Long, low red-tiled roofs
The Victoria County History noted long, low red-tiled roofs on the church and old red-brick houses beside it.
Roofers in Pyrford
Roofs beside a 12th-century church and old brick chimney stacks
Pyrford's record describes long, low red-tiled roofs and old brick houses with good chimney stacks beside its church. We survey roofs like those, slope by slope.
Pyrford's roofs, from the churchyard outward
Brick stacks by the church
The same record mentions good chimney stacks on the old red-brick houses near St Nicholas' church.
St Nicholas' stone church
The church remains much as built in about 1140 to 50, of conglomerate and sandstone rubble, restored in 1869.
Map of Pyrford with West Byfleet, New Haw, Woking, Byfleet marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Pyrford, above the Wey meadows east of Woking
West Byfleet lies to the north, New Haw and Byfleet to the north-east, Ripley to the south-east and Old Woking to the south-west, with Woking and Farnborough to the west.
About 15.8 road miles east of Farnborough · Woking Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Pyrford homes: our roof services
Pyrford, the village record
What Pyrford's records mean for your roof
Which councils stand behind a Pyrford roof, what the 1911 county history says about the church and the houses beside it, and how the Aviary Road conservation area affects a repair.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Woking, Surrey and a licence for scaffold | 15% heavier covering triggers approval |
| 02 | The church and the brick beside it | St Nicholas' church, about 1140 to 50 |
| 03 | The Aviary Road conservation area and your roof | 1 conservation area within 0.75 km |
Chapter 01 of 03
Woking, Surrey and a licence for scaffold
| Question | Body for Pyrford addresses |
|---|---|
| Planning authority | Woking Borough Council |
| Highway authority (until April 2027) | Surrey County Council |
| Building control | Woking Borough Council's own service |
| Scaffold licence on the highway | Surrey County Council |
| From 1 April 2027 | West Surrey Council replaces both |
Pyrford is a village on the eastern side of Woking borough, 15.8 road miles east of Farnborough by the route we measure from the A325. Pyrford addresses fall to Woking Borough Council for planning, and to Surrey County Council for highways until 31 March 2027, after which West Surrey Council covers Woking. Anything booked before that date runs under the present councils.
Woking's own building control
Woking runs building control itself. Its pages describe applications, fees and inspections and name no shared service. Whether a Pyrford roof needs an application turns on the proportion of the roof that the job reaches, so the survey measures every slope before a price is written. The Planning Portal sets two limits: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope, and less than 50 per cent of the roof. Staying under both normally means no application. The exception is a covering heavier by 15 per cent or more: Building Regulations approval follows, and the Planning Portal advises taking an engineer's or surveyor's opinion first.
At the survey each slope is measured, and the area the job affects is written down. That single figure settles the building control question, and it reaches you with the photographs before any date is booked. When you compare quotes from different roofers, check that each one states whether VAT and scaffolding sit inside its total, because both change what you will pay. Ask each roofer to put the same scope in writing, so that the numbers can be compared fairly.
The figure15%heavier: a covering at this level or beyond brings Building Regulations approval in15% extra roof weightSource: Planning Portal, accessed 28 October 2026
Scaffold on a Pyrford lane
Scaffold that obstructs the highway needs a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and in Pyrford the licensing body is Surrey County Council. Its page applies the licence wherever scaffolding occupies ground the public can use, asks for ten working days' notice, and charges £208 for each 28-day period, the same fee for a renewal. The page names no applicant, so we agree the licence with the scaffolder and keep the dates in the plan.
You also get the order of the job in advance: which day the scaffold goes up, which slope is worked first and when the waste leaves. For a house with a brick stack the scaffold usually serves the stack too, and our chimney repairs page explains what is done at the top of it.
Chapter 02 of 03
The church and the brick beside it
What Pyrford's records give in numbers
- 15.8 road mileseast of Farnborough, from the A325
- About 1140 to 50St Nicholas' church, much as built
- 1869year T. G. Jackson restored the church
- 27conservation areas in Woking borough
Surrey's 1911 volume of the Victoria County History is where most of Pyrford's recorded character comes from. It says St Nicholas' church remains much as built in about 1140 to 50, of conglomerate (pudding-stone) with sandstone rubble, and that T. G. Jackson restored it sympathetically in 1869. It describes a shingled spirelet and long, low red-tiled roofs, and it notes some old red-brick houses with good chimney stacks near the church.
What a 1911 description can and cannot tell a roofer
A description from 1911 is a starting point, not a specification. A long, low tiled roof from that period could have been recovered more than once since, and the stack beside it may have been rebuilt or repointed in a different mortar. So we do not say what a Pyrford house carries from the record. The answer comes from the roof itself: a few tiles are lifted, battens and underlay inspected, and the stack photographed from above and from inside the loft.
