Bekesbourne · 15.1 road miles north
Roofers in Bekesbourne
A Grade I church, a Grade II court and a scheduled monument, the Archbishop's Palace, are all close to the middle of Bekesbourne. That makes the paperwork worth reading first, and then comes the roof itself, slope by slope, with every fault stamped and explained in plain words.
- Church of St Peter
- Grade I, a Church of England church in use; its works follow the faculty route and not the council's
- Scheduled monument
- The Archbishop's Palace, Bekesbourne, is scheduled; works to it need consent under the 1979 Act, section 2
- Scaffolding permit
- Kent County Council, £52 per week for 2026 to 2027; we arrange it with our scaffolder
- Drive from Folkestone
- 15.1 road miles, about 22 minutes by road
Near the Palace and the church: three Bekesbourne faults, three verdicts
What we found
Rotten soffit board with a gutter pulling away above it
What it fairly needs
Fit new board and brackets, and set the whole run to a fall.
What we found
Daylight showing round a roof window at night
What it fairly needs
Inspect the flashing kit and the lining before naming a cause, then price the right job.
What we found
Loose ridge tile above an otherwise tight slope
What it fairly needs
Bed the ridge again and refix the one tile.
The fair ledger
Palace site, Grade I church and your Bekesbourne roof
A scheduled monument, a Grade I church and several conservation areas lie near the centre of Bekesbourne, and the Kent Downs National Landscape touches the surrounding area. Each of the three entries ends in a stamp.
Entry 01Scheduled ground
The Archbishop's Palace is scheduled: what that changes for a nearby roof
The Archbishop's Palace, Bekesbourne, is a scheduled monument near the village centre, and scheduled status has its own rules, separate from listing.
Consent is for works to the monument
Historic England's list records the Archbishop's Palace, Bekesbourne, as a scheduled monument (list entry 1005136). Under section 2 of the 1979 Act on ancient monuments and archaeological areas, unauthorised works to a scheduled monument are an offence, so any work to the monument itself needs scheduled monument consent first.
A house standing nearby is not part of the monument. It is judged on its own address, which means asking three separate questions: is it listed, does it sit inside a conservation area, and does an Article 4 direction apply? None of them is answered by the Palace being close. We run through the three before a price is written, and the answers are filed with the quote.
Cobham Court is listed at Grade II (list entry 1336483), and a listed building follows the Listed Buildings Act. Permitted development for roof work carries on, yet listed building consent is also needed for anything that affects a listed building's character. For a house in doubt, our planning permission guide sets out what lies beyond a plain re-cover, and we hold the quote until Canterbury City Council has replied. The reply is written into the paperwork, so a later owner can see the question and the council's answer.
Do I need scheduled monument consent for a roof near the Palace?
Only works to the monument itself fall under scheduled monument consent. Your own roof is judged by your own address: whether it is listed, whether it is in a conservation area, whether an Article 4 direction applies. We ask Canterbury City Council about those and put the answer beside the price.
Near the monument, still a normal roof
Listed house, lead lifting
Consent question first
Cracked ridge bedding
Re-bed the run
Sagging fascia at the eaves
Replace the boards
Entry 02Boundaries
Bekesbourne, Bifrons Park and Woolton Farm: conservation areas and the Downs edge
Canterbury City Council lists a group of conservation areas near Bekesbourne, and the Kent Downs National Landscape touches the area around the village without covering its centre.
Five names and a Downs edge
The Canterbury list for the area includes Bekesbourne, Bifrons Park (shared with Patrixbourne and Bridge), Bekesbourne and Woolton Farm, Patrixbourne, and Lee Priory and Garrington (Ickham and Well). Canterbury has 97 conservation areas across its district, and its own information shows whether an address falls inside one, so we check before pricing rather than guess from the street name.
The National Landscape reaches the edge of the surrounding area, while the centre of Bekesbourne lies outside it. A house near that edge is a question for the Kent Downs map. Canterbury City Council decides planning applications, with the National Landscape team in an advisory role, so the council is the body we ask.
Canterbury City Council says properties in Article 4 direction areas have some of their permitted development rights removed, which is why Canterbury City Council is the body to check with before any work that changes how the outside of a house looks. A slack ridge, a lead strip lifting at a stack or a gutter joint that has opened raises none of this, and the survey sorts the job into repair, replace or check slope by slope, so the council is asked only where it matters.
Myth: The Downs boundary runs through the middle of Bekesbourne.
Fact: The mapped centre of Bekesbourne lies outside the Kent Downs National Landscape, which touches the area around it; an address near the edge should be checked on the map.
