Houses of Basing House brick
Many 17th-century buildings here used bricks taken from the ruins of Basing House after the Civil War.
Roofers in Old Basing
Roofs along The Street, from thatch to Basing House brick
Old Basing is a long village between the Loddon and the canal, partly built from the ruins of Basing House. We survey tile, slate and thatch homes on their evidence.
A village built from a ruin
The Great Barn of 1535
The Basing House Great Barn at Grange Farm dates from 1535 and is listed Grade I, as St Mary's Church is.
Thatch on The Street
The council's appraisal for the church area records several thatched houses on The Street, among tile and slate.
Map of Old Basing with Chineham, Basingstoke, Sherborne St John, Sherfield on Loddon marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Old Basing, between the Loddon and the canal
Old Basing lies on the River Loddon east of Basingstoke, its long street between the river and the canal, with Farnborough 15.5 road miles to the east.
About 15.5 road miles west of Farnborough · Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
Choose a service for Old Basing
Old Basing, siege, brick and thatch
Reading an Old Basing roof from siege to street
How the borough's wording and Hampshire's scaffold terms apply to an Old Basing roof job, what the Civil War left in the village's brick, and where the Grade I church and the conservation area steer repairs.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | The borough's wording, Hampshire's licence | Borough plans and inspects, county licenses |
| 02 | A siege, a barn and bricks reused | Basing House stormed in 1645 |
| 03 | A Grade I church, 50 listings, one conservation area | 50 listed buildings within 500 m |
Chapter 01 of 03
The borough's wording, Hampshire's licence
| Body | What it decides in Old Basing |
|---|---|
| Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council | Planning and its own building control team |
| Hampshire County Council | Highway authority; scaffold licences |
| Who files the scaffold licence | The scaffolding company, says Hampshire County Council |
| Civil parish | Old Basing and Lychpit |
Two bodies handle Old Basing's roof paperwork. Planning and an in-house building control team belong to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, while scaffold on the roads is licensed by the highway authority, Hampshire County Council. The village sits in the civil parish of Old Basing and Lychpit, 15.5 road miles from the A325 in Farnborough.
How the borough words its re-roofing advice
Among the alteration projects Basingstoke and Deane's building regulations page says might need approval is replacing roof coverings, pitched or flat. The operative word is might: the page never says always, and it quotes no percentage. We treat that as a cue to ask the council early, with the Planning Portal's pair of limits alongside: a quarter of the envelope, half of the roof, and a heavier covering as a separate trigger. For an Old Basing house with an old frame and clay tiles or thatch, the weight question is the one we examine most carefully.
Old houses have old timbers, and the 15 per cent weight rule bites hardest on them. A thatched or clay-tiled roof, weighed against a heavier modern tile, can look like a small change on paper and a large one on the rafters. We weigh both and tell you what we find, with the loft photographs, before you decide anything.
Hampshire's terms for scaffold
On Hampshire County Council's page the licence belongs to the scaffolding company, which files for its customer. Lead time under Hampshire County Council's terms is ten clear working days, and the tariff is £211.90 for the opening 2 weeks and £72 for every 2 after; extensions are not granted. Poles on private ground sit outside the scheme.
When you compare quotes, ask what each assumes about scaffold, VAT and removing old material. A village roof is rarely simple, and a figure that ignores access will not hold. Our written price comes in one total, set after the survey, with its inclusions listed.
A long village street has houses of every kind along it. Those that front The Street itself may have a narrow footway, and those set back have gardens. On the survey day your frontage is measured, and the likely arrangement and licence length are described to you.
A leaking roof is covered temporarily first, with the proper repair timed around licence and weather.
Chapter 02 of 03
A siege, a barn and bricks reused
Old Basing's dates in the records
- 1535date of the Basing House Great Barn
- 1645year Cromwell stormed Basing House
- 17th centurywhen many buildings reused its bricks
- 7,140residents, ONS Census 2021, parish of Old Basing and Lychpit
Basing House, whose remains stand at the south end of the village within a curve of the Basingstoke Canal, was besieged by Parliamentary armies for many months and stormed by Oliver Cromwell in 1645, then ordered to be totally slighted and demolished. Many 17th-century buildings in Old Basing were built with bricks taken from the ruins. St Mary's Church and the Basing House Great Barn at Grange Farm are both listed Grade I, and the Great Barn dates from 1535.
What that history leaves on a roof
Reused brick is an unusual thing to build with, and houses made from it may have walls of uneven bond and varied colour. A roof on such walls has to be fitted to what is there, not to a standard plan. Where tile meets brick at a verge or an abutment, the line is rarely straight, and a flashing has to be shaped to it.
The appraisal for the church area records the village's materials in terms of age. Plain handmade clay tiles are used on older buildings, slate on 19th-century buildings and later additions, and several houses on The Street have thatched roofs. That is the council's record of one area, and it points to three repair traditions living side by side. A tiled roof is repaired by matching tile, a slate roof by looking at its nails, and a thatched roof by a thatcher.
