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Roofers in Aldwick

Aldwick's best-recorded roofs are the plain clay tiles of the Craigweil estate, laid out in 1937 on the coast west of Bognor Regis. We trace what is failing on them and photograph it for you.

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Three kinds of Aldwick roof, and how each one lets go

  • A plain clay tiled roof

    Plain clay tiles on the Craigweil estate

    Arun's conservation area statement names local stock bricks and plain clay tiled roofs as the estate's traditional materials.

    Read more about Plain clay tiles on the Craigweil estate

    A plain tile hangs by small nibs on its back, so we test the nails and battens, not only the tile faces.

  • A listed house roof

    A Grade II house on The Drive

    Silvergates, 52 The Drive, designed by Ernest B. Glanfield and built in 1934, is Grade II listed. On a listed roof, repairs in materials that do not match can need listed building consent from the council.

  • Fascia and gutter at the eaves

    Shoreline houses west of Bognor

    Aldwick sits on the coast, so gutters, fascias and soffits take salt as well as rain. HomeBuilding notes that soffits and fascias in marine places collect salty deposits that rain cannot reach to rinse away.

Street map of Aldwick, west of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

: the designations on file

Planning authority
Arun District Council
Councils
Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation areas
Arun lists three: Aldwick Bay, Aldwick Road and Craigweil House
Article 4
Two directions are listed for Craigweil House (Arun)
Listed example
Silvergates, 52 The Drive, Grade II, built 1934
From central Worthing
18.5 road miles, west, about 32 minutes by car

Aldwick roofs

Craigweil tiles, Silvergates and the shore

Three roofing questions that follow from how and where Aldwick was laid out.

Chapter one

Plain clay tiles on the Craigweil estate

Josiah Auty's 1937 layout put herringbone brickwork and plain tile roofs at the centre of the estate, and both now need looking after.

The Craigweil House estate takes its name from a house built in 1806 as The Pavilion for the Countess of Newburgh. King George V came there in February 1929 to convalesce, and the house was demolished in 1939. Sir Arthur Du Cros had the architect Josiah Auty lay out the estate, and the conservation area boundaries still follow Auty's 1937 plan. Arun's statement says the traditional materials are local stock bricks and plain clay tiled roofs, with herringbone brickwork and tile creasing as important features of his designs. Tile creasing means courses of plain tiles set across the top of a wall so that rain drips clear of the brick below. A roof of plain tiles has far more joints than one of large interlocking tiles, and every joint is a place water can find.

At a glance

  • Arun names plain clay tiled roofs on the estate
  • Tile creasing and herringbone are listed features
  • Plain tiles hang from battens by their nibs
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.1 How a plain tile roof fails

Each plain tile hangs from a batten, the slim timber lath a course is fixed to, by two nibs on the back, and a nail holds it only in some courses. When a nail corrodes or a nib snaps, the tile can slide a few centimetres and leave a gap that shows nowhere on the ceiling below. Marley lists the minimum pitch of its clay plain tiles at between 30 and 40 degrees depending on the range, so these are normally steep roofs, which sheds water quickly but also puts every slipped tile on view from the road. We work along each slope looking for gaps, then lift tiles at the hips, valleys and abutments, where the rain collects, to read the battens and underlay beneath.

Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.2 Age, matching and what we recommend

Marley cites a Building Research Establishment finding of a minimum life expectancy of 60 years for clay tiles, and a roof laid in the late 1930s is well past that. The Building Conservation Directory warns that the 60-year figure is not a reliable guide for old peg-tile roofs, which is why we judge each roof by its own condition: how many tiles are cracked, how many fixings have rusted, and whether the battens are sound. A roof can be fit at ninety and tired at fifty, depending on how it was laid and looked after. Where only a patch has failed, we reuse good tiles from a back slope and fill the front with tiles that match in size, colour and texture. Our pitched roofing page explains what a re-cover involves, and our ridge tile repairs page covers the line along the top, which Auty's roofs have plenty of.

Plain tile facts for a Craigweil roof

Estate layout
Josiah Auty, 1937 (Arun)
Traditional materials
Stock bricks and plain clay tiles (Arun)
Marley clay plain tile pitches
30 to 40 degrees by range (Marley)
Clay tile life expectancy
At least 60 years, per Marley
Ridge and hip fixing
Mechanical fixing since the 2014 revision of BS 5534

Source: Arun District Council; Marley; Building Conservation Directory, fetched October 2026

Chapter two

Three conservation areas and a listed house

Aldwick Bay, Aldwick Road and Craigweil House are all conservation areas, so the first question on many roofs is who needs to say yes.

Knapped flint wall meeting the eaves of an old clay tile roof
Knapped flint wall meeting the eaves of an old clay tile roof

Aldwick became a parish in its own right in 1935, and it carries more designations than its size suggests. Arun lists three conservation areas here, Aldwick Bay, Aldwick Road and Craigweil House, and two Article 4 directions for Craigweil House. An Article 4 direction withdraws permitted development rights, so that planning permission is needed for the works the direction names. Which works those are, for a given street, is something to ask Arun District Council's planning team before a covering changes, and we would rather you asked than assumed either way.

