Seventeenth-century timber-framed cottages
Guildford's appraisal says the village's buildings begin with 17th-century timber-framed cottages, then Georgian whitewashed ones.
Roofers in Holmbury St Mary
Red clay tile, scalloped tile-hanging and Arts and Crafts gables
Holmbury St Mary's houses run from 17th-century timber-framed cottages to Arts and Crafts houses with fish-scale clay tile. Each gets a survey of its own before we price.
Holmbury's roofs, from timber frames to fish-scale tile
Arts and Crafts gables
Late-Victorian houses here have brick ground floors and gabled first floors hung with scalloped clay tile.
Red clay tile roofs
The council's appraisal lists red clay tile roofs, scalloped and plain tile-hanging, brick and sneckled sandstone.
Map of Holmbury St Mary with Abinger, Peaslake, Gomshall, Ewhurst marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Holmbury St Mary, in the Hurtwood hills
Peaslake lies to the west, Gomshall and Shere to the north-west, Abinger and Westcott to the north-east, Ockley on the south-eastern side and Ewhurst beyond it, south-west.
About 21.1 road miles south-east of Farnborough · Guildford Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Roofing help for Holmbury St Mary streets
Holmbury St Mary, tile and gable
Holmbury's Street church, tile-hung gables and Hurtwood setting
Which councils sit behind a roof job in the Surrey Hills, what Guildford's appraisal says about Holmbury's tile, brick and sandstone, how long clay lasts, and what the listed church and conservation area mean.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | A Surrey Hills village under Guildford | Surrey Hills National Landscape, inside |
| 02 | Clay tile roofs and what they last | Clay tile 60-80 years |
| 03 | Grade I church, listed cottages and the conservation area | St Mary's, Grade I, listed 1967 |
Chapter 01 of 03
A Surrey Hills village under Guildford
| Role | Body for Holmbury addresses |
|---|---|
| District council and planning authority | Guildford Borough Council |
| Building control | Guildford Borough Council's own service |
| County council and highway authority | Surrey County Council (until 31 March 2027) |
| Landscape designation | Surrey Hills National Landscape (formerly AONB) |
| From 1 April 2027 | West Surrey Council replaces Guildford and the county |
Holmbury St Mary is in Guildford borough, so Guildford Borough Council decides its planning applications and runs its own building control, with Surrey County Council as the highway authority. The planning data places the whole area around the village centre inside the Surrey Hills National Landscape, which used to be called an AONB. Measured from the A325, the village lies 21.1 miles by road to the south-east of Farnborough, and 16.4 miles in a straight line.
What the National Landscape means for a roof
The National Landscape designation sits alongside the conservation area here, and planners weigh both when a roof would look different from the lanes and hills around it. A simple re-cover of an existing roof is a different question from a change to the roof's shape, such as a new dormer or a raised ridge, and the planning permission guide linked below explains the routes. We confirm with Guildford's planning team which designations touch your address before a proposal that changes the roof's shape is priced.
Weight, area and the building control question
A plain re-roof is judged by the Planning Portal's thresholds: 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, with work below both normally needing no application. A new covering 15 per cent or more heavier is different, and brings approval and a structural check. Clay roofs on old timber frames deserve that check. We weigh old against new before a covering is chosen, and Guildford's team can confirm a close case from our survey measurements.
Because the village sits in the wooded Hurtwood hills, we agree delivery and skip positions with you before work starts. A lorry that cannot stop where the map suggests is a cost and a delay, so the plan covers where materials are unloaded, where the scaffold bases sit and what the neighbours will see. You are told what happens each day.
Scaffold on a village lane is usually a question of the carriageway and footway. Surrey County Council licenses scaffolding that obstructs a public road, at £208 for each 28 days, wanting the application 10 working days ahead. A private drive or garden is not highway. Guildford joins West Surrey Council on 1 April 2027, and until then the present arrangement continues. The planning permission guide covers the planning side in full.
Chapter 03 of 03
Grade I church, listed cottages and the conservation area
| Designation | In Holmbury St Mary | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Holmbury St Mary | Changes to the look checked with Guildford |
| Grade I listed church | Church of St Mary (list entry 1029485) | Denomination and use decide the consent route |
| Grade II listed | Chapel Cottage and cottage adjoining (list entry 1189419) | Listed building consent for works affecting character |
| Grade II listed | Hilda Cottage (list entry 1377765) | Listed building consent for works affecting character |
| Article 4 direction | Check by address on Guildford's map | Chimneys where a direction applies |
The national planning dataset places the Holmbury St Mary conservation area within about 0.75 km of the village centre. Guildford's appraisal describes the buildings as running from 17th-century timber-framed cottages to Georgian whitewashed cottages and Arts and Crafts houses, grouped around G. E. Street's church of St Mary the Virgin. Street also built his own country house, Holmdale, nearby. Historic England lists St Mary's at Grade I, first listed on 14 June 1967.
Listed cottages and the consent route
Chapel Cottage, the cottage adjoining it and Hilda Cottage all hold a Grade II listing. A Grade II listing means changes to a building's character need listed building consent, so recovering a roof or altering a chimney goes to Guildford first, even where a like-for-like repair elsewhere would not. Listed houses keep permitted development rights; the consent comes in addition. The church is a separate case. Should it be a working Anglican church, the faculty system replaces council consent, and we would ask which route applies before anything near it is priced.
Chimneys and article 4
Guildford uses article 4 directions in conservation areas, and at an address where one applies, its page says a stack may not be removed or altered without permission. The council's online map shows which addresses are covered once the Article 4 Direction layer is switched on. We check it for every Holmbury chimney job and tell you the answer.
Because the village is small, a roof seen from the lane is also a roof seen from the churchyard and the neighbouring cottages, so visible materials matter more than they would in a large town. We keep replacement tile, lead colour and ridge profile close to the existing roof, and the survey report shows, with photographs, the parts that can be seen from public land. That is also what Guildford's team looks at when it considers a proposal in the conservation area.
For the many houses with tall brick stacks and tile-hung gables, the priority is like for like. Keep the clay, keep the pattern, keep the pitch, and record each detail before the work begins, so Guildford's team can see what stands and what is proposed. Our chimney repairs page covers stacks, flaunching and flashings, and lead renewal in the right code is part of the same survey where flashings have failed.
Holmbury questions on tile matching, chimneys and consent
How do I get matching scalloped clay tile for a Holmbury St Mary house?
Guildford's appraisal describes scalloped clay tile-hanging on the village's Arts and Crafts houses. We record the shape, size and lap at the survey, then match it from new tile or from sound tile taken off a less visible slope. A sample is checked against the roof before the work is booked, so the match is seen in place first, not promised.
Does the Surrey Hills National Landscape affect a Holmbury roof repair?
Re-covering an existing house roof differs from changing its shape, and designation matters most for the second. The planning permission guide sets out the routes for a house. Before we price any alteration to the roof's shape, Guildford's planning team is asked which designations touch your address, and what each one means.
Does the listed church or a Grade II cottage need listed building consent for roof work?
Changes that touch a listed building's character need listed building consent, and the cottages are Grade II. St Mary's is Grade I, and if it is a working Anglican church, the faculty system applies instead. We confirm which route fits before pricing, and send the council our survey photographs.
Does Holmbury St Mary have an Article 4 direction on chimneys?
It depends on the address. Guildford uses article 4 directions in conservation areas, and where one applies a stack may not be removed or altered without permission. The council's online map shows which addresses are covered. We look the address up on the survey visit and give you the answer before any chimney work is priced.
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