The 1854 army camp
North Camp was set up at the southern end of Farnborough when the army arrived at Aldershot in 1854.
Roofers in North Camp
Roofs south of Farnborough, from the 1854 camp to Lynchford Road
North Camp began as an army camp in 1854 and is now a residential district with its own centre. Every roof is measured, photographed and then given a single price.
North Camp's roofs, from army camp to shopping parade
Lynchford Road's district centre
Today North Camp is a residential area and district centre with a range of small shops.
Aldershot Military Museum blocks
M Block and N Block, both listed Grade II, stand within 500 m of the centre.
Map of North Camp with South Farnborough, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Mytchett, Farnborough marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
North Camp, on the Aldershot border south of Farnborough
South Farnborough lies to the north, Ash Vale to the east, Aldershot to the south-west, Mytchett to the north-east, and Ash to the south-east.
About 2.6 road miles south of Farnborough · Rushmoor Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
North Camp, camp to centre
North Camp roofs, from camp to Article 4
How an army camp became a district centre, which Article 4 direction and listed blocks sit in its record, and which bodies inspect work and license scaffold on a North Camp job.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | From an 1854 army camp to a district centre | Camp 1854; decline from the 1960s |
| 02 | Shops to homes, museum blocks and the flats rule | Article 4 in force 6 March 2023 |
| 03 | Inspection and scaffold around Lynchford Road | Thresholds 25%, 50%; scaffold 10 days |
Chapter 01 of 03
From an 1854 army camp to a district centre
North Camp's story in four published points
- 1854army arrives at Aldershot, North Camp founded
- 1960sdecline begins as a new town centre is built
- 2Grade II museum blocks within 500 m
- 2.6 road milessouth of Farnborough from the A325
North Camp exists because of the army. Rushmoor's records say the camp was established at the southern end of Farnborough when the army arrived at Aldershot in 1854; at that time the South Farnborough area beside it was lightly wooded heathland south of the Farnborough Park estate. The Victoria County History of 1911 places it in Farnborough parish, cut off from Aldershot by the Basingstoke Canal, with the camp and Farnborough Common filling the south of the parish. For many years North Camp was Farnborough's commercial hub. From around the 1960s it declined, as the military population fell and a new town centre was built to the north, and today it is a residential area and district centre with small shops. Anyone who knows the area will recognise that pattern: a place designed around one purpose that has since found others. The roofs reflect it, and each needs reading on its own, whatever its neighbours look like from the street.
A district with a few layers
That history leaves a mixed streetscape. There are homes laid out in the Victorian decades, shops along the road to the station, flats, outbuildings and the later additions that any 170-year-old district collects. Rushmoor's overview treats North Camp and South Farnborough as one area, and the housing laid out from the 1860s is part of that story. We use those facts as background only, because a street's history cannot tell you what a particular roof is covered with today.
What we do is look. On a pitched slope we probe the battens and the underlay through a gap, log the ridge, hips and valleys on a sketch, and take close photographs of every flashing and chimney junction. On a flat roof over a shop or an extension we measure the falls, press on the joints and trace each outlet. All of it is dated and filed in the report you receive.
Our flat roofing page sets out the laying and the usual failures of felt, EPDM and GRP, which matters near a centre of small shops. For houses, our pitched roofing page covers tiles, slates and ridges. In either case, if the evidence supports a repair you are quoted for a repair and nothing larger.
Chapter 02 of 03
Shops to homes, museum blocks and the flats rule
| Record | What it covers | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Town and district centres Article 4 direction | Shops, restaurants and takeaways converted to homes; in force 6 March 2023 | A change-of-use rule, not a roof rule |
| Aldershot Military Museum M Block | Grade II, NHLE 1109984 | Listed building consent |
| Aldershot Military Museum N Block | Grade II, NHLE 1109985 | Listed building consent |
| Conservation areas nearby | Basingstoke Canal; Basingstoke Canal South, within about 2.5 km | Check your address with Rushmoor |
Rushmoor's own list of Article 4 directions includes the Town and district centres direction, and the council's description names North Camp district centre among the places it covers. The direction concerns shops, restaurants, takeaways and similar premises turning into homes. It was in force from 6 March 2023, modified by the Secretary of State on 14 July 2023. It is a change-of-use rule: it governs what a building may become and has nothing to say about a roof covering, a ridge or a gutter. We mention it because a shop converted to a home usually needs its roof looked at, and a survey before the conversion is cheaper than a leak after it.
