Half-timber fronts on brackets
The 1911 county history notes two or three half-timber fronts with projecting upper storeys on boldly curved brackets.
Roofers in Wonersh
Roofs over half-timber, brackets and a pierced barge-board
Wonersh once made blue cloth that sold as far as the Canary Islands, and its old houses have projecting upper storeys on curved brackets. We survey each roof.
Wonersh's roofs, from the Green to St John's church
A pierced barge-board
At Shamley Green, in the parish, a timber house has a barge-board pierced with quatrefoils.
A church with tiled roofs
St John the Baptist's older parts have tiled roofs, and the nave was largely rebuilt in red brick in 1793.
Map of Wonersh with Bramley, Waverley, Shamley Green, Chilworth, Shalford marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Wonersh, next to Bramley below the Greensand hills
Bramley is the next village west, with Shamley Green south-east, Chilworth north-east and Shalford north-west; Guildford lies beyond Shalford, and Farnborough far off.
About 18 road miles south-east of Farnborough · Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Fixes and replacements in Wonersh
Wonersh, cloth village record
Wonersh roofs, written quotes and listed brackets
What consumer law and Citizens Advice say about written quotes and the cancellation period for a Wonersh roof, what the 1911 county history records about its half-timbered fronts, and how 29 listed buildings and two conservation areas shape repairs.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Written quotes and the 14-day cooling-off | 14 days cooling-off after a home contract |
| 02 | Cloth, brackets and a 1793 church | Nave rebuilt in red brick, 1793 |
| 03 | Twenty-nine listings and two conservation areas | 29 listed buildings within 500 m |
Chapter 01 of 03
Written quotes and the 14-day cooling-off
| Point | Published position |
|---|---|
| Contract made away from the trader's premises | The consumer may cancel within 14 days after the day the contract is entered into |
| No cancellation information given | The right can extend up to 12 months after the period would have ended |
| Urgent repair visit you requested | No cancellation right under regulation 28(1)(e) |
| Quotes | Citizens Advice suggests written quotes from at least 3 traders |
| Skill and care | Services must be performed with reasonable care and skill |
Wonersh is a village south-east of Guildford, next to Bramley, 18 road miles from Farnborough, towards the south-east, with distance taken from the A325 Farnborough Road. Planning and building control here are Waverley's, and scaffold licences are Surrey County Council's business, current until 31 March 2027, and from April 2027 Waverley is one of the districts folded into West Surrey Council. This chapter covers something different: what you can expect from any roofer once a job is agreed.
Quotes and cancellation
Citizens Advice recommends that you gather three or more written quotes before settling on a trader. To compare them fairly, each should say what it covers, including whether VAT and scaffold sit inside the total. Where the contract is signed in your own home after the survey, it counts as off-premises, and you may cancel within 14 days of the day it was made, giving no reason. According to Citizens Advice the clock starts the day after the contract is entered into.
If a trader does not give the cancellation information, the right can extend by up to 12 months after the period would have ended. A request to start work during the cancellation period should be made in writing on a durable medium. One exception matters for roofs: where you specifically invited a trader round to deal with an urgent repair, regulation 28(1)(e) takes away the cancellation right.
The figure14daysdays: the cancellation period for a contract made away from the trader's premises14 days to cancelSource: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 regulation 30, legislation.gov.uk
What the law says about the work
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a trader must carry out a service with reasonable care and skill, and cannot contract out of that duty. For advice, Citizens Advice runs a consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 also requires a trader to say what dispute-resolution arrangement is available if you are dissatisfied with an outcome.
Renewing a whole roof is covered on our roof replacement page, and repairs are covered on our pitched roofing page. Each written plan gives one total price for the job, with the photographs behind it. Ask any trader what happens to a deposit if you cancel, and get the answer in writing before you sign. Keep a copy of every document, including the survey report and its photographs, because they are your record if anything is disputed.
Chapter 02 of 03
Cloth, brackets and a 1793 church
Wonersh's record in four published facts
- 18 road milessouth-east of Farnborough, from the A325
- 3,453residents, ONS Census 2021, Wonersh parish
- 1793year the church nave was largely rebuilt in brick
- 29listed buildings within 500 m of the village point
The 1911 county history says Wonersh was once a flourishing seat of the West Surrey clothing trade, making blue cloth that sold as far away as the Canary Islands, and that the trade declined in the 17th century. It records that the older parts of the church are of ironstone rubble, conglomerate, chalk rag and Bargate rubble with tiled roofs, and that the nave, south aisle and south chapel were largely rebuilt in red brick in 1793.
