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Roofers in Patching

Patching is a small flint village lying on the Downs' southern slope, with timber-framed houses, a Grade I church and roofs of clay tile and slate. We trace each leak to its source.

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Timber frames, flint and the 1850s rectory

  • A plain clay tile roof

    Timber-framed houses under plain tiles

    The Victoria County History records several 17th-century timber-framed houses in Patching, some cased in brick. Under a clay tile roof of that age, the frame is the part most hurt by a slow leak, so we trace the water before we quote.

  • A slate roof beside flint

    Flint and brick with slate and clay

    Arun's conservation area statement notes a predominance of flint in buildings and boundary walls, with brick, plain clay tiles and natural slate as the principal materials.

    Read more about Flint and brick with slate and clay

    Where a roof meets a flint gable, lead flashing closes the gap between slope and wall.

  • A Victorian pitched roof

    The 1850s rectory and later houses

    The rectory of about 1853 was built in yellow brick and flint. A Victorian house of that kind has valleys, chimney stacks and gutters that need regular checking, and each one can let water into the wall below.

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

The paperwork behind a Patching roof

Planning authority
South Downs National Park Authority
Councils
Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Patching Conservation Area, listed by the South Downs National Park Authority
Listed example
St John the Divine's Church, Grade I, flint with stone dressings
National Park
Patching sits within the boundary of the South Downs National Park
From central Worthing
6.3 road miles, north-west, about 12 minutes by car

Patching roofs

Flint, clay tile and chalk slope

Patching's position under the Downs, and the age of its buildings, raise three particular roofing questions.

Chapter one

Plain clay tiles on Patching's older houses

A roof over a 17th-century frame is repaired with that frame in mind, because the old timber is the part you cannot easily replace.

Patching's village buildings include several timber-framed houses from the 17th century, some of them later cased in brick. Under a roof like that, the frame is the oldest part of the house and the part that suffers most when water gets in unseen. Arun's conservation area statement names brick, flint, plain clay tiles and natural slate as the principal materials, so a repair here normally means matching small plain tiles, set in overlapping rows and hung on battens, the narrow timber strips fixed across the rafters. Our first task is to find where the water is really entering, because a ceiling stain in an old house is rarely directly beneath the fault.

At a glance

  • Several 17th-century timber-framed houses survive in the village
  • Plain clay tiles are among the principal materials
  • Eaves, valleys and old junctions fail first
Pair of 1930s semis in Durrington with weathered clay tile roofs
Pair of 1930s semis with weathered clay tile roofs

1.1 Where old tile roofs let go

Plain tiles hang from small projecting nibs, and on a roof that has stood for generations the nails or pegs that steady them corrode and the battens soften. We look at the eaves first, where the lowest courses take the most water running down the slope, then at the valleys, the inside corners where two slopes join and both share a single run-off channel. Old roofs with later extensions have extra junctions, and each is a place where a flashing, the lead strip bridging roof and wall, may have lifted. From the loft we look for daylight, dark staining on the timbers and any damp on the plate the rafters sit on.

Pair of 1930s semis in Durrington with weathered clay tile roofs
Pair of 1930s semis with weathered clay tile roofs

1.2 Repair, patch or re-tile

A few cracked tiles on a single slope amount to a repair, and that is the advice you get. If the battens are sound we lift the tiles, keep every good one and replace the failed ones with tiles of the right size and colour. If the fixings have gone across the whole roof, a patch buys little and a re-tile on new battens and underlay, the water-shedding sheet laid beneath the tiles, is the better course. Whichever applies, photographs of your roof travel with the quote, so you can see the reason for the work. We take the waste away and leave the garden as we found it.

Where a house has been cased in brick, the tiling often stops at a verge, the sloping outer edge of a gabled slope, bedded in mortar beside the old walling. A loose verge lets rain into the wall head, so we check it, then fix it back to stay put in a gale. Our pitched roofing page covers tile and slate roofs, and our roof replacement page covers a full re-tile.

How we survey an old Patching tile roof

  1. Ground check We scan the slopes and chimney for slipped, cracked or missing tiles.
  2. Close look We examine eaves, valleys and each wall junction up close.
  3. Loft We trace staining on the timbers back to its entry point.
  4. Photographs Your own roof is photographed, then the written quote follows.

Chapter two

St John's church, flint walls and consent

The Grade I church and the flint boundary walls set the tone, and any roof repair beside them should respect it.

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

The Victoria County History describes St John the Divine's Church as flint with stone dressings, with a north transeptal tower and a broach spire. The church is listed Grade I, the highest grade. It stands among flint buildings and flint boundary walls, which the Arun statement singles out. Flint is awkward for roofers: its face is uneven, so a lead flashing beside it needs a slot raked into a mortar joint to hold the top edge, then dressing down tight enough that driven rain cannot get behind it. On an old house we check that the lead still grips, because once it lifts, the wet tracks down the inside of the masonry and surfaces as a patch some distance from the real fault.

