Chapter one
Horsham stone and clay tile on Alfriston's inns
The Star Inn and The George show Horsham stone slabs and clay plain tiles side by side, and each has its own weak points.
The conservation area appraisal reads the village's roofs in layers. Thatch was probably the commonest roofing material in early times, clay plain tiles are now found across the village, a few good examples of Horsham stone slates survive, and Welsh slates arrive from the 19th century. The 15th-century Star Inn and The George Inn both have Horsham stone slates, and The George combines them with clay plain tiles. The appraisal names brick, flint and timber framing for walls, and each of those meets a roof in its own way.
At a glance
- Clay plain tiles are now found across the village
- The Star Inn and The George have Horsham stone
- Reusing a roof's own stone slates comes first
1.1 How plain clay tiles fail
A plain tile roof is double-lapped, so every point is covered by two tiles and the weight of the upper one pins down the one beneath. The weak points are the tile's nib and its fixing. When a nib snaps or a nail corrodes, the tile slips a little, the lap above opens and rain gets in. Moss lodged between tiles then keeps the area wet and hastens the rot of the batten below. We find these faults course by course, mark them on photographs and replace only the tiles that need it, matching size, colour and texture to the ones beside them. Our pitched roofing page covers re-laying a whole slope.
1.2 Horsham stone is its own discipline
Horsham stone slates are described as calcareous, flaggy sandstones, with the biggest slabs along the eaves, shrinking in size up to the ridge. The Stone Roofing Association puts a roof's own slates ahead of anything reclaimed, discourages stone lifted from other historic buildings, and says new Horsham stone should be used to make up a shortfall when it can be had. We lift slabs with care, sort them by size, renew the battens and relay in order. Because the stone is heavy and the timbers under it have carried that load for a long time, we check the frame as well as the covering. Where two coverings share a roof, as they do on The George, a repair has to respect two different weights and two ways of fixing, and the lead along the line where one meets the other is checked for lifting. Frost can also split a slab along its bedding, so cracked stone is sorted from sound before anything is relaid. Our Horsham stone roofing page goes through the method.
Roof coverings named in the Alfriston appraisal
| Covering | What the appraisal says | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Thatch | Probably most common in early times; the Old Clergy House is the only thatched building left | The tiled and lead parts beside it |
| Clay plain tile | Now found across the village | Nibs, nails and moss in the laps |
| Horsham stone slate | A few good examples, including the Star Inn and The George | Split slabs, battens and the frame |
| Welsh slate | Appears from the 19th century | Corroded nails and slipped slates |
