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Roofers in Graffham

Graffham lies beneath the South Downs scarp, its church standing above a road that slopes down through the village to the north, with flint, white stone and brick in the walls.

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Three things to know about a Graffham roof

  • A tiled cottage roof

    Cottages with a thatched past

    Victory Cottages, south of the church, have 17th-century timber framing above walls of white stone and flint with brick dressings.

    Read more about Cottages with a thatched past

    Their tiled roof was probably once thatched, so we check what the frame beneath was built to carry.

  • Tile meeting a flint wall

    Tile meeting flint

    Walls here combine flint, white stone and brick, with tile roofs that replaced thatch in places. Flint faces are uneven, so lead flashing needs a firm seat in the joint where a tiled slope meets a wall.

  • Tiled roofs below a down

    A roof inside a National Park

    Graffham is inside the South Downs National Park, so planning decisions rest with the Authority, though enquiries for this district are taken by Chichester District Council.

    Read more about A roof inside a National Park

    We raise any change of material, or any addition to a roof slope, before work is priced, not afterwards.

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

A planning check for Graffham roofs

Planning authority
South Downs National Park Authority
Councils
Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Graffham Conservation Area, on the National Park Authority's Chichester maps
Article 4
Two directions listed for The Dower House (made 1985), none for the village as a whole
Listed example
Parish Church of St Giles, Grade II
From central Worthing
23.9 road miles, north-west, about 39 minutes by car

Graffham roofs

Beneath Graffham Down

The old cottages, the flint church and the National Park setting each raise a separate roofing question.

Chapter one

Cottage roofs that were once thatch

Victory Cottages' tiled roof was probably once thatched, and an older frame can limit what covering it will carry.

The Victoria County History records Victory Cottages as timber-framed in the 17th century, with walls of white stone and flint and brick dressings, and notes that the tiled roof was probably once thatched. That single line explains a good deal about how an old Graffham cottage behaves. A thatched roof is built steep, with light rafters, because the straw does the sheltering; tile that was added later sits on a frame designed for a different covering. It can work well for centuries, and it can also sag, spread or twist where the timbers were never meant to carry clay.

At a glance

  • Victory Cottages are 17th-century and timber-framed
  • Their tiled roof was probably once thatched
  • A heavier covering can need a structural check

1.1 What we look for in the frame

From the loft we look at the rafters for bowing or sag, the ridge for dips, and the wall plate, the timber that runs along the top of the wall and takes the roof's weight, for rot where water has been running down. A roof slope that has dropped between rafters usually points to the battens or the rafters rather than the tiles. The timber frame in the wall below deserves a glance too, since a leaking gutter or a failed flashing can soak a post for years before anyone notices. Everything we find goes into the photographs that accompany the written quote.

1.2 Underlay and ventilation

A roof designed for thatch has no underlay, the membrane that sits under the battens, and so none of the ventilation planning a modern tiled roof expects. If we strip and re-tile, adding an underlay cuts the wind-blown rain that gets through tile joints. For pitches over 15 degrees, Marley sets 10 mm of ventilation along the eaves where a high-resistance underlay is used, so the underlay and the eaves have to be considered together, and the detail goes into the written quote as part of its single total.

1.3 Why weight matters

A new covering can weigh more or less than the old, and the frame feels the difference. The Planning Portal says to ask a structural engineer or surveyor before starting when the new tile will differ markedly in weight from the old, and building control approval applies when a covering adds 15 per cent or more to the weight. On a cottage frame that has already moved, we would want that opinion before anything is ordered. Our roof replacement page explains a full re-cover, and our roof repairs page covers smaller repairs that can keep an old roof going for several more winters.

Bungalow roof heavily covered in green moss on its north-facing slope

Fig. 1 On the survey A roof slope dipping between old rafters

A dip in the slope is traced to its cause before any tile is lifted.

Chapter two

St Giles' flint church and cottage walls

St Giles' has flint rubble walls, ashlar dressings, a tile roof and a shingled spire, and is listed Grade II.

Old clay tile roof over a flint wall in a downland village
Old clay tile roof over a flint wall in a downland village

According to the Victoria County History, St Giles' church is walled in rubble flint with ashlar dressings, roofed in tile and topped by a shingled spire. Historic England lists it Grade II. Flint is hard and does not take a lead flashing the way smooth brick does: the face is irregular, the joints deep, and the lead has to be dressed into a mortar joint cut or raked out for it. If the mortar is soft or the lead has been simply stuck on with mastic, water gets behind it and runs down inside the wall. A gutter or downpipe that leaks onto flint wets the wall below the eaves, so we check the rainwater goods along every flint elevation as part of a roof survey. We test the seat of every flashing along a flint wall and re-form it in lead where it has loosened, rather than adding another layer of sealant on top. The tile roof above has its own weak points. Where the nave, porch and tower roofs meet, a valley lead runs in the fold between two slopes with tile lapping its edges, and when it cracks the tiles hide the damage until staining shows inside. A look under the tiles at the fold tells us the rest.