At a glance

  • St John the Divine is flint with stone dressings
  • Patching is inside the South Downs National Park
  • The Church of England uses its own faculty route

2.1 The church and listed buildings

St John's is Anglican. Provided it remains in use for worship, the ecclesiastical exemption holds, and the Church's own faculty process takes the place of listed building consent from the council. A listed house in the village is different. According to the South Downs National Park Authority, ordinary maintenance and small on-site repairs using matching material can go ahead without listed building consent; work that alters or replaces historic fabric needs it. If your house is listed, ask before you change a covering. We photograph what is there now, so the officer can see it.

2.2 Which authority decides

Because Patching is inside the National Park, planning decisions rest with the South Downs National Park Authority, and the district council does not make them. A roof renewed in the same material seldom counts as development, but a change of material, or a listed building, is a different question, and the conservation area adds its own care. Our roof planning permission guide explains where each rule bites. Building Regulations are unchanged by the Park: the usual building control routes apply, and where work is notifiable we handle the notification.

Old barns and cottage roofs can shelter wildlife, and the law protects bats and active nests. Before stripping one, we look for droppings and nest material, and pause for advice if we find any.

What people sayBecause Patching is inside a National Park, every re-roof needs planning permission.

What is trueRenewing a roof in matching material seldom needs planning permission; first check whether the building is listed and which authority covers your address.

Chapter three

Gutters and weather at the foot of the Downs

With chalk on the hillside and clay beneath, rainwater coming off the roof must be carried clear, or the walls take it in.

The Victoria County History places Patching on the south slope of the South Downs, on chalk overlaid in the south by Eocene clay and with clay-with-flints north of the church. A village at the base of the hills sees rain running off the slopes and off its own roofs, and old walls in flint and brick soak water up where a gutter fails. That is why we treat guttering as part of the roof, not an afterthought. A gutter that overflows at a joint drops a stream down the same patch of wall every wet week, and the damp that follows is often blamed on the tiles above.

At a glance

  • Patching lies on the Downs' south slope
  • Clay lies beneath the chalk in the south
  • A blocked gutter soaks the wall below it

3.1 What goes wrong with old guttering

Cast iron rusts through at the joints, plastic sags between its brackets, and any gutter that has lost its fall holds water at one end. Manufacturers give a gentle fall to the outlet, between about 1:600 and 1:350 depending on the system, and brackets spaced closely enough to prevent sag; we check both. The fascia, the board the gutter is screwed to, gets a look too, as does the soffit under the overhang, since a soft board will not hold a gutter that is otherwise fine. Downpipes should discharge clear of the wall, over a gully.

3.2 Checking the drainage below the roof

A repair is only as good as the route the water takes after it leaves the roofline. We follow each downpipe to the ground and look at whether the gully takes the flow or backs up against the wall. On old flint and brick walls in particular, a splash zone that stays wet can draw damp up into the masonry and lift the pointing, and that is a cause we can usually put right at the same visit.

3.3 Wind on an open slope

Houses on a slope take the wind on their roofs differently from houses in a hollow. On a shallow slope under 30 degrees, Marley warns, the side facing the wind can be pulled hard. That is one reason a ridge bedded in mortar alone no longer meets current practice: BS 5534 now has ridge and hip tiles held by screws or clips as well. We repair ridges that way.

If a run of guttering needs replacing, our gutters, soffits and fascias page sets out the work. The ranges below are national figures from a published guide, not our prices, which are good and fair.

Published guide prices for eaves and roofline work

  • New guttering, per metre£30 to £70
  • Fascia, per metre£80 to £150
  • Soffit, per metre£100 to £180

Run length, eaves height and the state of the boards behind decide the total. Our written quote comes after the visit; ask whether any figure includes VAT and the scaffolding. Source: MyBuilder gutter, fascia and soffit replacement cost guide, updated 21/08/2026.

Services for Patching houses

Patching roofs: St John the Divine, flint walls and the chalk slope

Can the plain tiles on an old Patching house be re-used?

Often, yes. On a survey we lift a few tiles to judge their condition and the state of the battens beneath. Sound tiles are kept and re-hung, failed ones replaced with matching plain clay tiles, so the roof keeps its look. If the nails and battens have gone across a whole slope, we say clearly that a re-tile will outlast patching, and the photographs behind that view are shown to you.

Does the Patching conservation area stop me re-roofing my house?

Not usually. Renewing a roof in the same material rarely counts as development, and the conservation area itself does not forbid it. Extra care starts if you want a different covering, or if your house has a listing. Because Patching is inside the National Park, the South Downs National Park Authority is the planning authority, so ask it first if you plan to change tile to slate or the reverse.

Which body signs off roof work to a listed flint cottage at Patching?

The planning authority, for a listed house, not the Church. The Park authority treats routine upkeep and minor repairs made on site in like materials as outside listed building consent, but work that changes or replaces historic fabric needs it. If you are unsure, send us photographs; we can describe what is on the roof, and you can put that to the authority before work starts.

Why does damp appear on a Patching flint wall below a sound-looking roof?

The cause is often a gutter or a flashing, not the tiles. An overflowing gutter soaks the same patch of wall, and a lifted lead flashing lets water run down inside a flint face, so the stain shows well below the fault. We trace it back from the damp to the junction, photograph what we find, and fix that point before talking about larger work.

Roofers near Patching

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

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