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Roofers in Steyning

Steyning lies at the foot of the Downs, west of the Adur, and its older roofs are Horsham stone and clay peg tile. We survey them with the care a listed street asks for.

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Slabs, peg tile and tile-hung walls

  • A hipped roof in stone and clay

    Horsham slabs and peg tiles on hipped roofs

    Horsham District Council's appraisal says Steyning's older buildings typically wear Horsham slabs or clay peg tiles, frequently over hipped roofs.

    Read more about Horsham slabs and peg tiles on hipped roofs

    We look hardest at hips and eaves, because a stone roof carries real weight.

  • A tile-hung gable wall

    Timber-framed houses with tile-hung walls

    The Victoria County History records late-medieval timber-framed houses later cased in brick, flint, weatherboarding and hung tiles. Where a roof meets a tile-hung wall, the flashing hidden behind the tiles is the detail that fails.

  • A Victorian slate roof

    Slate and the railway-era streets

    The appraisal says slate is generally confined to 19th-century buildings. The railway of 1861 pushed housing out at the east end, and the greatest growth came after 1945, so newer roofs here need different checks.

Street map of Steyning, north of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

Constraints on Steyning roofs

Planning authority
Horsham District Council
Councils
Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Steyning Conservation Area, designated 1973
Listed buildings
109 in the conservation area: six Grade II*, two Grade I
Appraisal note
Horsham slab roofs survive in large numbers
From central Worthing
7.1 road miles, north, about 15 minutes by car

Steyning roofs

Stone slab, peg tile and hung tile

A town of timber frames and listed fronts raises roofing questions that newer places never meet.

Chapter one

Horsham slab roofs on Steyning's hipped houses

The council appraisal says these stone roofs survive in large numbers, so relaying them correctly matters to the whole street.

Horsham District Council's appraisal of Steyning says its older buildings tend to wear Horsham slabs or clay peg tiles, many of them over hipped roofs, and that slab roofs here have survived in large numbers. A hipped roof falls away to four sides, which gives it a hip, a sloping ridge, at each corner and more edges to look after than a plain gable. A Horsham slab is a heavy stone slate cut from sandstone that the Stone Roofing Association describes as calcareous and flaggy. Courses begin with the largest slabs along the bottom edge and diminish steadily towards the top. The council's appraisal of Horsham itself notes that this kind of roof is pitched steeply and carried on stout timbers designed for a great deal of weight, so the frame under the stone deserves as much attention as the slabs.

At a glance

  • Older buildings tend to wear slab or peg tile
  • A roof's own stone is the first choice for repair
  • The appraisal calls mortared joints on relaid slabs inappropriate

1.1 Reuse first, then match

The Association ranks putting back the roof's own slates first. Slabs imported from other buildings rank last in its view, since a purchase may mean taking apart an old roof somewhere else, and any such stone needs a lawful source. Where new Horsham slates can be obtained, they are the better way to fill what is missing. Trade reports from 2019 spoke of a supply crisis for the thin roofing slabs, so a sound slab on your own roof is worth keeping. We take the stone off by hand, grade it by size and put it back course by course, re-using sound timber where we can.

1.2 Two ways of laying, and one to avoid

Horsham roofs follow either the usual double-lap method or a single-lap method found only on Horsham stone, in which Welsh slate shadows bedded in mortar protect the joints. The Association advises keeping or reinstating double lap wherever it is feasible. Switching from one system to the other calls for a review of the roof's loading, and building control approval, a church faculty or listed building consent may follow. The Steyning appraisal separately calls it inappropriate to relay slab roofs with mortared joints. Our Horsham stone roofing page explains how a relay is planned and priced.

How a Horsham slab roof is laid

Stone
Calcareous, flaggy sandstone
Course order
Biggest slabs low, smallest near the ridge
Laying systems
Double lap, or a single lap using Welsh slate shadows
First choice for repair
Put back the roof's own stone slates
Steyning appraisal
Mortared joints on relaid slabs named as inappropriate

Source: Stone Roofing Association, Horsham Stone Roofs (2009); Horsham District Council, Steyning appraisal (2018)

Chapter two

Listed fronts, tile-hung walls and St Andrew's

With 109 listed buildings inside the conservation area, the first question on many Steyning roofs is about consent.

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

Steyning was designated a conservation area in 1973, and the council's appraisal counts 109 listed buildings within it, six at Grade II* and two at Grade I. The Victoria County History records many late-medieval timber-framed houses in the town, later cased in brick, flint, weatherboarding and hung tiles, under roofs of tile, slate, thatch and Horsham stone slabs. A house like that is a puzzle with a timber frame at its heart, and the roof is the part that protects it. If the roof lets water in, the frame is the first thing to suffer, and the damage often surfaces far from the real fault, so the cause is found before any quote is written.

At a glance

  • The conservation area holds 109 listed buildings
  • St Andrew's is ashlar and flint, rebuilt by Fecamp abbey
  • Tile-hung walls hide the flashing behind them

2.1 Where hung tiles meet the roof

On a tile-hung wall, small clay tiles cover the face of the building like scales. Where such a wall rises beside a roof slope, a flashing must tuck behind the hung tiles and lap over the roofing, and it is hidden from the ground. When it fails, water travels down the timbers behind the cladding. We check by lifting a few tiles where it is safe to do so, and by looking for staining inside. Weatherboarded gables need their lowest boards and the roof edge beneath them examined together, since a sound board over a failed edge still lets rain in. Each junction is photographed for you, so the fault is in front of you before you agree to a repair.