The figure1535yearyear the Basing House Great Barn dates from, before the siege of 16451535 Great Barn1645 house stormedSource: British History Online, Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4 (1911), Parishes: Basing or Old Basing; Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Old Basing Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan
On a thatched roof, the survey tells you plainly what we see and who should do the repair. On tile and slate, the report names every slope's covering, with a few tiles lifted to expose the battens. Our pitched roofing page explains how tiled slopes are repaired, including ridges and hips.
Chimneys on a village of this age are many and varied. Brick stacks built from reused material may have uneven courses, and old pointing may be soft. A stack that leans, bricks that have loosened or a flashing that has lifted at the foot are the usual findings, and every joint is photographed from the ladder, so the report separates sound from failing.
The Great Barn is a reminder of scale, and the appraisal notes that the village keeps many barns. On any long barn roof, every ridge and every verge is a long line to keep sound.
Chapter 03 of 03
A Grade I church, 50 listings, one conservation area
| Designation | In Old Basing | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Grade I listed church in use | Church of St Mary (NHLE 1339555) | Faculty, not listed building consent |
| Grade I listed, in a scheduled monument | Basing House Great Barn, Grange Farm | Scheduled monument consent |
| Grade II listed | 1 and 3 Milking Pen Lane (NHLE 1301310) | Listed building consent |
| Conservation area | Old Basing | Changes to the look checked with the borough |
The national list shows 50 listed buildings within 500 m of Old Basing's centre, a high count for a village of its size. St Mary's Church was listed Grade I on 26 April 1957, and 1 and 3 Milking Pen Lane, 1 Crown Lane and 10 and 12 The Street are Grade II. Basingstoke and Deane's listed building consent must be obtained before work that would change any of them, save where a church in use has its own system.
The church route
Because an Anglican congregation still uses St Mary's, its roof comes under the faculty system, which the ecclesiastical exemption provides for. The Great Barn is listed Grade I, but the borough's appraisal also places it within the Basing House scheduled monument, and works to a scheduled monument need scheduled monument consent from the Secretary of State.
Directions and the conservation area
The Old Basing conservation area was designated by the borough in 1973 and extended in 1981, and Basingstoke and Deane says there are more than 40 across the borough. The borough's four roof-related Article 4 areas, where roof changes need planning permission, are in Basingstoke town. The direction that names Old Basing concerns conversion of houses to houses in multiple occupation. We still ask the borough about an address before pricing any change of appearance.
For four town-centre areas of Basingstoke the borough's guidance asks that original Welsh slate and clay roof tiles be kept, and warns that concrete tiles or artificial slates are unlikely to be accepted. It was written for Basingstoke, but it shows how the borough thinks.
A conservation area gives a long village street the protection of a group. The council cares about the pattern, such as an unbroken eaves line, a run of chimneys or a ridge that follows the street, more than about any single tile. A repair that honours the pattern passes without fuss, and our survey notes are written to match.
Church and count
1957year St Mary's Church was listed Grade I, in April
50listed buildings within 500 m of the centre
If you are buying or selling an Old Basing house, a dated roof survey is worth having. It shows a buyer's surveyor what was found and what has been done, and it avoids a late renegotiation over a roof nobody has looked at. We give you the photographs and a short written report.
On the Environment Agency's map some land within about 250 m of the village centre is in Flood Zone 3, a nudge that the Loddon is near and that roof water needs somewhere to go. Our chimney repairs page explains how the many stacks of an old village are repaired.
Old Basing roof questions, thatch, tile and the Great Barn
Part of my Old Basing house is thatched and part tiled: who repairs what?
A thatcher repairs the thatch and a roofer the tile, and where the two meet at a wall or a valley, the junction needs both to agree. We survey the tiled part and photograph the junction, and we tell you plainly what the thatched part needs and who should do it, so the two trades meet at the right line.
I live near Basing House: could its bricks have ended up in my walls?
Possibly, since many 17th-century buildings in the village were built with bricks taken from the ruins. Whether yours was is a matter for a building historian. For a roofer, the point is that reused brick makes uneven walls, so verges and abutments need shaped flashings. We photograph those lines before any repair.
How long can an Old Basing scaffold stay up under Hampshire's licence?
The first 2 weeks cost £211.90 from Hampshire County Council and each further 2 weeks £72, but extensions are refused, so a longer job is filed again, by the scaffolding company, ten clear working days ahead. Sizing the period from our survey keeps the number of re-filings down, and we tell you the expected duration.
Does the borough's slate and clay tile rule apply to my Old Basing roof?
The rule in Basingstoke and Deane's guidance is written for named areas of Basingstoke, not for Old Basing. It shows the borough's view, though, and in a conservation area changes of material are a matter for its planners. A like-for-like repair avoids the question, and photographs of your roof support it.
East of Basingstoke, near Old Basing
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