof?
Elmbridge Building Control Services acts for Elmbridge Borough Council, and a registered building control approver, a private firm, registered since the rules changed on 6 April 2024, can do the job instead. Either will want to know how large an area of roof the work covers, and our survey measurements give that.
Does roof work on a listed Hersham pub or the memorial cross need consent?
Listing brings listed building consent into play for changes to what makes a building special, and The Barley Mow, Lytheys and Hersham Memorial Cross are Grade II. Whether a matching repair counts is for Elmbridge to say. Photographs and our proposed method go to the council first, then the price follows.
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