Brackets, gables and barge-boards
The same history notes, among many interesting old cottages and houses, two or three with very perfect half-timber fronts and projecting upper storeys on boldly curved brackets. At Shamley Green, also in the parish, a timber house near the top of the green has a projecting gable, a moulded bressummer on brackets and a barge-board pierced with small quatrefoils. A bressummer is the beam that carries an upper wall, a barge-board is the board along a gable edge, and a quatrefoil is a four-lobed pierced shape.
To a roofer, a projecting upper storey means the roof edge stands further out than the wall below, and where such a front faces the road, the eaves and verge hang over it. Poles must stand clear of the brackets, the barge-board needs gentle handling, and a fixing into old oak can fail where the timber has softened.
Matching a barge-board
A pierced barge-board is a piece of carpentry, and its replacement is a joiner's job, matched to the pattern. A house of that age may have been repaired many times, so old tiles beside newer ones on a single slope would not surprise us, and each slope is named from what is lifted, not guessed from the street. We photograph the board, its profile and its fixings, record the rafter ends behind it, and describe what is sound. If a section is rotten, the plan says how much and why, and the repair is matched.
A new covering over a half-timber frame has to allow for the frame to move. If the tiles on a slope have worn out, our lead roofing and lead work page covers the lead at junctions and stacks, and the photographs from the visit show whether a smaller repair would do or the whole slope must go.
Chapter 03 of 03
Twenty-nine listings and two conservation areas
| Designation | In Wonersh | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | Wonersh; Bramley | Changes to the look checked with Waverley |
| Grade II* listed church in use | Church of St John the Baptist (NHLE 1241510) | Church of England faculty, not listed building consent |
| Grade II* listed house | The Dower House (NHLE 1241146) | Listed building consent for works affecting its character |
| Grade II listed | Archway to Wonersh Court (NHLE 1241550) | Listed building consent for works affecting its character |
| Grade II listed | Beeleigh House (NHLE 1260472) | Listed building consent for works affecting its character |
Two conservation areas appear near Wonersh in the planning dataset, Wonersh itself and Bramley, and Waverley's own page lists the conservation areas for each parish. Waverley counts 44 conservation areas in the borough, and its mapping tool tells you which side of a boundary a house sits. Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 excludes a plain restoration from development; a different covering or reshaped ridge is another matter, and Waverley's planners are consulted before such work is priced.
The Historic England list counts 29 listed buildings within about 500 m of the village point, which makes listing a routine question for a Wonersh roof. St John the Baptist's Church and The Dower House share a Grade II* listing date of 9 March 1960, and the Archway to Wonersh Court and Beeleigh House are listed Grade II.
Matching on a listed house
Listed houses such as The Dower House call for matching in a stricter sense: tiles of the right size, thickness and colour, laid to the same lap, with ridge and verge details that follow the original. A sample photographed beside the proposed tile goes to the council with the application, letting the officer judge the match from evidence rather than description.
Consent, and who gives it
A listed house calls for consent ahead of any change to its character. The church is a separate case: the Church of England worships there, so a faculty governs any work on its roof, and the council has no say. The consent reference is in our hands before a start is agreed, because unconsented work may have to be reversed.
If the map flags nothing for your address, the job is the plain kind, and the photographs taken before it begins are kept in a file for a buyer or a surveyor to see later. The file also records who was told what, and when, which saves argument afterwards, and it gives a later owner something solid to read. For a house with a projecting upper storey, it includes a note of how the scaffold stands clear of the brackets and who agreed the layout, so that nothing about the access is left to memory.
Wonersh roof questions, from brackets to cooling-off
Can a jettied Wonersh cottage with a projecting upper storey be re-roofed?
It can, with a scaffold planned around the brackets. The eaves and verge can sit well out beyond the wall below, and fixings into old oak may have softened. We photograph the brackets, eaves and barge-board first, then plan the scaffold and the covering so the timber is disturbed no more than the work requires.
Is any of Wonersh a conservation area, and does it change a repair?
The planning dataset names Wonersh and Bramley conservation areas near the village, and Waverley's mapping tool shows which side of a boundary your house is on. Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 excludes restoring the original from development; if you want a changed covering or ridge, Waverley's planners hear about it first.
Does a Wonersh roof contract signed at home carry a cooling-off period?
For an off-premises contract, yes: 14 days from the day after it is entered into. A visit you asked for because a repair was urgent is excluded under regulation 28(1)(e). The Citizens Advice consumer helpline, 0808 223 1133, can advise on your own case, and a written contract helps.
How many quotes make a fair comparison for a Wonersh roof?
Citizens Advice puts the number at three or more written quotes. Check each says what is included, such as VAT and scaffold. A single total price given after a survey, with photographs behind it, is easier to compare than a figure over the phone. Ask each trader what happens to a deposit on cancellation.
Around Wonersh: Bramley, Shamley Green and Chilworth
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