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Roofers in Fittleworth

Fittleworth sits on the River Rother among sandstone hills, inside the South Downs National Park. Its stone cottages, framed houses and later estates each need a different reading from the roof.

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Fittleworth's three roof ages, and the faults each one shows

  • A cottage roof against a stone wall

    Stone and timber-framed cottages

    Some Fittleworth homes are built from sandstone and ironstone quarried in the parish, and local wood framed many village buildings.

    Read more about Stone and timber-framed cottages

    Where a roof meets old stone or frame, the junction and the timbers beneath need reading before anything is quoted.

  • A Victorian terrace roofline

    Houses around Tripp Hill

    A railway station, open by 1889, led to housing around Tripp Hill. Roofs from that era have had a very long time to wear, so our survey begins with the ridge, the verge and the timber under the covering.

  • A row of semi-detached tiled roofs

    Greatpin Croft and the later estates

    Greatpin Croft, a large social-housing area, was built between the 1930s and 1950s, and estates such as The Gardens and School Close followed into the early 2000s.

    Read more about Greatpin Croft and the later estates

    Each decade's roofs ask for different checks.

Street map of Fittleworth, north-west of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

What the Park and the plan record for Fittleworth

Planning authority
South Downs National Park Authority
Councils
Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation areas
Fittleworth Village, designated 1984, plus Coates and Little Bognor
Article 4
A direction for Land at Coates, made November 1983; it does not cover the village
Listed buildings
89 in the parish, including Grade I St Mary the Virgin and St Agatha, Coates
From central Worthing
17.1 road miles, north-west, about 29 minutes by car

Fittleworth roofs

Rother valley stone, frame and conservation area

Three roofing questions that follow from what Fittleworth was built of, and when.

Chapter one

Sandstone, ironstone and timber frames

Houses of local sandstone, ironstone and timber frame keep their roofs tied to old walls, and that is where leaks begin.

Some Fittleworth homes are built from sandstone and ironstone quarried in the parish and nearby, and local wood supplied the timber for many of the village's framed buildings. Those materials set the terms for a roof. A stone wall is rarely flat or square, and a timber frame that has stood for centuries has shifted with the seasons, so the roof sitting on either one seldom lies true. The covering has to follow whatever is beneath it, and the weak points are the places where it meets something solid, such as a wall, a chimney or a neighbouring roof. That is why a roofer's first job here is to look and measure, not to quote from the road.

At a glance

  • Some homes are built of sandstone and ironstone quarried locally
  • Local wood supplied many timber-framed village buildings
  • Wall junctions are where water often finds a way in
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.1 Where roof meets wall

A flashing is the strip of metal, normally lead, that seals the joint where a roof meets a wall or chimney. Against rough stone it is pushed into a groove cut along a mortar joint and dressed down over the covering, and an uneven face leaves little room for error. Where lead has lifted, cracked or been left unsupported, rain tracks down inside the wall and can surface as a damp stain a long way from the fault. Code 4 lead, 1.8 mm thick, is the weight Leadworx lists for general flashing work. We trace the water to the exact joint before we quote, and our lead roofing page covers lead weights and how it is laid. A leaking gutter that has soaked a stone wall for years can imitate a roof leak, so we look at the rainwater goods too.

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

1.2 Chimneys and the old frame

A chimney stack stands tall above the ridge and takes the weather on every face. Repointing, renewing the flaunching (mortar sloped around the pots so that rain runs off) and replacing the lead tray at the base are the usual repairs, and they sit within our chimney repairs service. In the loft of a framed house we study how the roof timbers meet the old frame, because a sagging rafter or a wandering ridge changes how the covering lies. Where the wall plate, the beam that runs along the head of the wall, has gone soft, a leak that went unnoticed for years is a common cause. Stopping the leak comes before renewing the timber, and the photographs show you both stages.

Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing

Fig. 1 On the survey Lead lifted away from a stone wall joint

Both photographs show the same kind of junction, before and after.

Chapter two

Three conservation areas and 89 listed buildings

Fittleworth, Coates and Little Bognor each have a conservation area, and the village lies inside the South Downs National Park.

Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer
Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer

Fittleworth's older core, part of Bedham Lane and most of Lower Street down to the river, lies in a conservation area, and the parish holds two more at Coates and Little Bognor. The Neighbourhood Development Plan gives 1984 for the village designation. Bedham Lane is also where Sir Edward Elgar rented the cottage Brinkwells in 1917, which gives some idea of the lane's age and character. Fittleworth lies inside the South Downs National Park, so the SDNPA is the planning authority. Chichester is one of the districts where the SDNPA delegates planning, so enquiries go to Chichester District Council. A like-for-like repair or re-roof is not normally development at all, though one short call to the council's planning team before any bigger change can save a costly mistake.

At a glance

  • Lower Street to the river lies in the conservation area
  • St Mary the Virgin and St Agatha, Coates, are Grade I
  • The SDNPA lists an Article 4 direction for Land at Coates

2.1 Eighty-nine listed buildings

The parish has 89 listed buildings, two of them Grade I: St Mary the Virgin in Fittleworth and St Agatha at Coates. The SDNPA draws a clear line for listed houses. Regular maintenance and minor repairs made like for like in situ need no listed building consent; alterations, or replacing historic fabric wholesale, do. Roof jobs on older Fittleworth houses are decided on that line, so we photograph the covering and its fixings before we start and match the slate, tile or stone already there. On an old stone-slate or clay-tile roof that means lifting and relaying what is sound, and topping up with matching pieces only where we must. St Mary's is still a place of Anglican worship, which puts its roof under the Church's own faculty system by way of the ecclesiastical exemption.

