Pitched main-street roofs
The town centre appraisal describes 17th- to 21st-century buildings with pitched roofs and clay tiles, in brick, render or timber.
Roofers in Godalming
Roofs seen from Frith Hill, over a market town on the Wey
Godalming is a market town on the Wey, with five conservation areas, 157 listed buildings near its centre and a roofscape the council praises. We survey each roof properly.
A roofscape worth viewing from Frith Hill
Bargate stone walls
Bargate stone was widely used in and around Godalming, and quarrying it mattered to the local economy into the 20th century.
High Street Grade II* buildings
Numbers 74 to 76A, 80 and 99 to 103 High Street are each listed Grade II*.
Map of Godalming with Farncombe, Milford, Compton, Shackleford marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Godalming, the market town on the Wey
Godalming is a market town on the River Wey, south-west of Guildford, with Farnborough 15.5 road miles to the north-west.
About 15.5 road miles south-east of Farnborough · Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Work we carry out around Godalming
Godalming, the roofscape and the rules
Godalming's roofscape and who guards it
How Waverley and Surrey divide a Godalming roof job, what the council's appraisal says about clay tile, timber frames and Bargate stone, and how five conservation areas and Grade I and II* listings shape repair.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Waverley's market town, Surrey's streets | Waverley plans, Surrey licenses scaffold |
| 02 | Clay tile, timber frames and Bargate stone | Bargate stone quarried into the 20th century |
| 03 | Five conservation areas and Grade I listing | St Peter and St Paul, Grade I |
Chapter 01 of 03
Waverley's market town, Surrey's streets
| Matter | Settled by |
|---|---|
| Planning applications | Waverley Borough Council |
| Building control | Waverley Building Control, the council's own service |
| Scaffold over a street or pavement | Surrey County Council, until 31 March 2027 |
| Successor body | West Surrey Council, from 1 April 2027 |
| Population | 23,324 in Godalming parish (Census 2021) |
Godalming's 23,324 residents deal with Waverley Borough Council for planning and for building control, through its own Waverley Building Control service, which offers a plans-checking and an on-site inspection service. Surrey County Council holds the highways until 31 March 2027, the day before West Surrey Council succeeds both bodies. From the A325 in Farnborough, Godalming is 15.5 road miles away.
Thresholds that sort the jobs
Nothing in Waverley's pages sets a re-roofing percentage, so the Planning Portal's yardsticks serve: 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, with extra weight of 15 per cent as a trigger in its own right. In a town of old terraces and framed buildings, weight deserves respect, since a concrete tile on a roof built for clay or slate may exceed what the structure expects.
The private route is a registered building control approver. We say at the survey which road a job should take, and we give you the figures behind our view.
Compare quotes on what they include, not only on the total. Scaffold over a street, VAT and carting away old material are the lines a low figure leaves out most easily. One written total follows our survey, with what it assumes spelled out.
Poles over a Godalming street
Plenty of town-centre roofs are reached from a pavement or a street, so the Surrey licence enters many jobs. Until April 2027 Surrey County Council's price is £208 for 28 days, a renewal costs the same, and 10 working days of notice are wanted, with hoarding included under the same licence. A busy street also needs a safe route for pedestrians and a place for deliveries, and we plan both with the owner or agent.
Nothing on the council's page names the party that lodges the form, which makes it a first question for the scaffolder. Where poles can stay entirely on private land the licence does not arise, and some yards and rear gardens allow it.
Market-town streets have shops with flats above, and a roof then serves several households. Access, shared gutters and party walls all need agreement, and we survey the roof so an agent or the owners can plan together.
Chapter 02 of 03
Clay tile, timber frames and Bargate stone
Godalming's roofscape and its stone, in four points
- 17th to 21stcenturies spanned by the main-street buildings
- Frith Hillthe council's best viewpoint over the roofscape
- Bargate stoneused widely in and around the town
- 157listed buildings within 900 m of the centre
Waverley's town centre appraisal describes the buildings on Godalming's main streets as dating from the 17th to the 21st century, many of them listed, in red brick, render or timber framing, with pitched roofs and clay tiles. It names Frith Hill as the best viewpoint over the town's roofscape. It also records that Bargate stone was used widely in and around Godalming, and that quarrying it was an important part of the local economy until well into the 20th century.
What the roofscape asks of a repair
A town praised for its roofscape asks that repairs be done in kind. A clay-tiled pitched roof seen from Frith Hill is read as a pattern: colour, texture, ridge lines and chimneys. A patch of bright new tile among weathered ones shows from a distance, so reclaimed or near-matching tile is our first search, with samples laid against photographs of your slope.
Brick walls, render and timber framing, the three wall finishes the appraisal names, meet roofs in different ways. Brick takes a flashing into a raked joint, render hides the junction under a fillet that can crack and let water in, and a timber frame may have the roof tied to it in ways that only the loft shows. We look at the wall as well as the roof wherever the two meet.
