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Roofers in Washington, West Sussex

Washington sits on a Greensand ridge below Chanctonbury Hill, in walls of brick, flint, clunch and sandstone. We survey the roofs that meet those walls and show you what we find.

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What a Washington roof has to meet: stone, flint and open ground

  • A roof meeting a flint wall

    Flint, clunch and brick walls

    The Victoria County History describes the village buildings as brick, flint, clunch and sandstone. Wherever a roof abuts one of those uneven walls, the lead flashing and the pointing around it are the first places water finds.

  • A stone church roof

    St Mary's and its ashlar walls

    St Mary's is built of ashlar, dressed stone laid in fine joints, and everything except the tower and north arcade was rebuilt in the 19th century.

    Read more about St Mary's and its ashlar walls

    The church is Grade II* listed and is Anglican.

  • Tiled roofs below the Downs

    A ridge at the foot of the Downs

    A narrow ridge of Upper Greensand carries the village, with Chanctonbury Hill on the parish's south-east border. Open ground tests tile fixings, and Marley warns of heavy uplift on the exposed side once pitch drops under 30 degrees.

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

Washington, West Sussex: the designations on file

Planning authority
South Downs National Park Authority
Councils
Horsham District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Washington Conservation Area, mapped by the South Downs National Park Authority
Article 4
Ask the South Downs National Park Authority before a covering is altered
Listed example
Grade II* St Mary's Church
From central Worthing
8.5 road miles, north, about 14 minutes by car

Washington roofs

Below Chanctonbury, in flint and ashlar

Where walls, a Grade II* church and open Greensand ground each shape how a Washington roof is repaired.

Chapter one

Where roofs meet flint and clunch walls

Washington's walls of flint, clunch, brick and sandstone leave plenty of junctions where lead, pointing and mortar decide whether a roof stays dry.

The Victoria County History describes Washington's buildings as brick, flint, clunch and sandstone, as befits a village on the border between the Downs and the Weald. A large brickworks worked the Gault clay north of the village between 1839 and 1899, so brick was close to hand. Clunch is a hard chalk quarried for building, and like flint it makes a thick, uneven wall full of joints. A roof has to meet that wall somewhere: at a gable end, beside a stack, or where a later extension steps up against an older cottage. A flashing is lead shaped over the join so that rain is carried across it and not behind it. Joins like these are a common starting point for a leak, and the stain indoors is rarely directly below.

At a glance

  • Clunch is a hard chalk used as building stone
  • Flint walls need tight lead and sound pointing
  • Lead flashing can last over 80 years (MyJobQuote)
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet
Lead-lined valley where two clay-tiled roof slopes meet

1.1 Lead set into an uneven face

A flint or clunch face gives no straight line to pin lead against. The mason cuts a groove, called a chase, along the mortar joints, the lead is tucked in and wedged, and the joint is pointed over it. If the pointing has dropped out, or the lead sits in a joint that has since crumbled, water gets behind it. On a pitched roof the lead climbs the wall as a stepped flashing, a staircase with one step per course, while soakers, small lead sheets slid beneath each tile, guide the water back out over the covering. We check every step for lead that has lifted, split or been smothered in sealant. A bead of sealant along a split flashing masks the fault until the next downpour, so we cut it out and dress fresh lead where the old has gone. Leadworx calls Code 4 the standard pick for everyday flashings, and lists Code 5 for pitched and vertical use.

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

1.2 Stacks and their flaunching

Of all the brickwork above a roofline, a chimney stack takes the worst of the weather. Frost and rain work on its pointing, the flaunching, the sloping collar of mortar round the pots, cracks and lets go, and the lead tray round the base tires. We inspect all three from the ladder or with a camera, and every fault goes into the photo set sent with your quote. Repointing a stack is a smaller job than rebuilding it, and we tell you which yours needs. Our chimney repairs page sets out both, and the lead roofing page covers the flashings.

Lead flashing in brief

Code 4 lead
1.80 mm, the standard pick for general flashings (Leadworx)
Code 5 lead
2.24 mm, listed for pitched and vertical use
Code 3 lead
1.32 mm, recommended for soakers only
Flashing lifespan
Over 80 years, more for higher codes (MyJobQuote)
Sheet standard
Lead codes follow BS EN 12588

Source: Leadworx; Royston Lead; MyJobQuote, fetched October 2026

Chapter two

St Mary's church and the Washington Conservation Area

With a Grade II* church and a mapped conservation area in the village, a repair often starts by asking the South Downs authority a question.

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

St Mary's church is built of ashlar, stone cut square and laid in fine joints, and everything except the tower and the north arcade was rebuilt in the 19th century. It is Grade II* listed. A parish church still holding services falls under the ecclesiastical exemption, which sends roof work through the Church's own faculty system and not through listed building consent. On a roof like the parish church's, the things that matter in practice are the gutters and downpipes at the base of the ashlar, the lead at the junction with the tower, and anything living in the roof space. Wildlife law protects bat roosts and occupied nests, so the eaves and ridge get a look for both first, well before any tile is stripped.