At a glance

  • Arun lists three Aldwick conservation areas
  • Two Article 4 directions sit on Craigweil House
  • Silvergates is Grade II, built in 1934
Regency terrace near the seafront with grey Welsh slate roofs
Regency terrace near the seafront with grey Welsh slate roofs

2.1 Like for like, and when it is not

Putting back the same kind of tile in the same pattern is not normally development in planning terms, as the building's appearance stays as it was. The care comes with a change of covering, say clay to concrete, or a new roof window on a visible slope. For the rules on roof windows and dormers in conservation areas, our roof planning permission guide sets them out, so we leave them there. Before we quote a re-cover in any of the three areas, we photograph the existing roof from the road and from the ladder, so that whoever reviews the work can see exactly what is there now. That record also helps you later: if a neighbour or the council asks what the roof looked like before, you have the answer on file.

Regency terrace near the seafront with grey Welsh slate roofs
Regency terrace near the seafront with grey Welsh slate roofs

2.2 Silvergates and the church

Silvergates at 52 The Drive was built in 1934 to a design by Ernest B. Glanfield and is a Grade II listed building. A listed roof is repaired to match, because the law treats works that would affect a listed building's character as needing consent, and repairs in non-matching materials are one of the examples councils give. Routine repair in the same material is a different matter, but the line between the two is for the planning team to confirm, not for a roofer to guess. St Richard of Chichester, built in 1933, is a Church of England church. While it is in use for worship, work to a listed church of that denomination goes through the Church's own faculty process, not the council's listed building consent. The law protects bats and nesting birds, and old house and church roofs can shelter them, so we check for signs before any strip begins. Around the church and the 1930s houses near it, the same discipline applies as on the estate: find the cause of a leak first, then fix only what is failing, in a material that sits well beside the rest of the roof.

What people sayLiving in a conservation area means every roof repair needs planning permission.

What is trueA matching repair rarely does; the checks are whether an Article 4 direction reaches your street, and whether the house is listed.

Chapter three

Patching or re-covering a Craigweil-era roof

Roofs from the 1930s are at the age where one more repair and a full re-cover are both reasonable, and the survey should say which.

Most of the decision comes down to how the faults are spread. A handful of slipped tiles on one slope, a cracked hip or a failed valley usually points to a repair, and we will say so even when a bigger job would pay us more. Rusted nails across every slope, battens that have gone soft, and an underlay that has perished all point the other way, because patching each one only moves the leak. Either way, the price arrives in writing after the survey as one total, backed by photographs of your own roof. The same photographs let you check later that what was quoted is what was done. Stripping a roof whose only fault is a failed valley wastes your money, and patching a roof whose fixings have gone throughout wastes it just as surely. We keep the old tiles that are still good, because a plain tile that has weathered for decades often sits better beside its neighbours than a brand-new one.

At a glance

  • One failing slope usually means a repair
  • Large re-covers can need building control
  • Scaffold on a pavement needs a county licence
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights

3.1 Building Regulations and the weight of the covering

The Planning Portal's test for repairs and re-covering is twofold: under 25 per cent of the total building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof affected, and a building control application is normally unnecessary. Beyond those limits, or with structural alterations, approval comes into play. So does a new covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight of the roof, and a larger job can bring a thermal upgrade under Part L. For an Aldwick house the two routes are the council's building control team or a registered building control approver. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the notification.

Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights
Edwardian semis with concrete tile roofs, brick chimneys, rooflights

3.2 Scaffold, VAT and the price

A two-storey house usually needs scaffold, and scaffolding that obstructs the highway needs a licence, issued by West Sussex County Council on the scaffold firm's application. The county asks for at least 10 working days' notice, so the start date is not always as quick as people expect. A re-roof is charged at the standard 20 per cent rate of VAT, so check whether any quote you are weighing up includes both VAT and scaffolding. The ranges below are typical UK figures from national guides, not our prices, which are good and fair, and a hipped roof costs more than a gable of the same size because it has more to strip and cover.

Typical UK costs for repairs and a semi-detached re-roof

  • Ridge re-bedding or replacing£300 to £600
  • Moderate roof repair£500 to £1,000
  • Gable re-roof, semi£5,000 to £8,000
  • Hipped re-roof, semi£8,000 to £12,000

Your own figure follows the survey as a single written total; ask whether any other quote includes VAT, scaffold and waste removal. Source: MyBuilder roof repair, slate roof and new roof price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Work we carry out in

Aldwick roof questions, from Craigweil to the shore

My Craigweil estate roof has slipped plain tiles. Is that a repair or a re-cover?

It depends on how far the fault spreads. A few slipped tiles on one slope, with sound battens beneath, is usually a repair. Corroded nails, soft battens and cracked tiles across every slope point to a re-cover. We lift tiles at the hips, valleys and eaves to see which it is, then send photographs of your roof with a written quote for the smaller job that properly fixes it.

Do the two Article 4 directions on Craigweil House stop me re-roofing?

Not by themselves. Arun lists the directions, but which works they cover for your street is for the council's planning team to confirm, so ask before a covering changes. Putting back the same tile in the same pattern does not usually need planning permission. We photograph the roof first and match the existing plain tiles, so a like-for-like repair has a record behind it.

Does salt air from the coast west of Bognor damage gutters and fascias?

Salt settles on surfaces that rain cannot wash, which means the undersides of soffits and fascias. HomeBuilding describes this for coastal buildings generally. We check gutters for sagging joints and blocked outlets, look for staining and softness in fascia boards, and fix brackets back to sound timber. Rinsing the lower surfaces with clean water now and then is a sensible habit near the sea.

Who approves roof work on a listed house like Silvergates?

Arun District Council is the planning authority, and works that would affect a listed building's character need listed building consent. Repairs in non-matching materials are a typical example councils give. Routine like-for-like repair is treated differently, but ask the planning team to confirm before work starts. We can supply roof photographs and a materials description to go with your enquiry.

Roofers near Aldwick

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