Housing at Shiplake Cross
The appraisal describes 1920s and 1930s housing around the junction, in red brick and white render under red clay tile.
Roofers in Shiplake
Red clay tile, slate and render at Lower Shiplake and the Cross
Shiplake's character appraisal describes red and orange brick, hanging tiles, timber framing and clay and slate roof tiles. We look closely at each roof here.
Shiplake's roofs, from the Cross to the railway estates
Orchard Close houses
Older houses near Orchard Close date from the late Victorian period to the early 1920s, in brick or render.
Lower Shiplake after the railway
The Henley branch railway led to the Bolney and Lashbrook estates being sold and developed for housing.
Map of Shiplake with Binfield Heath, Wargrave, Sonning, Twyford marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Shiplake, south of Henley
Henley-on-Thames lies to the north, Binfield Heath to the west, Wargrave to the east, Sonning and Twyford to the south and Ruscombe to the south-east.
About 24 road miles north-west of Farnborough · South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council.
Services for roofs in Shiplake
Shiplake, chimneys and the railway
Shiplake's roofs: chimney breasts, railway estates and listings
What approvals a Shiplake chimney breast removal involves, how the Henley branch railway and the Thames shaped the two villages, and what the Chilterns designation and the church listings mean for a repair.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Southvale, Oxfordshire and taking out a chimney breast | Removing a chimney breast always needs approval |
| 02 | The Henley branch, the estates and the Lock | Housing around the Cross, 1920s and 1930s |
| 03 | The Chilterns edge, Sonning Eye and the church | 5 per cent inside the Chilterns designation |
Chapter 01 of 03
Southvale, Oxfordshire and taking out a chimney breast
| Matter | Position at Shiplake |
|---|---|
| District council and planning authority | South Oxfordshire District Council |
| County council and highway authority | Oxfordshire County Council |
| Building control | Southvale Building Control, South Oxfordshire's service |
| Removing a chimney breast | Building Regulations approval always applies, Planning Portal |
| Cutting away a shared chimney breast | Party wall notice two months ahead |
For Shiplake, planning sits with South Oxfordshire District Council and the highways with Oxfordshire County Council. The district's inspectors work as Southvale Building Control, alongside the neighbouring Vale of White Horse district. Farnborough is 24 road miles off, so we visit by appointment, walk the whole roof and write up what we see with measurements and pictures before a figure is mentioned, and we copy you on every note. Dates are fixed with you in advance, and the weather decides whether we climb. A loose flashing may be judged from a short ladder, while a stack needs closer access, and we say which to expect.
The breast, the stack and the roof
The chimney breast is the part of the stack that juts into a room, and owners often want it gone for the floor space. The Planning Portal's line is firm: Building Regulations approval always applies, and it gives the reason that chimney breasts belong to the structure. What matters for the roof is what happens to the stack above. Take away the breast and the support under the flue goes with it, so the stack in the loft and above the tiles has to be propped, rebuilt or lowered.
That makes the work a joint one for builder and roofer. Above the roofline the stack is supported, taken down or rebuilt, and the slope around it is made good with new flashings, tiles and a sound junction. MyJobQuote's guide gives chimney breast removal as between £1,200 and £3,500, a typical UK range, which tells you nothing about a Shiplake house until the survey measures it. Our chimney repairs page explains the assessment of a chimney stack.
When a neighbour shares the wall
In a semi or a terrace the breast may sit on a wall shared with next door. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives the owner a right to cut away a projecting breast, with a notice served two months ahead of the work. GOV.UK points out that silence is not consent, and where neighbours cannot agree the Act leads to a surveyor being appointed. The route goes through a party wall surveyor and not through building control. A scaffold on the carriageway comes with a highway licence, which we arrange with the scaffolder before work begins.
Chapter 02 of 03
The Henley branch, the estates and the Lock
Shiplake's building story in dates and figures
- 1769turnpike road, now the A4155
- 1773Shiplake Lock built by the Thames Navigation Commission
- 1920s and 1930shousing around the Shiplake Cross junction
- 1,962residents, ONS Census 2021, Shiplake parish
The Shiplake Villages Character Appraisal and Design Guide, updated in May 2021, describes a Thames-side parish with two villages, Lower Shiplake and Shiplake Cross. It names the local materials as red and orange brick, hanging tiles, decorative timber framing, and clay and slate roof tiles. The 2021 Census counted 1,962 usual residents in the parish, a good many roofs of different ages for one village pair.
Railway estates and the Cross
The arrival of the Henley branch railway transformed Lower Shiplake. The Bolney and Lashbrook estates were sold and the land developed for housing, where before 1900 there had been little but farms and cottages. For the Shiplake Cross junction the appraisal describes housing from the 1920s and 1930s, in red brick and white render under red clay tile roofs. Near Orchard Close it describes older houses, from the late Victorian period to the early 1920s, in red brick or render with slate or red clay tile roofs.
