Roofers in Micheldever
Roof repairs beside Micheldever's Duke Street rows and its Grade II* church
Micheldever has 35 listed buildings within about 500 metres of its centre, its own conservation area and a Winchester City Council rulebook. Every roof is surveyed first and photographed before a price.
Micheldever roofs from church to Duke Street
Micheldever's Grade II* church
A Grade II* church first listed on 5 December 1955, with a brick nave rebuilt in 1806 and roof works through a faculty.
Duke Street pairs
Numbers 111 to 116 Duke Street, listed Grade II in three pairs, where repairs are matched to the old covering.
Weston Colley outskirts
Houses towards the hamlet of Weston Colley, which the 1908 VCH described as scattered groups of cottages and houses.
Micheldever east of Sutton Scotney
Sutton Scotney lies west of Micheldever and South Wonston south-west, with Kings Worthy south, Barton Stacey west and North Waltham north-east. Roof jobs in each of them are open to us.
- Distance
- 12.4 road miles south-east of Andover
- Planning
- Winchester City Council
- Council
- Winchester City Council and Hampshire County Council
The Micheldever roof report
Local editionMicheldever, HampshireThatch in 1908, listed rows today
Micheldever roofs: a main street of thatch in 1908, and the listed rows that remain
Micheldever has 1,443 residents, 35 listed buildings close to the centre and a conservation area, and its history was set down in detail a century ago. Here the written record is kept apart from what a roof needs today.
A main street described in 1908
In 1908 the Victoria County History described Micheldever's main street as lined on both sides with thatched, half-timbered houses, with only a few less attractive modern cottages among them. The tithing of Weston Colley, in the same account, was scattered groups of thatched cottages and one or two good-sized houses. The account dates from 1908 and is history, not a survey of the roofs standing now.
If you own a thatched roof, the person to ask is a specialist thatcher. Our work is on tile, slate, lead and flat roofs, and on the gutters and chimneys that go with them. The village's history matters to us for another reason: it tells us how long Micheldever has been built up and how many generations of repair a roof here may carry.
The same 1908 account recorded that the church's nave and chancel were of brick, built in 1806 after a fire, with an octagonal nave, and that the tower dated from the first half of the 16th century. St Mary's church carries a Grade II* listing (entry 1095267, dated 5 December 1955). An Anglican church in use, it gets its roof works cleared by faculty, not by council consent.
Along Duke Street, 111 and 112 (1095273, first listed 16 November 1983), 113 and 114 (1155573) and 115 and 116 (1350773) are each Grade II. Historic England's list holds 35 listed buildings within about 500 metres of the village centre, and the 2021 Census gave the parish 1,443 usual residents, so the listing of a house, and of the one next to it, is checked at every survey here.
Any work touching a listed house's character is put to Winchester City Council for listed building consent, over and above planning or building control. Our application rests on pictures of each slope, a description of the covering as found and a short outline of the repair, which gives an officer the roof as it stands.
Micheldever has a conservation area, whose council-drawn boundary lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre. If a job would alter a roof's appearance inside that boundary, the council hears about it before any price is set; matching repairs are the gentler first step.
The survey that follows is thorough. Every slope is photographed close up and from a distance, the junctions and abutments are recorded, and the loft is inspected from below where access allows. Daylight at the eaves, dark staining on timbers and a sagging batten each tell us something that the outside cannot.
Duke Street's pairs and Winchester's rules
Pairs of listed cottages share a roof line, and that shapes a repair. A ridge, a party wall flashing and often a chimney stack belong to both houses, so work on 113 touches 114. We examine the junctions together, photograph both sides, and tell both owners what the survey found before any work is planned.
Winchester City Council is the planning authority for Micheldever and runs its own Building Control service. The council's switchboard is 01962 840 222. A registered building control approver, a role regulated since 6 April 2024, is the other option. Hampshire County Council is the county council and highway authority.
Whether an Article 4 direction touches a Micheldever address is for Winchester City Council to answer, and we ask in writing. The reply is kept with the survey photographs. Our planning permission for roof work guide sets out the national position, where the rules for conservation areas and listed buildings are explained.
On a re-cover, the Planning Portal's test is the starting point: under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, and building control is generally not needed. A job near either figure is explained to you during the survey, with the council's view sought in writing.
Weight brings its own test. A new covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the old triggers Building Regulations approval and a structural check. On old roofs the timbers are inspected before a heavy product is proposed.
