Roofers in Dummer
Red tiles, flint walls and Grade II barns on the chalk downs
Dummer has 22 listed buildings within about 500 metres of its centre, from a Grade I church to Grade II barns. Each roof is surveyed, with photographs, ahead of any price.
Dummer roofs, from the barns to the church
Listed barns
Barns at Little Manor Farm and Tower Hill Farm are both Grade II, each with a large roof to match in kind.
All Saints' Church
A Grade I church with plain flint walls, listed on 26 April 1957, with roof work on the faculty route.
Red tile and thatch
The council's appraisal lists orange and red roof tiles and thatched roofs among Dummer's materials, following no single pattern.
Dummer south-west of Basingstoke
North Waltham lies to the west, Oakley and Sherborne St John to the north, Basingstoke and Old Basing to the north-east, Overton to the north-west and Micheldever to the south-west.
- Distance
- 16.2 road miles east of Andover
- Planning
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Council
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Dummer roof report
Local editionDummer, HampshireBarns, flint and the chalk
Dummer roofs: listed barns, a flint church and a village that follows no single pattern
Dummer is 16.2 road miles east of Andover, in the borough of Basingstoke and Deane. This report covers the materials the council's appraisal lists, what listed barns and a Grade I church ask of a roof repair, and how the scaffold is licensed.
A chalk-downland village in Basingstoke's borough
Dummer lies 16.2 road miles east of Andover and had 1,397 usual residents at the 2021 Census. The council's appraisal places it in the gently undulating landscape of the central chalk downlands, with its western end on a small hill capped by clay with flints. For a roof the practical consequence is administrative: Planning belongs to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Building Regulations to its own Building Control team, and the roads to Hampshire County Council.
Basingstoke and Deane's building control page names new coverings for pitched or flat roofs in its list of alterations where approval might also be needed. The words are cautious and carry no percentage, so we treat them as a cue to ring the Building Control team, on 01256 844844, before a re-roof is booked. The Planning Portal supplies the national yardsticks beside it: 25 per cent of the whole building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, below which an application would not normally be asked for.
The weight rule is shared across England. If a new covering would be 15 per cent or more heavier overall, or would act very differently in a fire, Building Regulations approval is required. On a barn that is being converted, or a house being extended, that is the point where a roof stops being a repair and starts being a project.
We survey a roof in the order a weather-beaten eye would, starting from the ground to read the ridge line and the slopes for dips, then close up for the tiles, battens and flashings. Each fault gets a photograph and a line of text, and the report separates repairs from anything larger.
The council's appraisal says the village follows no single pattern, so one house can differ sharply from the next. The survey therefore records each roof on its own terms and never assumes the neighbour's covering. Instead of the council you may hire a registered building control approver, who must be registered under rules that took effect in April 2024. The reply, from whoever it comes from, is filed with the photographs.
Because Dummer is small, a scaffold on its lane is noticed. Neighbours are told the dates, drives are kept clear and the road stays open for deliveries. Flat roofs on outbuildings are judged by their fall: BS 6229:2025 sets 1:80 as the minimum finished fall for membrane roofs, and standing water means the fall has run out.
Listed barns, All Saints' and the red-tile village
Historic England's list holds 22 listed buildings within about 500 metres of the centre of Dummer. All Saints' Church is Grade I (list entry 1093019, first listed on 26 April 1957), and the council's appraisal describes it as a simple longitudinal building with plain flint walls. The Barn at Little Manor Farm (1178443) and the Barn at Tower Hill Farm (1339507) are Grade II, as is Dummer House (1093020).
A listed barn ranks with a listed house, so its roof needs listed building consent where the work would touch its special character. Barn roofs are large, and a patch of repair can look very different from a full re-cover. We photograph the whole slope from the ground and close up, record how the tiles are fixed, and put a brief description with the pictures when the council is asked.
The church takes another route. As an Anglican church in current use, its roof works run via the faculty process, not listed building consent. For a faculty application we provide the write-up and the pictures behind it, and price the work once permission is given.
The appraisal describes the village's vernacular materials as mellow red brick, timber-frame, flint, orange and red roof tiles and thatched roofs, following no single pattern. That sentence is a reason to match carefully. A roof of orange clay tiles next to one of darker tiles tells a story about repair history, and a visible patch is easy to avoid with reclaimed stock.