2.2 St Andrew's and listed houses

According to the Victoria County History, the parish church of St Andrew is built partly of ashlar and partly of flint, and Fecamp abbey rebuilt it between the late 11th and mid 12th centuries. St Andrew's belongs to the Church of England, so while worship continues its roof comes under the Church's faculty system, not council consent. A listed house is handled differently. The 1990 Listed Buildings Act requires consent for alterations that touch a building's special character, and Horsham District Council, as the planning authority, is the office to ask before you change a covering. Our roof planning permission guide covers the wider rules.

Bats and nesting birds use old roofs, and both are protected by law. Before work starts on a roof of this age we check for traces of either, and take advice if we find any.

Before work on a listed Steyning roof

  1. Record We take photographs of the roof as it now is, close up and from the street.
  2. Ask You confirm the listing and the consent route with Horsham District Council.
  3. Match We choose slab, peg tile or slate to follow what is already there.
  4. Fix Fixings, flashings and ridges are renewed to current practice.

Chapter three

Railway-era and post-war roofs in Steyning

The 1861 railway and the post-1945 growth left Steyning with roofs of very different ages, and each age asks something different.

The Victoria County History says the building of the railway in 1861 accelerated residential development at the east end of Steyning, and that the greatest expansion came after 1945. The town's roofs therefore span several centuries and several ways of building. The conservation area appraisal notes that slates are generally confined to 19th-century buildings, while the newer estates carry the tiles of their own decades. A repair that suits a stone slab roof does not suit a Victorian slate or a post-war concrete tile, so each survey begins with identifying the covering before we say what it needs, and with a look from the loft at the timbers and the underlay beneath it.

At a glance

  • The railway of 1861 sped up growth at the east end
  • The greatest expansion came after 1945
  • Hipped re-roofs cost more than gables
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

If the trouble is confined to a valley, a ridge or a single slope, we repair it. When tiles are slipping everywhere, the battens have softened and the underlay, which is the sheet under the tiles, has perished, a re-roof is the sounder choice. Whichever we recommend, photographs of your own roof supply the evidence. Post-war roofs bring checks of their own: hip and ridge tiles held on mortar alone, verges that have crumbled, and flat-roofed extensions or garages whose coverings have reached the end of a typical 15 to 30 years. A re-roof may bring a thermal upgrade: Approved Document L expects the insulation to be improved where more than 50 per cent of a roof's surface is renovated. The Planning Portal adds that approval can apply when you exceed its limits for re-covering, or choose a markedly heavier covering. Where a house has a cold roof, Marley advises continuous ventilation at the eaves, 10 mm for pitches over 15 degrees with an HR underlay.

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

3.2 What drives the price

Cutting and finishing hips makes a hipped roof dearer than a gable on the same footprint. Scaffolding, the route for materials, your choice of covering and how sound the timbers under the old covering are all shift the total, and the written figure follows the visit. Our roof replacement page explains a full re-roof from first visit to clearance. The figures below come from a published national guide, and what we charge is good and fair. When the job ends, the old covering leaves the site with us.

Guide figures for a semi-detached roof in England

  • Moderate roof repair£500 to £1,000
  • Flat roof, semi£2,500 to £6,000
  • Gable re-roof, semi£5,000 to £8,000
  • Hipped re-roof, semi£8,000 to £12,000

Our quote is a single written total, issued once your own roof has been surveyed. Where you hold other quotes, check whether each covers VAT and scaffold. Source: MyBuilder new roof cost and roof repair price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Work we carry out in Steyning

Steyning roof questions, from stone slab to listed front

Can the Horsham slabs on my Steyning house be lifted and relaid?

Yes, and the Stone Roofing Association names the roof's own slates as the first choice. Slabs are taken up by hand, sorted by size and laid again from the eaves up, replacing only those that have split. The Steyning appraisal calls mortared joints on relaid slabs inappropriate, so we leave them out. If your house is listed, confirm the consent position with the council before work starts.

Is salvaged stone from another roof a fair substitute when slabs break?

It happens in practice, but the Association advises against slabs taken from other buildings where any alternative exists, because each purchase can cost an old roof elsewhere its stone. Newly cut Horsham slates are better for any gap, if they can be found, and salvaged stone needs a lawful source. Reports in 2019 described short supply, so we ask what is available before any slab is ordered.

Which office decides on roof changes to a listed house in Steyning's conservation area?

Horsham District Council, as the planning authority, so start with its conservation officers. A listed house needs consent for alterations that touch its character, and matching materials are the safe course. St Andrew's follows the Church of England's faculty process while in use. Send us photographs of your roof and we will describe what is on it, which is useful when you apply.

Why does a hipped Steyning roof cost more to re-roof than a gable?

A hipped roof has four slopes with a hip running down from each corner, so more tiles are cut to fit and more ridge tiles are fixed. MyBuilder's national guide puts a semi-detached hipped re-roof at £8,000 to £12,000 and a gable at £5,000 to £8,000. Your own figure depends on the survey and the covering, and our written quote follows it.

Roofers near Steyning

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