The pairing the record describes, tile and brick standing close together, is a useful one to remember. Stacks are where leaks begin: rain gets into a worn mortar joint, a cracked flaunching (the mortar bed that seats the pots) or a flashing lifted at the base. Each of those is a small repair when it is caught early. A long, low roof has few features to break up its run of covering, so the places that matter are the ridge, the verge at each gable end and the eaves, and we look at all three on every slope. Where the underlay shows through a gap, or daylight shows from the loft, we mark it on the plan.
Stone, sand and a standing stone
The same volume mentions the Pyrford Stone, a sarsen from the Bagshot beds set upright not far from the Warren, possibly one of Surrey's few ancient standing stones. It has nothing to do with roofs, but it shows how long people have recorded this village. Pyrford's houses today are of mixed ages, and a survey treats each one on its own terms. A farm cottage, a house from the last century and a recent build can share a lane, and each needs its own survey, with its own photographs and its own list of faults, so that nothing is carried over from the neighbour.
Whatever the age, the visit logs covering, ridge, verges, valleys, flashings and gutters in one fixed order, and the repairs for each are set out on our pitched roofing page. Where the covering has simply worn out across the whole roof, the written price says so and shows the evidence.
Chapter 03 of 03
The Aviary Road conservation area and your roof
| Designation | In Pyrford | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Aviary Road, Pyrford | Changes to the look checked with Woking |
| Article 4 direction | Checked by address | Ask Woking whether one applies to your address |
| Listed building | Check your own house by address | Listed building consent for works affecting its character |
The national planning dataset, built from the council's own boundaries, places the Aviary Road, Pyrford conservation area within about 0.75 km of the centre of the village. The designation applies only within its boundary, so the opening question on any Pyrford job is where your house stands against that boundary. Woking counts 27 conservation areas in the borough, and its online map answers the question for a particular address.
Asking Woking before the price is set
Living in a conservation area does not freeze a roof. Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 only catches works that materially change how a building looks from outside, so a repair in matching material is the straightforward case, and Woking's planners need not be involved. Changing the covering material, the ridge or a chimney is different, because it alters what the street sees. For those jobs we take it to Woking's planners ahead of the price, and we ask the same planners whether an Article 4 direction applies to your address.
Listing is a separate question from the conservation area, and it changes the route. A listed house needs listed building consent for any work altering its character, as well as planning permission where that applies. We suggest checking your own house on the national list before you book anything, because the answer decides who must approve the work, and a consent can take longer than the repair itself.
Matching what is already there
Matching starts with measurement. Tile size and profile, eaves lap and ridge type are all measured, together with how the verge is held: bedded in mortar, or fixed by dry-fix clips, the BS 8612 mechanical system that stops mortar being the only support. If no exact match exists, the nearest alternatives are shown to you with the differences explained.
Whatever the designation, the working method does not change. We record the existing covering, ridge, verge and stack in photographs, repair to match, and keep the record. Should the council, a buyer's surveyor or a neighbour ask later what was done and when, the photographs are the reply. They also let us show you, before any work, which parts of the roof are sound and can stay exactly as they are.
Pyrford questions: stacks, tiles and consent
Can the chimney stacks on an older Pyrford house be repaired without rebuilding them?
Sometimes. Sound brickwork can be renewed in place, with repointing, new flaunching and fresh flashings, and the stack stays up, which keeps disturbance down. Loose bricks or a leaning stack point towards a rebuild. We photograph it from roof and loft, so the written price follows whichever the evidence supports.
Does the Aviary Road conservation area affect roofs elsewhere in Pyrford?
It applies to the land inside its boundary, so check your address on Woking's conservation-area map. The area lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre, and a house outside it follows the ordinary rules. If you cannot tell which side of the boundary you sit, we ask Woking before we price, and tell you what comes back.
Does re-tiling a Pyrford house with heavier tiles need building control?
A covering weighing 15 per cent or more beyond the old one's weight needs Building Regulations approval, and the Planning Portal suggests having a structural engineer or surveyor look first. It is a building control matter rather than a planning one. Woking's own service, or a registered building control approver, handles it.
Who files the scaffold licence for a Pyrford house on a public road?
Surrey County Council's page names no applicant, so ask when you book who will apply. We agree it with the scaffolder. The council asks for at least 10 working days' notice and charges £208 per 28-day period, and the licence covers scaffold standing on the highway itself.
Beyond Pyrford: West Byfleet, Woking and Ripley
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