A 14th-century tiled barn
The Victoria County History describes a barn opposite the church with a fine oak roof covered with tiles.
Roofers in White Waltham
Roofs around St Mary's church and the converted farm buildings at Burycourt
White Waltham's older roofs include a 14th-century tiled barn and red-brick farm buildings now lived in. Every slope is surveyed, what is there is recorded, and the repair is priced in writing afterwards.
White Waltham roofs, barn to cottage
Farm buildings turned homes
RBWM's appraisal says most buildings around the church and Burycourt began as farm buildings, several now converted to homes.
Flint and weatherboarding
The church and Burycourt barn stand out for flint and weatherboarding, in the council's conservation area appraisal.
Map of White Waltham with Cox Green, Waltham St Lawrence, Holyport, Maidenhead marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
White Waltham, south of the Bath Road
Cox Green lies to the north-east, Holyport to the east, Bray further east, Maidenhead to the north-east, Waltham St Lawrence to the west and Hurley to the north-west.
About 18.3 road miles north of Farnborough · Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (unitary).
What we fix on White Waltham roofs
White Waltham, barns and church
White Waltham's barn roofs, read from the appraisal
A village of 3,135 people, its listed barn and church, and what the Royal Borough's conservation area appraisal says about its buildings, with the rules on weight, insulation and scaffold that apply to a roof here.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | A parish of 3,135 on the Royal Borough's books | 3,135 residents in the parish |
| 02 | What the records say about the barns | 14th-century barn, oak roof, tiles |
| 03 | Listed barn, church and the insulation rule | Barn Grade II*, church Grade II* |
Chapter 01 of 03
A parish of 3,135 on the Royal Borough's books
White Waltham: parish, designation and listings
- 3,135usual residents, ONS Census 2021, civil parish
- 18.3 road milesnorth of Farnborough, from the A325
- 13 June 1994St Mary's Church and Burycourt conservation area designated
- 10listed buildings within about 500 m of the village
White Waltham is a small village in Berkshire on a road that runs south from the Bath Road towards Waltham St Lawrence, beside the airfield. The 2021 Census counted 3,135 usual residents in the parish. Measured along the road from the A325 Farnborough Road, it lies 18.3 miles north of Farnborough. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is its council for planning, highways and building control, with no county council above it. One phone call to the Royal Borough therefore reaches the people who deal with all three. That does not make the rules lighter, but it keeps the paperwork in one place.
Weight, and a structural check
The Planning Portal's rule on weight matters in a village of heavy old coverings. Should the replacement covering be 15 per cent or more heavier, Building Regulations approval follows, and the Portal recommends that an engineer or surveyor inspects the frame first. A change that would alter fire performance in a big way also brings approval into play, so the covering's fire behaviour is checked as well as its weight. A clay-tile roof laid on an old frame, replaced with something much heavier, is exactly the case the rule has in mind. At survey the old and proposed coverings are weighed on paper, and both figures go into your notes, with the reasoning beside them.
The figure15%or more added weight: sign-off and a structural check come first15% added weightSource: Planning Portal
A repair with matching tiles does not change the weight. A switch of material does, and that is also the point at which a conservation area, a listing or both start to matter. We name the covering, the underlay and the fixings in the survey notes, so the comparison is on paper before any decision.
Scaffold on the road outside
RBWM's page on scaffolding and hoardings says the council must give permission before scaffold stands on the highway, and it links separate residential and commercial forms. It states fines of up to £5,000 where a licence condition is broken, and gives no fee. As no applicant is named, we check with the scaffolder who is applying and read the licence before the poles go up. Many village roads are narrow, so the plan covers where the footway runs and how long the scaffold stays.
Chapter 02 of 03
What the records say about the barns
| Building | Record |
|---|---|
| Barn opposite the church | 14th century; fine oak roof covered with tiles; weatherboarded walls |
| Church and Burycourt barn | Stand out for flint and weatherboarding |
| Farm buildings in the conservation area | Red brick; mostly farm in origin; several now homes |
| Village houses in 1923 | Few cottages and houses, described as modern |
| Inns at the south end | The Beehive and the Horse and Groom, 18th century |
The Berkshire county history of 1923 describes a barn from the 14th century opposite the church, its fine oak roof covered with tiles and its walls weatherboarded. RBWM's appraisal adds that the church and Burycourt barn stand out for their flint and weatherboarding, and that most of the conservation area's buildings began as farm buildings, several of them now converted to homes. The same history describes the village's few cottages and houses as modern in 1923, with two 18th-century inns, the Beehive and the Horse and Groom, at the south end.
The parish is flat and low-lying, on clay over chalk. For a roofer the useful point is the farm origin. Weatherboarding and flint are wall finishes, not coverings, but they reach the roof at the eaves and gable ends, and those joints let water in first. A rotten board behind a gutter shows as a leak inside long before the roof itself fails, so we check the verges, the flashings and the gutter brackets that fix to those boards. A farm building has long roof planes, few valleys and big areas of tile, and a conversion turns that same roof into a bedroom ceiling. The covering still has to shed water, but now there is a heated room beneath it.