At a glance

  • St Mary's is Grade II* listed
  • Its walls are ashlar, mostly rebuilt in the 19th century
  • The South Downs authority is the planning authority

2.1 Houses inside the conservation area

The South Downs National Park Authority lists a Washington Conservation Area among the Horsham-district maps it publishes, and it also decides planning applications for the village. For a house inside the boundary, the first question is whether a repair keeps the same covering. Putting back what was there is not development in the planning sense, since it leaves the building's outward appearance unchanged. Swapping one covering for another can alter that. Whether an Article 4 direction removes further rights at your address is a question for the authority, and it is best asked before a covering changes. We also photograph the existing roof first, which puts a record of it on file with your quote.

2.2 Listed houses and outbuildings

Where a Washington house or barn is itself listed, the rules tighten. The authority's guidance draws the line at character: upkeep and small repairs made on the spot in matching fabric sit outside the consent system, while alterations to historic features, or replacing them wholesale, need listed building consent. A repair in different materials can fall on the wrong side of that line. We match the tile, slate or stone already on the roof, keep as much original fabric as will stand, and put the proposal in writing for the authority when consent is in question. Roof windows and dormers come under separate planning rules in the Park, which our South Downs planning guide sets out.

What people sayEvery roof repair needs planning permission because you live within a National Park.

What is trueWashington sits in the Park, yet replacing a covering with its twin is not normally development needing permission. Listed buildings and Article 4 directions are the exceptions, so check with the South Downs authority beforehand.

Chapter three

Open Greensand ground below Chanctonbury Hill

A roof on open ground at the foot of the Downs is fixed for the site it stands on, not for an average street.

Washington sits on a narrow ridge of Upper Greensand north of the chalk, and Chanctonbury Hill, at 782 feet, rises on the south-east border of the parish. Marley's guidance says the basic wind speed for a site is worked out under Eurocode 1 and then adjusted for terrain, topography and building height. Wienerberger also says the fixing plan is drawn for the specific address, allowing for where it stands, how high above sea level it sits and the wind it faces. For a re-roof we follow the tile maker's route to a fixing specification for your address, and on a repair the new tiles go in to suit the courses around them.

At a glance

  • Every single-lap tile needs a fixing of its own
  • Pitches under 30 degrees need extra care on the exposed side
  • Ridges and hips now take screws or clips as well

3.1 Pitch and fixings

Pitch matters too. Marley warns that on pitches under 30 degrees the side taking the wind can be pulled at hard, so shallower roofs need extra care at the eaves, verges and ridge. Single-lap tiles are never left resting on their own weight, because Wienerberger wants a mechanical fixing in every one at the least. Since the 2014 revision of BS 5534, ridge and hip tiles take a mechanical fixing in addition to their mortar bed, since mortar by itself cannot be trusted to hold them. A dry-fix ridge, which is secured by clips on a ventilated roll, is tested to BS 8612:2018. At each gable the verge edge matters most: we want to see tiles gripped by clips, not merely sitting in mortar. Our ridge tile repairs page explains the choices.

3.2 Repair, or a new covering

A survey decides it. A few slipped tiles or one failed ridge suggests repair. If every slope is failing, with nails rusted and underlay perished, re-roofing is the sounder route, and the survey photographs make the case. Under the Planning Portal guidance, an application to building control is normally unnecessary when the work affects less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof. Above those limits, or where a new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier, approval is needed. VAT on re-roofing runs at the standard 20%, which makes it worth asking each firm if its total takes in the VAT and the scaffold. The figures below are published UK guides rather than a Watertight price list.

Roof repair costs across the UK

  • Minor repair£100 to £300
  • Moderate repair£500 to £1,000
  • Re-bedding or replacing ridge tiles£300 to £600
  • Dry ridge, a typical job£500 to £1,000

One written total reaches you after the survey, and the condition of the ridge, verges and flashings pushes it up or down. Source: MyBuilder roof repair, slate roof and dry ridge price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Roofing help for Washington, West Sussex properties

Washington roof questions, from the Greensand to the Downs

Why do roofs beside flint and clunch walls leak at the join?

Because the join is a seam between two materials that move differently. The lead flashing sits in a groove cut along the wall's mortar joints, and once the pointing fails or the joint crumbles, water slips behind the lead. The stain then turns up indoors, some distance from the opening. Our route is to trace the damp back across the loft, check the flashing step by step, then re-dress or renew the lead instead of smearing sealant across it.

Does repairing a roof in the Washington Conservation Area need planning permission?

Planning permission is rarely required to re-lay the same material, since the building looks unchanged afterwards. A new material, or a listed house, calls for more care. Before altering a covering, ask the South Downs National Park Authority whether an Article 4 direction touches your house. The existing material stays, and photographs of the roof are taken before anything is touched.

Do tiles on the ridge below Chanctonbury Hill need special fixing?

They need fixing worked out for the site. Wienerberger describes a plan built from the address's position, height and wind, and every single-lap tile is to have at least one mechanical fixing. On pitches under 30 degrees, Marley warns that the side facing the wind is pulled at hard. A re-roof follows the tile maker's route to a specification for your address, and a smaller repair is fixed to suit the courses beside it.

What does the South Downs National Park change for a Washington re-roof?

It changes who you ask more than what the work involves. Planning decisions in the village rest with the South Downs National Park Authority, so planning questions go there. Building Regulations are unchanged, and a matching re-roof is not normally development in the planning sense. Roof windows and dormers fall under separate rules in the Park. If building control is involved, the notification is something we handle on your behalf.

Roofers near Washington

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