What sets the price
- How far the damage reaches
- Any listing or boundary questions
- Where the scaffold can stand
- Timber found beneath the covering
One written total price
Church consent, map labels and building control
The Church of St Peter is listed Grade I (list entry 1298996) and is a Church of England church in use, which means works there are authorised through the faculty system, the Church of England's internal consent procedure, and not through the council's listed building consent. The Environment Agency's flood map places the centre of Bekesbourne in Flood Zone 3, a label for the land that carries no roofing rule with it.
For a re-roof, building control at Canterbury addresses runs through the STG Building Control Partnership, which also serves Gravesham, Medway and Swale, on 01634 331133. The national Planning Portal test is the guide: an application is normally not needed while less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected, and a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. A flood label has no bearing on how a hip, valley or ridge is fixed, so the survey follows the roof and not the map. Lead, linings and ridge fixings are each recorded with a photograph and a stamp, and the stamps carry through to the quote.
Where a stack meets a slope the flashing is the first thing we read; see chimney repairs and roof replacement for how those jobs run.
Entry 03Church and low ground
St Peter's church, the Environment Agency map and who checks a re-roof
The Church of St Peter is Grade I, the village centre is in Flood Zone 3 on the Environment Agency map, and Canterbury addresses use STG for building control.
The map labels the land and the list labels the building; the survey labels the roof.
A valley, where two slopes drain together
- Lining beneath the covering
- Board the lining rests on
- Cut tiles along each side
A valley carries the water from two slopes, so it is lifted and read during the survey.
Is your Bekesbourne roof one for the council, the faculty or just a ladder?
Send the address and a photograph of the fault. We check the listing and boundary questions, stamp each fault we find, and set one written price against the work, with the council's reply beside it where one was needed.
North from Folkestone to Bekesbourne
Bekesbourne is 15.1 road miles north of Folkestone, about 22 minutes by the road we use. The parish of Bekesbourne-with-Patrixbourne had 919 usual residents at the 2021 Census, a figure that covers more than the village itself. The visit is short enough to take in the roof slopes, the gutters, the stacks and the loft in one afternoon, and any question for the council goes in alongside it, so the survey and the paperwork move forward together and you are not left waiting on a second trip, or on a phone call that never comes.
Roof questions near the Palace: Bekesbourne answers
Plain answers for a village with a scheduled monument and a Grade I church.
Can a leaking valley on a Bekesbourne roof be relined without stripping the slope?
Sometimes, where the tiles either side are sound and the valley board beneath is dry. We lift the covering along the valley, read the lining and the board, and relay the cut tiles. If the board is rotten or the lining has split along a long run, the work grows, and you see what we found first. A valley is a repair job first and a re-roof only when the evidence says so, and the photographs are yours to keep.
Who checks a new roof in Bekesbourne for Building Regulations?
Canterbury City Council works with the STG Building Control Partnership, on 01634 331133. On the Planning Portal's test a re-roof normally escapes an application while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected, and a covering 15 per cent or more heavier, or significantly different in a fire, needs approval. We tell you which side of that line your job sits on before any price is written, and why we think so, with the Portal's wording beside our reasoning.
Is scaffold on a Bekesbourne lane licensed by the council?
It is licensed by Kent County Council, the highway authority for the village, and only where the scaffold obstructs the road or pavement. The permit is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, each covering 7 calendar days, and Kent County Council expects the skip or scaffolding company to submit the application for you. Renewals go in 5 working days before a permit would start, and the work dates are fitted to the permit weeks. We arrange it with our scaffolder.
Does Flood Zone 3 at the village centre alter how you repair a roof?
The Environment Agency's flood map puts the centre of Bekesbourne in Flood Zone 3, a classification of land and not a roofing rule. A repair or a re-roof depends on the covering, the battens, the lead and the gutters, which the survey reads one by one, whatever colour the map shows. Listings and boundaries are what can change the order of work, and those questions go to Canterbury City Council, with the reply written down before any scaffold is booked.
Should the lead round a Bekesbourne stack be replaced or dressed back?
That depends on whether the lead has cracked or only lifted. Lead flashing that is correctly installed can last for over 80 years, according to MyJobQuote, so a sound strip is dressed back into place and a cracked one is replaced. The pointing under it is read too, because a failed joint can let damp in regardless, and the quote names which of the two jobs you need. A leaning stack is a larger job, and you are told so first.
What happens during a survey of a Bekesbourne roof?
Upstairs we read the underside of the roof for light, stains and wet timber, then reach what battens we can, checking each for softness. Outside we go along the ridge, hips and valleys, then the stacks, gutters and fascias. Every part ends up stamped repair, replace or check, with photographs where they help, and the written price comes after the survey, with any council answer set beside it. A part we could not reach, such as a blocked loft hatch, is named in the write-up.
Send the Bekesbourne roof you would like checked
You'll get one written total price.