Converted farm roofs
That changes the questions on a survey. We look at the underlay, because an old building often has none, or a torn one, and a leak that once dripped onto a barn floor now stains a ceiling. Batten spacing is checked against tile size, along with the oak or softwood rafters where visible and the verges, where wind-driven rain gets beneath loose tiles.
We also look at ventilation. A converted roof needs air movement to keep timber dry, and BS 5250 deals with moisture in buildings. Eaves and ridge details that were fine over an open barn may need attention once insulation goes in. For a cold roof laid with non-breathable HR underlay, Marley gives eaves ventilation of 10 mm along the eaves where the pitch is over 15 degrees, and 25 mm at 15 degrees or less. We measure the eaves and the pitch before anyone designs the build-up.
All this sits alongside the listing and conservation rules in the next chapter. A converted barn roof is seldom a simple re-cover, and the survey makes that clear, with photographs of the underside for you to keep.
Chapter 03 of 03
Listed barn, church and the insulation rule
Heritage listings and the Part L figures for a roof renovation
- Grade II*Barn north-east of Burycourt Farmhouse (NHLE 1319426)
- Grade II*Church of St Mary (NHLE 1117451)
- 0.35W/(m²·K) roof threshold, AD L Table 4.3
- 0.16W/(m²·K) improved roof value, AD L Table 4.3
Two of the village's best-known buildings are listed Grade II*: the barn to the north-east of Burycourt Farmhouse, and the Church of St Mary. Bryher Cottage and the Old Barn Cottage carry Grade II listings. A listing keeps permitted development rights alive, though listed building consent is needed in addition where work would change what makes the building special. Which consent route covers St Mary's depends on its denomination and present use, a question for whoever looks after the church: if it serves the Church of England and is still used for worship, the faculty system governs it; otherwise listed building consent from RBWM applies. For the barn and for the two Grade II cottages, the order is the same: survey, written method, application, and only then scaffold. Nobody wants to learn mid-job that a listed building needed consent.
Insulation and a renovated roof
Part L of the Building Regulations, in Approved Document L Volume 1 (2021 edition), treats replacing a layer of a roof as renovation. Table 4.3 sets a 0.35 W/(m²·K) threshold for an existing roof, with 0.16 as the improved value. Where 0.16 cannot feasibly be reached, paragraph 4.13 settles for the best achievable within a 15-year payback. The 2026 edition applies from 24 March 2027, with its own table numbers.
For a barn conversion, this matters twice. A roof stripped and re-covered over an uninsulated rafter space is the moment the insulation question is asked. If the roof is listed or in the conservation area, how much insulation fits without raising the ridge or changing the eaves is a matter for the conservation officer as well as for the U-value.
We never state a U-value for a roof we have not opened. On the survey we record the build-up of what we can see, and any proposal comes with the insulation question answered before the price.
Part L, Table 4.3
0.35W/(m²·K) threshold for an existing roof
0.16W/(m²·K) value a renovated roof moves to
Chimneys on farmhouses and converted barns get the same care, since a stack is often the first place a roof leaks. Our chimney repairs page explains how flashings and flaunching are renewed, and the roof replacement page explains what a full re-roof involves, and the pitched roofing page covers repairs to existing tiles.
None of this changes the plain-speaking rule on a survey. You see the photographs, the measurements and the one written price, and nothing is booked until you have had time to read them.
White Waltham roof questions, from barn tiles to Burycourt
My White Waltham barn conversion leaks at the ridge: is that a repair or a re-roof?
We check before we say. A leak at the ridge is often loose or cracked ridge tiles, or old mortar, and that is a repair. If the battens or underlay below are failing across a slope, the survey photographs show it, and the written price then covers the larger job.
Does the St Mary's Church and Burycourt conservation area affect roof work?
Yes, for any change to the visible roof: a different material, ridge line or chimney. The area was designated on 13 June 1994. Laying the same tiles the same way leaves the look alone, and for anything beyond that RBWM's planning team is consulted before you are given a price.
Who licenses scaffolding on a White Waltham road?
The Royal Borough is the highway authority, and its page makes scaffolding on the highway subject to the council's permission. It does not say who applies and gives no fee. We and the scaffolder confirm the licence between us, and nothing is erected until we have read it, so the date quoted to you will hold, and you know before the poles arrive what is going up.
Does re-covering a roof with heavier tiles need approval?
Yes, where the weight rises enough. Under the Planning Portal's guidance a covering at least 15 per cent heavier needs Building Regulations approval, with an engineer's or surveyor's opinion advised first. Both coverings are compared at the survey and the figures put in writing.
Roofs we survey around White Waltham and the airfield
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