Roofers in Sherfield English
St Leonard's church, Hatchetts Inn and the Wiltshire border roads
Sherfield English is a small Test Valley village with a Grade II church and inn, near the Wiltshire line. We inspect each roof and explain the findings plainly.
Sherfield English roofs by the church and the inn
Houses near St Leonard's
Homes beside the Grade II Church of St Leonard, first listed on 17 November 1986.
Hatchetts Inn and its street
Hatchetts Inn, Grade II since 29 May 1957, where a commercial roof stands among homes.
Dairy Farm and its cottage
The cottage at Dairy Farm, Grade II, and the farm buildings and homes that surround it.
Sherfield English, between Lockerley and Whiteparish
West Wellow lies to the south and Lockerley to the north. Whiteparish and Landford are west and south-west, across the Wiltshire line, and Romsey and Timsbury lie to the east.
- Distance
- 18.9 road miles south of Andover
- Planning
- Test Valley Borough Council
- Council
- Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Sherfield English roof report
Local editionSherfield English, HampshireA border village, church and inn
On the Wiltshire border: why a Sherfield English roof follows Hampshire's rules
Sherfield English belongs to Test Valley and Hampshire, 18.9 road miles from Andover. Three miles west, Whiteparish and Landford answer to Wiltshire, and Landford lies in the New Forest National Park. This report sorts out what that means for a roof.
St Leonard's church, Hatchetts Inn and Dairy Farm
Sherfield English parish had 709 usual residents at the 2021 Census. Historic England records 3 listed buildings within about 500 metres of the centre. Church of St Leonard (list entry 1339207) is Grade II, first listed on 17 November 1986. Hatchetts Inn (1093621) is Grade II, listed on 29 May 1957, and so is the cottage at Dairy Farm (1261983). Three entries make a short list, so the first question at any survey is whether your own house is one of them.
St Leonard's is a Church of England church with regular services, so works to it go through the faculty system, not listed building consent. Neighbours should know, because anything leaning on the church wall, a pole or a ladder, needs the parish's agreement first. Whenever a roof job stands close to the church, that conversation is the first one we hold.
Hatchetts Inn is a public house, and a pub roof asks different questions from a house roof, because customers and staff are underneath it throughout. How do you keep the building dry and the entrance clear while it trades? When can noisy work be done? Where do deliveries reach the roof? We visit outside peak hours, report in plain terms and agree a written plan with the landlord before any scaffold is ordered, so staff and regulars are never surprised.
Whether a conservation area reaches a Sherfield English address is for Test Valley Borough Council's map to answer, and the answer should be in writing before anyone reads it as permission. Test Valley Borough Council's planners can say whether a conservation area or Article 4 direction touches your house; ask them, and keep the reply. If you prefer, the question can go from us on your behalf.
Farm and outbuilding roofs are judged by different measures from a house roof. Large plain slopes depend on their fixings, their laps and their gutters more than on appearance, and rooflights and eaves are where leaks start. Around Dairy Farm, the survey of a barn or store therefore looks at what holds the covering down and where the water goes, before it looks at the covering itself.
A Sherfield English survey starts outside and ends in the loft. From a ladder or tower the camera records the covering, ridge, roof edges and the flashings where roof joins wall or stack. Inside, the rafters, battens and underlay show damp, rot or daylight that no view from the garden reveals.
You get the pictures with a plain note on each one, in the order we would tackle the faults, and a view on which can safely wait.
A border village: Test Valley here, Wiltshire three miles away
Planning for Sherfield English belongs to Test Valley Borough Council, and Hampshire County Council looks after the roads. Three miles west, Whiteparish is in Wiltshire, and so is Landford, three miles south-west. Wiltshire is a unitary council: one body handles planning, building control and scaffold permits for its addresses. A neighbour in Whiteparish therefore deals with Wiltshire Council's own Building Control service, while you would speak to your building control body.
Landford adds a further wrinkle. It lies inside the New Forest National Park, so planning there belongs to the park authority, not the council, though building control in a park stays with the council. Sherfield English is not in the park, so none of that touches you. Still, a roofer who works on both sides of the line has to ask which rules a house belongs to before saying anything about consent.
For Building Regulations on a re-roof, you may use your building control body or a registered building control approver, and we say which we recommend once we have seen the roof. The Planning Portal supplies the first filter. If a job involves under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, building control is usually not asked to approve it. Mending one slope or a few tiles sits well inside both.