At a glance

  • Walls of flint rubble with ashlar dressings
  • Its roof is tile and its spire is shingled
  • The church is listed Grade II, entry 1276882

2.1 Who approves work on the church

St Giles' is an Anglican church, and for as long as it stays in use the ecclesiastical exemption applies, which means approval comes through the Church's faculty process rather than the planning authority's listed building consent. The parish and its architect decide how work is specified. That is the church's route, not a householder's, and it only holds while the building is used for worship.

2.2 Listed houses in the village

For listed houses the position is the National Park Authority's. Its listed building guidance puts routine upkeep and minor repairs done in place with matching materials outside the consent regime, while work that alters or entirely replaces historic fabric, so as to affect the building's character, needs consent. A roof that is stripped and re-covered in a new material falls into the second group. For a cottage, a like-for-like re-tile with salvaged tile is the usual route: sound tiles are sorted and reused, and the shortfall is made up with matching ones. Our lead roofing page describes how flashings and valleys are dressed on older walls, which is often where such a repair begins.

What people sayA National Park address turns every roof repair into a planning application.

What is trueRe-laying the same covering is not usually development; changes of material, additions and listed buildings are the points to check.

Chapter three

Roof work inside the South Downs National Park

Planning here rests with the National Park Authority, and a conservation area and a pair of Article 4 directions add details.

Planning for the South Downs National Park sits with the Authority's committee, and Graffham lies within the Park. The Authority's guidance says that in the Chichester area you contact the district council, which handles enquiries on its behalf, so a call to either will point you to the right team. In practice that means two things when you plan roof work: ask early, and have photographs ready, because the officer will want to see what is on the roof now. The Park also makes the land article 2(3) land, a legal label with consequences for larger changes such as dormers and extensions to the roof, which are explained in our roof planning permission guide.

At a glance

  • The SDNPA is the planning authority for Graffham
  • A straight re-roof in matching tile rarely needs permission
  • Two Article 4 directions relate to The Dower House

3.1 What the Park does not change

Park status leaves the ordinary re-roof alone: a re-cover in matching material is not normally development, and Building Regulations are unchanged. A roof replaced at a similar weight, with under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof affected, normally needs no building control application either. Graffham also has a conservation area, which the Authority lists on its Chichester maps, so the first question for a house near the church is whether it falls inside that boundary.

3.2 The Dower House directions

The Authority lists two Article 4 directions for The Dower House in Graffham, made in May 1985 and confirmed that October. They relate to that one property, not to the village. If you own a home elsewhere in Graffham, they do not apply to you, though it is still sensible to confirm that with Chichester District Council before changing a roof covering. Before any enquiry, we photograph every slope, note the tile or slate size and colour, record any listed status and measure the roof, so that you can send the planners a clear picture and they can say quickly what applies. If a different material is being considered, we also give a sample or maker's name, because a planning officer judges a tile far better from a named product than from a description.

Typical UK repair costs per square metre

  • Concrete tile repair£90 to £120
  • Clay tile repair£110 to £160
  • Natural slate repair£150 to £220

These national guide figures exclude VAT; your own figure is one written total, sent after the survey. Source: Checkatrade roof repair cost guide, table last updated June 2026.

Services for Graffham's cottage and church roofs

Graffham questions about old frames, flint and the Park

Can a cottage roof that was once thatched take a heavier covering?

Sometimes, but not without checking. The frame was built for a lighter covering, so we inspect the rafters, ridge and wall plate before suggesting anything. The Planning Portal asks owners to consult a structural engineer or surveyor when a new tile is markedly lighter or heavier, and building control approval applies when the covering adds 15 per cent or more to the weight. Often the right answer is to re-lay a similar tile.

Does the South Downs National Park change how I repair my Graffham roof?

It adds a planning authority to know about, not a ban on repair. A re-cover in matching material is not normally development, and Building Regulations are unchanged. Changes of material, additions to a roof and listed buildings are where the Authority's view matters, and because the Authority delegates planning in the Chichester area, it is Chichester District Council that takes your enquiry. Ask before you commit to a different tile or slate, and keep the reply with your records for when the house is sold.

Who signs off roof work on St Giles' church?

While the church is in use for Church of England worship, the ecclesiastical exemption applies, so the work goes through the Church's own faculty process, not the planning authority's listed building consent. The parish and its architect run it, and any contractor follows their specification. The route changes if a church is closed, because the exemption then ends.

Is it safe to renew the roof above a flint cottage wall?

Yes, if the junction is treated carefully. The slope is stripped back to the wall, the old flashing comes out, and new lead is turned into a slot cut along a mortar joint and wedged firm. Flint faces are uneven, so we check the mortar around that joint first and repair it where it has gone soft. The wall is protected while the roof is open, and our photographs of its condition go with the quote.

Roofers near Graffham

Tell us about your roof

Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.

  • Photographs of what we find
  • A written quote with one total price
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