For a matched pair of cottages, reclaimed material is usually the surest way to keep the row consistent. We look for tiles or slates in the right size, thickness and tone, and photograph the samples against the old roof in daylight before anything is ordered.
Repairs are simpler than re-covers. On our roof repairs page you will find the usual small faults and how they are surveyed and priced.
Work to a shared part of the roof is for the two owners to agree between them, and party wall questions go to a party wall surveyor. We supply the photographs and findings so that both sides start from the same facts.
Both owners gain if the work is done in one visit, because one scaffold serves both houses.
Before any quote, we also check the loft above both houses where access allows. Daylight at the party wall, staining on the shared timbers and the state of the underlay at the ridge are recorded together, so that a fault which started on one side is not missed on the other.
“Micheldever's main street was lined with thatch in 1908; today its Duke Street pairs are listed Grade II.”
Source: VCH Hampshire vol 3 (1908); Historic England
Weston Colley lanes, scaffold and chimneys
The scattered houses towards Weston Colley are reached by lanes, and lanes shape a scaffold plan. A lorry bringing tiles needs somewhere to stop, and a skip needs a flat spot clear of the road. We look at the approach on the first visit and decide where each will stand, before any date is fixed.
Scaffold on the public carriageway or pavement falls under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and the licence is Hampshire County Council's to give, not Winchester's. Hampshire County Council has the scaffold supplier lodge the application. Hampshire County Council's fee is £211.90 for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2 weeks, with hoarding extra.
A lead time of 10 clear working days applies, and extensions are refused, so the application is held back until any consent decision is in. When both permissions have arrived you are given the start date, and any licence fee is already folded into the single figure you were quoted.
Private ground avoids the whole question. Hampshire's page excludes private roads from the licence, and a forecourt, a paddock or a garden offers the same. A house standing back from its lane can be scaffolded from its own plot, which saves both time and money.
Chimneys deserve attention on older houses. A stack that has lost pointing or whose flashing has lifted lets water into the wall, and a cracked flaunching, the mortar cap holding the pots, lets it in from above. Our chimney repairs page explains the checks.
The eaves line carries water away. Guttering, soffits and fascias take the weather first, and a rotten fascia or a blocked outlet can undo a good roof. Any work needed there is included in the same single price.
One written total follows each survey, covering scaffold, any licence, the work and waste removal, with the consent route named.
Deliveries to a lane need a plan. Where the delivery lorry and the skip will stand is decided before any date is fixed, and walkers keep a clear route. The lanes' residents hear the dates in advance, for the scaffold and for its removal.
Natural slate and clay need different handling. A slate roof is checked for slipped slates and corroded nails, and a clay tile roof for cracked or spalled tiles and failed bedding. The survey photographs show which units have gone and which are sound, so you see the extent of the problem. Where a roof has been patched in more than one material over the years, the photographs record each earlier repair so that the next one can match it.
Micheldever roof repairs and more
Micheldever roofs: Duke Street, the church and the licence
Who do I call about a thatched roof in Micheldever?
A specialist thatcher. In 1908 the Victoria County History described thatched houses along the main street, but that is history and not a current survey. Our work is on tile, slate, lead and flat roofs, with the gutters and chimneys that go with them, and we are happy to survey a neighbouring tiled roof for you.
If my Duke Street cottage is half of a listed pair, who consents to a roof repair?
Listed building consent for work affecting a listed house's character comes from Winchester City Council. The neighbour's half is a separate property, so each owner is involved separately, though a shared ridge or flashing is surveyed from both sides. We photograph the junction and tell both owners the same findings.
What would Hampshire charge for scaffold on a Micheldever lane?
Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period, with hoarding extra and a lead time of 10 clear working days. Under Hampshire County Council's scheme the scaffold firm lodges the application. A scaffold set up wholly on land you own sits outside the licence, so no licence fee arises, and the rest is folded into your price.
Does the faculty system cover the Church of St Mary in Micheldever?
Yes. Being listed Grade II* and in Anglican use, the church takes its own roof works through the faculty system, not through the council. Next door to the churchyard, a house follows the council's usual rules, with listed building consent added only where that house is itself on the list. We confirm which applies before the survey, in writing.
Arrange a visit to your Micheldever roof
Email the address with a photograph. We survey, ask Winchester where it matters and send one written price.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.