Weight is the second filter. Where a replacement covering is 15 per cent heavier or more, approval is required, and the timbers should be inspected by a structural professional first. Concrete in place of plain tile or slate is the classic trigger. The existing covering is noted at the survey, so the answer reaches you before a replacement is chosen.
Rural roofs sometimes shelter wildlife. Bats and their roosts are protected, and re-roofing is one of the jobs that can disturb them. The Habitats Regulations make damaging a roost an offence whatever the intention, while the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes intentionally destroying a nest in use an offence. If a loft shows droppings, a nest or a bat, work pauses and you hear what the next step is.
A short email to the right office usually settles it. We describe the roof, attach the photographs, ask the question you would ask and send you the reply untouched, so the answer you rely on is the officer's own, in the officer's own words.
Plenty of jobs here are routine maintenance, and the survey note says so in plain words.
“Sherfield English follows Hampshire's rules, while villages three miles west answer to Wiltshire.”
A Hampshire scaffold licence against Wiltshire's permit
Poles standing in a public road call for a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. In Sherfield English the grantor is Hampshire County Council, which tells householders to leave the application to the scaffolding company. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks, then £72 for each additional 2-week period, and wants 10 clear working days of notice with no extensions.
Across the border the picture changes. In Whiteparish, Wiltshire Council charges by notice rather than duration: £143.80 with more than 3 working days' notice, £164.70 with less, every licence valid for 28 days, applied for through the MiPermit portal by the company supplying the scaffolding. The two systems are priced in different units, so we never compare them as if they matched, and we use only the rules of the council that covers your road.
The frame itself has to meet BS EN 12810/12811 or NASC guidance TG20:13. None of this reaches land that is not public highway. Where a front garden or drive gives room, the frame can stand wholly inside your boundary, and the licence drops out of the plan.
Neighbours matter on a village road. A frame puts boards and netting within a few feet of other people's windows and drives, so those households hear from us before it goes up, and the position of skip and deliveries is settled with you in advance. Nobody should find a pallet of tiles across their gate.
The plot therefore decides the timetable. A house on a lane with a verge may need a licence, while one set back behind its garden may not. We look at the plot during the survey and tell you which, so that you plan with real dates and not guesses.
The work Sherfield English owners ask about is practical. Roof repairs mean loose tiles, a cracked ridge piece or a lifted flashing put right. Commercial roofing covers pubs, shops and farm buildings. Chimney repairs restore a stack whose mortar has crumbled.
Time on the frame costs money, since Hampshire's fee is charged by the 2-week period. Materials are on site before the scaffolder arrives, the strike date is agreed in advance and rain days are allowed for in the start date. A wet week should not become a second fortnight on the bill.
A delivery lorry is booked for a time when the road is clear, and the route to the roof is agreed with you, so neither a drive nor a verge is blocked.
At dusk the site is made safe, and at the end the rubbish is taken away and the photographs are yours.
Fixes and replacements in Sherfield English
Sherfield English roofs: the church, the border and the licence
Can I work on a roof beside St Leonard's church in Sherfield English?
Yes, though the church follows its own consent route. St Leonard's is in use for worship, so its works go through the faculty system, not listed building consent. A scaffold or ladder touching the church needs the parish's agreement. We raise this at the survey and show where our access would stand.
Is Sherfield English in a conservation area?
That depends on your exact address, so ask the council in writing rather than reading silence as permission. Ask Test Valley Borough Council's planners whether a conservation area or Article 4 direction touches your house, and file what they say. We can send the enquiry for you and forward the reply.
Do Wiltshire's scaffold fees apply in Sherfield English?
No. Hampshire County Council licenses scaffold on Sherfield English roads, charging £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period, with the scaffolding company applying to it, not you. Wiltshire's notice-based fees cover only Wiltshire addresses such as Whiteparish. We use the rules of whichever council covers your road, and say which.
Would heavier tiles on my Sherfield English roof need sign-off?
They can. The Planning Portal's test asks whether under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected, and a covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight always needs approval. Ask your building control body before ordering. We can ask and pass on what we are told.
West Wellow, Lockerley and the border villages
Get a Sherfield English survey booked
Name your lane and send a photo. We inspect, settle the consents and give one written total.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.