A barn that is being converted to a home brings more with it. Under Approved Document L (2021 edition), a renovated roof is to be brought to a U-value of 0.16 W/(m²·K) if that is technically feasible, from a 0.35 threshold, and the 2026 edition applies from 24 March 2027. The conversion is also a Building Regulations job in its own right, so the roof is one part of a larger approval.
Dummer House is Grade II (1093020), and the same method applies: begin with the smallest change that cures the fault, make it in the existing material, and describe it to the council with photographs. Where the roof meets a flint wall, as it does at the church, the junction is flashed into the joint and the pointing matched.
Dummer has a conservation area, designated by Basingstoke and Deane in 1981, according to the council's appraisal. Adding a dormer, or anything else that alters a roof's face to the road, is worth raising with the borough first. Whether an Article 4 direction touches your address is for the council to confirm.
“A Dummer roof is matched by eye to red tiles, flint and a long history of repair.”
A pump, thatch history and the scaffold licence
In 1908 the Victoria County History described old thatched and half-timbered cottages, farms and farm buildings along the north side of Dummer's village street, and a village pump covered by a square tiled roof on four wooden pillars. It is a snapshot of a century ago and says nothing about what stands there now. It does show how long tile and thatch have shared the village, and why a modern repair has to sit well beside both.
If your roof is thatched, leave the thatch to a specialist thatcher. We work on the tiles, slates, lead, chimneys and gutters around it. Pitched roofing on an older house begins with a survey of the battens and the frame, because an old frame may not carry a heavy modern covering without a check.
Where scaffolding stands on a public road or pavement, it is licensed under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and the licensing body for Dummer is Hampshire County Council. Hampshire County Council's rule is that the scaffolding firm makes the application on the customer's behalf, with 10 clear working days between submission and start and no extensions allowed. Hampshire's fee is £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period. A private road is outside the licensing.
Dummer's roofs are served by roof repairs, slate and tile work, chimney repairs and the gutters that go with them. If water is coming in, the first visit stops it and the permanent repair follows. The site is cleared each day and the waste leaves with us.
Slate lives are typical ranges, never promises. HomeBuilding (Sept 2025) gives Welsh slate 100+ years, Spanish natural slate 75-100 years and reclaimed Welsh slate 50-80 years. A slate roof's life also depends on its fixings, and the survey looks at the nails and clips as well as the slates.
A householder who has building work done is a "domestic client" for the purposes of CDM 2015. With a single contractor on the job, regulation 15(5) puts the duty to prepare a construction phase plan on that contractor. We therefore draw up the plan as part of the job, and keep it with the survey.
When the work is finished, the access is struck, the gutters are flushed and the site is swept. You receive photographs of the finished roof to set beside the survey set, and the council's reply, if one was needed, stays on file with them.
Our services for Dummer homes
Dummer roofs: barns, the church and the licence
Does the listed barn at Little Manor Farm in Dummer need consent before a re-roof?
Yes. The barn is listed Grade II, and a listed barn is treated like a listed house, so listed building consent covers work touching its special character. Basingstoke and Deane's planning team decides it. We photograph the roof, record the tiles and fixings, and prepare a brief description for the application.
Does All Saints' Church in Dummer need a faculty for roof work?
Yes. Its roof goes through the Church of England's faculty system, not listed building consent. All Saints' is Grade I and shown on the map as an Anglican church still used for worship, so its faculty comes from the diocese's consistory court, Dummer's borough council having no part in it. We can provide the write-up and pictures that the application needs, and we price the work once permission has been granted.
Can I patch red clay tiles with new ones on a Dummer cottage?
You can, but new tiles often show against weathered ones. The council's appraisal lists orange and red roof tiles among the village's materials, and a visible patch is easy to avoid with reclaimed stock. In the conservation area, ask Basingstoke and Deane whether the change needs a conversation first, and keep the reply with your survey photographs.
What will the county charge to scaffold a Dummer house?
Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period, with 10 clear working days needed before the start and no extensions once a licence is granted. Hampshire County Council expects the application from the scaffolding firm, so we handle the arrangements with the scaffolder, and a private road is outside the licensing.
Dummer and the downland villages around it
Arrange a Dummer roof survey
Give us the address with a picture, and we will survey, check with the borough and write one price.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.