A house from those years is a century old, or near it. HomeBuilding gives clay tile 60-80 years as a typical life, a published range with no promise attached, so a roof of that age may be well inside the range or beyond it. We check tile faces and battens, and we look hard at the junctions where white render meets tile, because rain gets behind a wall finish at exactly those points.
Some roofs have changed between slate and clay over the years, and the weight changes with them. Any proposal is measured against the line the Planning Portal gives, a covering 15 per cent or more heavier, before a covering is chosen. Our pitched roofing page explains the repair choices, and our slate roofing page covers slate slopes.
Small roofs over bays and porches are often covered in lead or zinc rather than tile. VM Zinc cites the BRE Environmental Product Declaration for a life of 100 years for zinc, and MyJobQuote says lead flashing can last over 80 years, a lower bound. Both are published figures and no promise for a particular roof, so each one is judged by its seams, fixings and condition.
Road and lock
1769the turnpike road, now the A4155
1773the year Shiplake Lock was built
A road and a lock
The appraisal dates the turnpike road, now the A4155, to 1769, and Shiplake Lock to 1773, when the Thames Navigation Commission built it. This stretch of the river was a working route long before the estates were laid out, and the older cottages beside it have had longer to weather.
Chapter 03 of 03
The Chilterns edge, Sonning Eye and the church
| Designation | At Shiplake | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| National Landscape | Chilterns, partly: 5 per cent of the 1.5 km area | Ask the planning team about dormers |
| Nearest conservation area | Sonning Eye | Confirm your address with the council |
| Grade II* listed | St Peter and St Paul parish church (NHLE 1059595) | Faculty system for a church in use |
| Grade II listed | Shiplake College (NHLE 1059600) | Listed building consent |
| Grade II listed | Shiplake College, Burr House (NHLE 1181358) | Listed building consent |
Under its newer name, a National Landscape, the Chilterns takes in some of the land near Shiplake. The centre point stands outside it, but 5 per cent of the area within 1.5 km lies inside, so a house on that side may be handled differently in planning, and a loft dormer or extension is worth raising with South Oxfordshire before it is drawn. Our planning permission for roof work guide shows what to ask.
Sonning Eye and the parish church
In the national dataset the closest conservation area is Sonning Eye, which places the Shiplake streets outside it, though that alone does not settle a particular address, so the council's own map is checked and we note the outcome in the survey file. Historic England lists the Church of St Peter and St Paul at Grade II*, and a cross about 80 metres north-west of it at Grade II, both entered on the list on 13 February 1985. With Anglican worship held there, the church roof is a faculty matter.
College buildings and listed houses
Shiplake College and Burr House both carry Grade II listings, and nine listed buildings lie near the centre on Historic England's count, so each address is read against the list before any price. Alterations to a listed building's character need the council's listed building consent, which runs apart from Building Regulations, and the roof work waits for it. Our pictures go in with any application, letting the officer compare the proposal with the roof as found; the decision letter is then filed with them.
The figure5%of the ground within 1.5 km of Shiplake falls within the designation5% in the ChilternsSource: planning.data.gov.uk national landscape layer
The record is the foundation whatever the designation. Pictures of the covering, ridge, verges and chimneys are taken before any price is set and kept, so an officer, a later owner or a neighbour can set the finished roof against the original. If anything changes during the work, we tell you and add the new pictures to the file.
The loft is part of the survey, not an afterthought. In the loft we hunt for daylight at the laps, torn or sagging underlay, damp or stained timber, and insulation jammed against the eaves. Each finding is photographed and marked on the roof plan, so a bedroom leak is followed to its entry point and not just the nearest stain.
Chimney breasts, clay tiles and the church: Shiplake questions
How is a red clay tile roof on a Shiplake 1920s house repaired?
The appraisal describes housing from the 1920s and 1930s around the Cross in red brick and white render under red clay tile roofs. We check tile faces, battens and the render-to-tile junctions, and replace only what has failed. A sample tile helps to find a match for any that must be renewed, and you see the sample before it is ordered.
Do I need building control to take out a Shiplake chimney breast?
Yes: taking a chimney breast out always needs approval, from Southvale or a private approver. If the breast sits on a wall you share, a party wall notice must also reach your neighbour two months before work begins, and a party wall surveyor deals with any disagreement. We set out both steps in writing before any date is fixed.
Does the Chilterns National Landscape alter roof work here?
It can. Five per cent of the land within 1.5 km of Shiplake falls inside the Chilterns National Landscape, which can change how a dormer or extension on that side is treated. Ask South Oxfordshire's planners early, with our survey pictures attached, so you know your position before paying for drawings.
Which route covers roof work on Shiplake's parish church?
An Anglican congregation uses it, so roof work goes through the faculty system and not through the council. Historic England lists the church at Grade II*, and the cross about 80 metres north-west of it at Grade II. A listed house nearby follows the listed building consent route for any works that alter its character.
Get your free roof quote
A roof survey for your Shiplake home
Message us your Shiplake road and the symptom; we survey first and quote once after.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.