2.2 The Coates direction

The SDNPA lists an Article 4 direction for Land at Coates, made in November 1983 and confirmed that December. It belongs to that land and not to Fittleworth village. An Article 4 direction withdraws permitted development rights across a defined area, so if your house stands at Coates, ask Chichester District Council what the direction covers before you change a covering. A house at Coates or Little Bognor also sits in a conservation area of its own, so the same care applies to the roof there. Our South Downs planning guide explains how the Park alters the rules for roof alterations. Roofs that shelter bats or nesting birds raise a legal point, because both are protected, and we plan any stripping around them.

Who decides on roof work in Fittleworth

BuildingRoute for roof work
Listed house, like-for-like repair in situNo listed building consent (SDNPA)
Listed house, replacing historic fabricListed building consent is required
St Mary the Virgin, in useThe Church's faculty system
Unlisted house in a conservation areaAsk Chichester District Council before changing the covering
Source: SDNPA, Listed Buildings; SI 2010/1176; fetched October 2026

Chapter three

Greatpin Croft to Tripp Hill: repair or re-roof

Fittleworth's housing runs from the railway era to the early 2000s, so the repair-or-replace answer changes street by street.

Not every Fittleworth roof is old. A railway station was open by 1889 and closed to passengers in 1955, and it led to housing around Tripp Hill. Greatpin Croft, a large social-housing area, followed between the 1930s and 1950s, and estates such as The Gardens, School Close, Wyncombe Close and High Trees were added from 1950 to the early 2000s. That spans more than a century of roofs, each laid to the fashions and fixings of its decade. A street built in one decade tends to age together, so what we find on one house is a useful clue to the next, though never a substitute for looking at the roof in front of us.

At a glance

  • A station open by 1889 led to housing around Tripp Hill
  • Greatpin Croft dates from the 1930s to 1950s
  • Estates followed from 1950 to the early 2000s
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs

3.1 Repair or re-roof

A fault gathered in one place, whether a valley, a chimney surround or a single slope, tends to call for a repair. A roof giving way across every slope, with rusted fixings, brittle underlay and softened battens, is nearer the end of its life and calls for a new covering. We tell you which, and give the reason, using close-up photographs of the roof itself alongside the written quote. For houses of the 1930s to 1950s, tired ridge and hip bedding is a common finding; for the later estates, the underlay and any flat-roofed extension deserve a close look. Houses finished before 2000 may also contain asbestos somewhere, in the soffits for example, and HSE advises assuming it until a check proves otherwise, so the survey takes in the roofline as well as the roof.

Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs

3.2 Building control and the Park

The Planning Portal sets the building control tests at less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof; stay below both and a re-covering normally needs no application. Go over either and approval applies, and Part L may then ask for better thermal performance. A new covering adding 15 per cent or more to the load needs approval as well. Because Fittleworth lies in the National Park, the first check on any change of covering is with Chichester District Council, which handles Park planning enquiries in this district. If scaffolding must occupy the highway, the scaffold firm obtains its licence from West Sussex County Council before it goes up. For a full re-roof see our roof replacement page; the figures below come from published national guides and are not Watertight prices.

Typical UK costs for a Fittleworth-sized house

  • 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
  • Scaffold, two-storey house£850 to £1,200

Once the survey is done, one written total is what you receive, and a fair comparison needs each quote to state if VAT and scaffolding are part of the price. Source: MyBuilder new roof and scaffolding cost guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Choosing a service for a Fittleworth roof

Fittleworth roof questions, from Lower Street to Tripp Hill

Will the Fittleworth conservation area stop me repairing a stone or framed cottage roof?

A like-for-like repair is rarely a planning matter. Care is needed if the covering is changing or the house is listed, because the SDNPA treats alterations, or the wholesale replacement of historic fabric, as needing listed building consent. We photograph the existing roof, match the slate, tile or stone, and suggest ringing Chichester District Council's planning team ahead of any switch in material.

Who do I ask about a Fittleworth roof, the district council or the National Park?

The South Downs National Park Authority is the planning authority, since the village lies inside the Park, but the SDNPA delegates planning in the Chichester district, so enquiries go to Chichester District Council. Building Regulations are separate, handled through the council's building control team or a registered building control approver. We explain which consents apply to your job and deal with the building control notification where work is notifiable.

Does the Land at Coates Article 4 direction affect my roof in Fittleworth village?

No. The SDNPA lists that direction for Land at Coates, made in November 1983, and it is site-specific, not village-wide. An Article 4 direction withdraws permitted development rights across a defined area, so if your house is at Coates, ask Chichester District Council exactly what it covers before you change a covering. For the village itself, the conservation area is the planning question to raise.

How do roofs on the Greatpin Croft houses differ from the village cottages?

They went up between the 1930s and 1950s as social housing, so they are simpler in shape than a framed cottage, with fewer awkward junctions and more regular slopes. The checks differ too: ridge and hip fixings, the age of the underlay and battens, the roofline, and possible asbestos in soffits, since HSE advises assuming it in buildings from before 2000. Repair or re-roof then follows from what the survey shows.

Roofers near Fittleworth

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