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Roofers in Pyecombe

Pyecombe lies at the head of a deep coombe below Wolstonbury Hill, with a Grade I church and two conservation areas. We survey the roofs, from stone slabs to tiles, and photograph what we find.

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A stone porch, a Grade I church and a village in two parts

  • A Horsham stone slab roof

    Horsham stone on the church porch

    Per the Victoria County History, the north porch of the parish church wears a Horsham stone roof. Those sandstone slabs are sorted by size, heaviest at the eaves, and any repair begins by reusing the porch's own stone.

  • Tiled roofs on a hillside

    A village in two portions

    The village is in two parts, with signs that it was re-established a quarter of a mile west of the church, on the col between Wolstonbury and Newtimber Hill.

    Read more about A village in two portions

    A roof on a col meets wind from more than one side, so ridge and verge fixings get close attention.

  • Tiled roofs below a chalk down

    The head of the coombe

    The parish encloses the head of a long, deep coombe, with the Downs on either side and Wolstonbury Hill (677 ft) in its north-west corner.

    Read more about The head of the coombe

    Roofs among open downland call for fixings chosen for the site rather than for the street.

Street map of Pyecombe, north-east of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

Who decides on a roof

Planning authority
South Downs National Park Authority
Councils
Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation areas
Pyecombe and Pyecombe Street, both mapped by the National Park Authority
Article 4
None listed for Pyecombe on the National Park Authority's page
Listed example
The parish church, Grade I, with a Horsham stone north porch
From central Worthing
14 road miles, north-east, about 20 minutes by car

Pyecombe roofs

Stone, wind and a Grade I church

What a small Downs village asks of whoever fixes its roofs, from the stone slabs to the wind off the hills.

Chapter one

Horsham stone on a Downs church porch

The porch roof beside the parish church shows what Horsham slabs ask of anyone who repairs them: patience, and the roof's own stone.

Pyecombe's north porch, a small roof by village standards, carries Horsham stone, the Victoria County History records. Small does not mean simple. The Stone Roofing Association describes Horsham stone-slates as calcareous, flaggy sandstones that are cut in random widths and graded by size, the largest at the bottom of the slope and the smallest at the top. It describes two ways of laying them: a conventional double lap, and a single-lapped method it says belongs to Horsham roofs alone, where Welsh slate shades bedded in mortar weather the open joints. Horsham District Council's 2022 appraisal notes that such roofs are steep, hung on timbers strong enough for great weight, and that generations of repair have produced a patchwork of both methods, shadows filling gaps where stone was scarce. Before the slabs go back they are sorted again, since their order is what keeps the roof shedding water.

At a glance

  • Large slabs at the eaves, small ones at the top
  • Stone already on this roof goes back first
  • Stone taken from elsewhere comes last

1.1 The order of preference

The Association ranks the options clearly. First choice is reusing as many of the roof's existing stone-slates as can be saved. If gaps remain, new Horsham slates of a suitable kind are the way to fill them, where any can be found. Slates lifted from other buildings come last, because buying them encourages historic roofs to be broken up elsewhere, and if they must be used, their origin should be checked as legitimate. Reports from 2019 spoke of a shortage of new Horsham roofing slabs, with no geologically matching substitute, which is another reason to save and relay what a roof already has.

Under the stone, the timbers matter. A heavy roof depends on the rafters and battens beneath it, so on a relay the covering comes off in sections and the timbers beneath are inspected before the slabs go back.

1.2 Consent, and the church itself

Converting single lapping to double lapping is not a casual change. The Association says the loading and structural stability must be reviewed, that building control approval or a church faculty will be needed, and that a listed building needs listed building consent from the local authority. Pyecombe's parish church is listed Grade I; for as long as the Church of England still uses it, the ecclesiastical exemption applies, and the Church's own faculty route takes the place of listed building consent. A stone-roofed house or barn that is listed goes through the planning authority instead. Our Horsham stone roofing page explains lifting and relaying.

Horsham stone roof facts

Stone type
Calcareous, flaggy sandstone (Stone Roofing Association)
Grading
Big slabs low on the slope, small slabs high
First choice
Reuse the roof's own stone-slates
Shortfall
Suitable new Horsham slates if available
Single to double lap
Loading review; building control or faculty; consent if listed

Source: Stone Roofing Association, Horsham Stone Roofs (2009); Horsham District Council appraisal (2022)

Chapter two

Wind at the head of a coombe

Open downland on either side means the fixing specification matters more here than the pattern of the tile.

Flint-and-brick cottage in Findon with a clay tile roof under the Downs
Flint-and-brick cottage with a clay tile roof under the Downs

Pyecombe sits at the head of a coombe, a short steep valley cut into the chalk, according to the Victoria County History's description of the parish, with the Downs on either side. The Victoria County History places the later village on the col between Wolstonbury and Newtimber Hill, open ground with a hill rising on each hand. Wind in such a place does not arrive from one tidy direction, and the ground around a house shapes it. Marley sets out how the calculation under BS EN 1991-1-4 runs: a basic wind speed for the location, then tuned for the surrounding terrain and topography and for the height and length of the building. We cannot read those adjustments from the road, so the survey records where the roof sits on the slope and what shelters it, alongside the state of the tiles.