Listed blocks nearby
Two buildings of the Aldershot Military Museum, M Block and N Block, are listed Grade II and stand within 500 m of North Camp's centre. Listed building consent is a separate matter from the planning rules above, and it is required before work that changes a listed building's character. A house nearby that is not listed lies outside their listing, and the National Heritage List shows which case applies to a given address.
What Rushmoor says about flats
Rushmoor's position is that a flat carries no permitted development rights. Planning permission therefore covers every job on one, apart from an exact like-for-like replacement or work that leaves the building's appearance unchanged. That matters in a district with premises above shops. If you own or manage a flat or a block, we treat a roof job as a matter for the planning team from the start, and our planning permission and roof work guide explains the thinking behind the question.
For an owner weighing a conversion, the survey can come first. A roof report with measurements and photographs lets an architect or the planning team see the building as it stands, and it shows whether the roof is sound enough to keep or needs replacing as part of the scheme.
The national dataset also names the Basingstoke Canal conservation areas as the nearest to North Camp, within about 2.5 km, though neither touched the 1.5 km box around the place point. For any address we ask Rushmoor Borough Council before pricing work that changes the roof's appearance, and we file its answer with the survey photographs.
Chapter 03 of 03
Inspection and scaffold around Lynchford Road
Four numbers that shape a North Camp roof job
- 25%of the building envelope: first limit
- 50%of the roof: second limit
- 15%or more heavier covering needs approval
- 10 daysclear working days of scaffold licence notice
Building control for North Camp is delivered by Rushmoor Borough Council, which shares one team with Hart as the Hart and Rushmoor Building Control Partnership, working from offices in Farnborough. Hiring a registered approver for building control is the private route. For re-roofing, the Planning Portal says building control normally wants no application while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is touched. Beyond either figure, or where the new covering is 15 per cent heavier than the old, a structural check and approval come first.
Scaffold on a North Camp street
Hampshire County Council is the highway authority, and scaffold on a footway or carriageway needs its licence under the Highways Act 1980. Hampshire County Council's rule makes the scaffolding company the applicant for its customer, and it wants 10 clear working days of notice. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2 weeks, and never extends a licence.
That last point shapes a programme. A re-roof that overruns because of weather cannot just keep its poles standing; a new application is required, and the notice period starts afresh. So spare days go into the plan at the survey, along with an explanation of what a delay would mean, before anything is booked. Scaffold kept entirely off the public highway needs no licence from the county.
The figure15%heavier is where a new covering stops being a simple swap and needs approval15% heavier covering25% envelope share50% roof shareSource: Planning Portal, building regulations for re-roofing
The weather governs when scaffold is safe to use. The Met Office's South Farnborough averages for 1991 to 2020 show 118 wet days a year and around 53 days of air frost, so a long re-roof will meet a share of each, and the programme is drawn up with that in mind from the start, with spare days built in rather than promised.
Near a station and a row of shops, pavements are busy and space is tight, which is when planning ahead earns its keep. We plan where deliveries will stand, where walkers can pass and how waste leaves the site, with the plan sent to you before the first day. Small repairs, a stack flashing or a few loose tiles for instance, are often reached by tower or ladder, so the highway is left alone. Our chimney repairs page explains how stacks are mended.
North Camp roof questions, from district centre to delayed scaffold
Does the 2023 town and district centres direction affect a North Camp roof?
Rushmoor's list says it covers shops, restaurants and takeaways turning into homes, and names North Camp district centre. That is a use rule, not a roof rule. Rushmoor's planning team is still given your address before any quote for work that changes the roof's look, and its reply is kept with the survey.
Do the Grade II museum blocks near North Camp's centre affect neighbouring roofs?
No. M Block and N Block are Grade II, and any work altering their character needs listed building consent. A neighbouring unlisted house sits outside their listing. The National Heritage List shows which case your address falls into, and we look it up during the survey visit and write the result into the report.
Can flats above a North Camp shop be re-roofed like a house?
Not on the same footing. Rushmoor treats a flat as having no permitted development rights, which sends every job to the planners unless it is an exact like-for-like swap or leaves the appearance as it was. A flat or block roof is therefore a planning question from the first visit, not an afterthought.
What happens to a North Camp scaffold licence if rain delays a re-roof?
Hampshire County Council will not extend a licence, so if a re-roof overruns, a new licence must be sought, with another 10 clear working days of notice and a new fee. That is why we leave margin in the scaffold dates and explain at the survey what a delay would involve for you.
Between the canal and the station: roofs we reach near North Camp
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A North Camp roof, mapped on a sketch before it is priced
Send your North Camp address and a note of the fault. We book the visit, and one written price follows.
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