Timber-framed buildings need a different kind of care. A framed building's roof has moved with its frame over centuries, and slopes may bow. The sound answer is rarely to flatten them, but to repair the covering to the slope as it is, and to tell you what we see in the timbers from the loft. If a carpenter should look first, you are told before any tile is lifted.
The county history of 1911 records the parish church as built of Bargate stone rubble, with a lofty spire covered in lead. On any stone wall, a gutter that overflows soaks the stone behind it for years, so gutters are flushed where it is safe and the wall below any overflow is photographed.
Listings and views
157listed buildings within 900 m of the centre
17th centuryearliest century named for the main-street buildings
The Frith Hill view also reminds us how many roofs share a slope and a boundary. A town's roofs are a community, and a ridge repair on one house can show from five others. We keep neighbours in mind when we plan access and the order of work, and we tell you what each day involves so no one is surprised.
Our pitched roofing page explains how ridges, hips and valleys are repaired in tile.
Chapter 03 of 03
Five conservation areas and Grade I listing
| Designation | In Godalming | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | Binscombe; Town Centre; Crownpits; Navigations and River Wey; Ockford Road | Check Waverley's map |
| Grade I listed church in use | Church of St Peter and St Paul (NHLE 1044546) | Faculty, not listed building consent |
| Grade II* listed | 74, 74A, 76 and 76A High Street (NHLE 1293929) | Listed building consent |
| Grade II* listed | 99, 101 and 103 High Street (NHLE 1044526) | Listed building consent |
Waverley lists 5 conservation areas in Godalming: Binscombe, Godalming Town Centre (designated 1974, extended 1984 and 1989), Crownpits, the Godalming Navigations and River Wey area, and Ockford Road. A house inside one is judged on how a roof repair affects the character the council has recorded, and the council's map tells you whether yours is inside. Repair is ordinary upkeep; any change to a covering, a ridge or a stack is the point at which to ask.
The Grade I church and the High Street
Godalming's parish church, St Peter and St Paul, has been listed Grade I since 18 December 1947. Because Anglican worship continues there, its roof work belongs to the faculty system under the ecclesiastical exemption. The High Street buildings are listed Grade II*: 74, 74A, 76 and 76A, listed in 1947, number 80, and numbers 99 to 103. Waverley Borough Council decides listed building consent for work affecting their character.
The national list shows 157 listed buildings within 900 m of Godalming's centre, so a roofer here meets listed buildings often. The routine is steady: record the roof with photographs, describe the proposed work in the council's terms, and repair like for like.
The figure5areasconservation areas Waverley lists for Godalming, from Binscombe to Ockford Road5 conservation areasSource: Waverley Borough Council conservation areas page
A conservation area is a place where the whole is greater than the parts, and a roof is one of the parts. The council's concern is rarely one tile, and more often a pattern: a row of matching ridges, a run of chimneys, an unbroken eaves line. A repair that respects the pattern passes without comment, and we describe our work in those terms in the survey notes.
Directions and the flood map
Check whether an Article 4 direction applies with Waverley Borough Council: we raise the particular address with Waverley before we price a change of appearance, and we keep the reply with the survey notes so it travels with the roof's record. Flood Zone 3 takes in parts of the land within about 250 m of the centre on the Environment Agency's flood map for planning, which makes roof drainage worth a look.
On the chimney repairs page you will find how stacks are rebuilt or repointed, and the commercial roofing page deals with market-town shop and office roofs.
Godalming roof questions, clay tile, framing and stone
My Godalming house has a roof that bows with its timber frame: should it be flattened?
Rarely. A roof on an old frame has moved with it over centuries, and forcing it flat can strain the timbers. The sound approach is to repair the covering to the slope as it is, check the frame from the loft, and involve a carpenter first if timbers have softened. We photograph the slope and explain the options.
Can I use modern clay tile on a Godalming roof praised by the council's appraisal?
You can for a repair, but a bright new tile shows against weathered ones, and in a conservation area a different covering is a question for Waverley's planners first. Reclaimed or closely matched clay tile is our first search, samples go beside photographs of your slope, and you are told plainly if no match exists.
Which Godalming conservation areas could cover my street?
Waverley lists five: Binscombe, the Town Centre, Crownpits, the Navigations and River Wey area, and Ockford Road. Whether your own street is inside one is a matter for Waverley's map. The map is checked ahead of the survey, and any change of appearance is planned with the council in view.
Does roof work on St Peter and St Paul church go through Waverley?
Not while it is a working Anglican church. Its roof then falls under the faculty system, through the ecclesiastical exemption, though the building is listed Grade I. The Grade II* High Street buildings need Waverley's listed building consent instead. The church itself, or the owner of the building concerned, is the right place to start.
Around Godalming, from Farncombe to Milford
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