At a glance

  • Slopes under 30 degrees face severe windward suction
  • A site-specific fixing specification is the standard to meet
  • Terrain and topography feed into the wind calculation

2.1 Pitch and suction

Marley warns that on slopes under 30 degrees the face toward the wind can see severe suction, a pull that tries to peel the covering off the battens. A shallow extension or garage roof is a case in point. Wienerberger wants fixing to follow a specification drawn up for the particular site, with location, altitude and wind exposure all counted, and a mechanical fixing, minimum one, on each tile that laps only once. After a gale we re-fix a slope to that standard rather than to whatever happened to hold the old tiles.

2.2 Ridges and verges on an exposed site

A gale tries the ridge and the verge first. Mortar alone was once commonly accepted for bedding ridge tiles; since the 2014 revision of BS 5534, Marley says, it cannot be relied on by itself, so bedded tiles take a mechanical fixing as well. Systems that clip the ridge down without mortar are tested to BS 8612:2018. Our pitched roofing page lists the coverings and fixings, and our ridge tile repairs page explains the choice between mortar and dry fix.

If a gale has lifted tiles, look from the ground rather than climbing up. Our first job on a leaking roof is stopping the water; the cause comes after, and a written quote comes after the survey.

Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing

Fig. 2 On the survey Tiles slipped after a gale

Chapter three

Two conservation areas in a National Park village

Pyecombe and Pyecombe Street are both mapped as conservation areas, and the National Park Authority decides planning here.

Two conservation areas, Pyecombe and Pyecombe Street, are mapped here by the South Downs National Park Authority, which also acts as the planning authority; Mid Sussex District Council is not the first call for conservation area or listing questions. The parish church is listed Grade I and is the best-known building, yet a conservation area is more than its landmarks. It treats roofs, walls and the spaces between them as one group, so the first question on any Pyecombe roof is what is there already, and whether a repair should copy it.

At a glance

  • Two conservation areas are mapped in the village
  • No Article 4 direction is listed for Pyecombe
  • The parish church is listed Grade I

3.1 Matching, and the limits of the Park

Replacing like for like is not normally development, so a matching repair seldom needs planning permission, and the Authority's Article 4 page names no direction for Pyecombe. National Park land is treated differently for some alterations, notably roof windows and dormers, which our South Downs planning guide covers. If you want a different material, colour or roof shape, ask the Authority first. Building Regulations are unaffected: a re-roof needs a building control application once it passes the Planning Portal limits (25 per cent of the building envelope, 50 per cent of the roof) or adds 15 per cent or more to the weight.

3.2 The order of work

On a small village roof the order matters more than speed. We survey, photograph, and write the quote as a single total. We tell you if the building is listed or if the Authority should be asked, and we make the notification when work is notifiable. Before stripping we check for bats and nesting birds, both protected.

Small roofs deserve the same care as large ones, and on a survey we look at every one of them, including the porch, the garage and the shed. A porch, a lean-to or an outbuilding can leak into a wall as readily as a main roof, and the village's older buildings often rely on a single flashing to keep one roof from draining into another.

Before work starts on a Pyecombe roof

  1. Check listing Find out whether the house itself, or a structure it shares a wall with, is listed.
  2. Ask the Authority Raise any change of material, colour or shape with the National Park Authority.
  3. Record the roof We photograph the covering as found, so any matching repair can be shown to match.
  4. Written quote The survey photographs and one total price arrive together before any work begins.

Roofing help for properties

Pyecombe roof questions, from the porch to the coombe

What happens to the stone when a Pyecombe porch roof is taken apart?

Each slab is lifted by hand, checked for splits and stacked in its size group, because order matters when the roof goes back: big slabs low, small ones high. Sound stone returns first. If some have split, new Horsham slates fill the gap where they can be had. Stone from elsewhere is the last choice, and a listed roof needs consent before its covering changes.

Does a roof at the head of a coombe get fixed differently from one on a sheltered street?

Often, yes. Where a roof stands decides how many fixings it needs and where, so we survey the pitch, the covering and the position on the hill before fixing anything. Marley adds that below 30 degrees the windward slope can suffer severe suction. The photographs we send show the finished clips and nails, so you can see the work for yourself.

Which authority do I ask about a roof in Pyecombe or Pyecombe Street?

The South Downs National Park Authority handles planning in Pyecombe and maps both conservation areas. Mid Sussex District Council still provides other local services. Bring listing, conservation area and change-of-material queries to the Authority, and file its answer among your house papers for any future sale. On Building Regulations, we tell you whether the job is notifiable and make the notification ourselves.

What should I do about a slipped tile on a Pyecombe roof after a gale?

Look from the ground, not the ladder, and note which slope it is on. Leaks and storm damage take priority with us, and the first step is making the roof safe. MyBuilder gives typical UK storm fixes of £500 to £1,500, though one tile is a small job. We then check the neighbouring tiles, the battens beneath and the fixings along that course before closing the repair, since one slipped tile often means its neighbours are loose.

Roofers near Pyecombe

Tell us about your roof

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

  • Photographs of what we find
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