Biddenden · 28.3 road miles west
Roofers in Biddenden
Biddenden has 2,661 residents (2021 Census), a Grade I parish church, a Grade II* hall and a conservation area of its own, so a listed roof here raises a question about who must be asked first. Describe the trouble, with photographs if you have them, and the survey that follows separates the faults that need work now from the ones that can wait for another season.
- Two Grade I listings
- All Saints' church, first listed in 1962, and East Wing and West Wing, first listed in 1952
- Henden Hall
- Listed Grade II*, first listed on 4 June 1952
- Article 4 directions on record
- Two sit near Biddenden, so ask Ashford Borough Council about your own street
- Highway scaffold fee
- Kent County Council charges £52 per week in 2026 to 2027
One survey, three Biddenden faults, three calls
What we found
Grade I building, covering lifting
What it fairly needs
Council first, then a price.
What we found
Gap in the flashing beside a chimney
What it fairly needs
Re-seal it and re-dress it.
What we found
Underlay torn at the gutter edge
What it fairly needs
New underlay lapped at the eaves.
The fair ledger
Grade I listings, a Grade II* hall and a leaking chimney flashing
Biddenden has Grade I and Grade II* listings, a parish church and a conservation area, and each one sends a roof job down a different route. Three entries show those routes, then turn to a chimney flashing that most house owners will recognise.
Entry 01Listed roofs
East Wing, West Wing and Henden Hall: listed roofs, one council
East Wing and West Wing is a Grade I listing and Henden Hall is Grade II*. Both were first listed on 4 June 1952, and Ashford Borough Council is the body that decides what roof work they can take.
Where listing leaves a roof repair
On a listed building, roof work meets listed building consent, which applies to anything affecting the building's special character, while the permitted development rights for roofs keep running alongside it. East Wing and West Wing is list entry 1070982 and Henden Hall is list entry 1070956. Quote the number and the officer sees exactly which building is meant. Neither entry tells you what a roof there is made of or how it is failing, which is why a survey of the actual slopes is still needed before anyone proposes a repair.
Our habit is the same each time. Photographs go first, covering the eaves, verges, chimney lead and gutters, followed by our reading of each fault and the repair we would choose. Only when the council has answered in writing does a price appear. The surrounding rules are in our planning guide.
Can the old gutter on a listed Biddenden building be swapped like for like?
Replacing a gutter in the same material and profile may leave the building's character untouched, but that call belongs to Ashford Borough Council, not to us. We describe the gutter, its fixings and the boards behind it, send photographs, and wait for the answer. Only after that do you receive a written total price.
The conservation area and two Article 4 directions
Biddenden has a conservation area, which Ashford Borough Council counts among its 43. Two Article 4 directions are also on record near the village, and what each of them takes away is for the council to explain, so we would sooner ask than assume. A map lookup on your address comes first. Then comes one plain question: is there a direction over this street, and does it touch roofs?
- Your address against the conservation area on the council's map.
- The council's list of Article 4 directions, set beside your street.
- A short written reply, kept with the quote.
A reply can take a while to arrive, which is why we ask before the survey day and not after it.
Gutter sagging, board firm
Refit it as it was
Covering change proposed
Council answers first
Rafter ends soft at the eaves
Renew and re-lay
Entry 02All Saints
All Saints' Church: a Grade I roof on a different route
The Parish Church of All Saints, list entry 1070978, was first listed on 16 August 1962 and remains in Church of England use. Its roof is handled through the faculty system.
A faculty, not a planning counter
For a church used by the Church of England, listed building consent is replaced by the faculty system: permission is sought through the Church of England's own jurisdiction, and that jurisdiction, not the council, weighs the faculty application. Ashford Borough Council is therefore not the first office to approach about All Saints'. Whoever applies needs the roof described accurately, which is where a survey earns its place. A vague account, such as damp somewhere near the far end, gives whoever decides the faculty little to weigh.
We walk every reachable slope, note the lead, the gutters and the rainwater pipes, and write the findings up with photographs in an order that an application can use. Our roof inspections page sets out what a visit includes.
Myth: Any listed building in Biddenden goes to the council for consent.
Fact: A Church of England church in use is the exception, and its roof goes through a faculty.
Grade I
the listing of All Saints, Historic England entry 1070978
listed in 1962
Urgent leaks and lasting repairs
A leak that threatens the interior is a different question from a repair planned over a season. The report marks which is which, and leaves it to the church's faculty process to say which route each one needs. Where a gutter is blocked or a joint has opened, the report names it and puts the photograph beside the entry.
Nobody reading it should have to guess at what we saw. That matters on a building of this age, because every later decision rests on that first written account. It also matters to the person paying: a congregation or a committee deciding what to fund first is better served by a clear order of urgency than by a single large figure with no explanation behind it.
Stepped lead and the joint above it
Along a brick stack the lead is stepped into the mortar course by course, with a sealed joint along its top edge. If the lead has lifted at one edge but is sound, it can be dressed back and the joint re-sealed. Lead that has split, or mortar that has crumbled beside it, calls for that stretch to be renewed. Chimney stacks are small, but a failed seam on one lets the weather into the wall and the room beneath, which is why we go to it first. We look from the roof side and from inside the loft, where a damp patch beneath the stack confirms what the slope suggested.
Our chimney repairs service and leadwork service cover the stack and the lead around it. A flashing that can be saved is cheaper for you than one renewed, so a sound sheet is kept wherever it can be.
Entry 03Chimney flashing
The gap beside a chimney: flashing that has lifted or let go
Where a chimney stack rises through a slope, a strip of lead and a sealed joint keep the wall and the covering apart. When that seam opens, the damp shows in the room below.
Does a lifted chimney flashing mean a whole new roof?
No, not where the lead is still sound and the covering around it is tight. We dress it back into place and re-seal the joint, then check the work from the loft. A split in the lead, or crumbled brickwork around it, means that stretch is renewed, and the survey tells you which one you have.
- Stepped lead along the brickwork
- Sealed joint above the lead
- Soakers beneath the covering
- Flaunching at the stack top
Three signs from inside the loft
- A brown stain on the timber beside the stack.
- Daylight where the brickwork meets the slope.
- Damp insulation close to the chimney breast.
None of these needs the roof to be opened, and each helps decide between a re-seal and a renewal. A torch held along the stack at dusk shows daylight that a bright afternoon hides, and a phone photograph taken the same way gives us something to read. Send a photograph of whichever you can see and we will tell you what it suggests before anyone books a visit.
Biddenden, 28.3 road miles from Folkestone
Biddenden is west of Folkestone, about 36 minutes by road. Send a photograph and a note of what you have noticed, and a survey gets arranged for a time that fits your week. One written total price comes once the roof has been seen, so you never weigh a figure that was guessed from a distance. Mention a listing, a church or a shared roof when you write, because each of those changes who has to be asked first.
Biddenden roof questions, from listings to leaks
Does a Grade I listing in Biddenden, such as East Wing and West Wing, change a roof repair?
Grade I listing keeps the permitted development rights for roofs and adds listed building consent for work that affects the building's character. Repairing what is already there is judged differently from changing the material. Ashford Borough Council decides which side a job lies on, so photographs and our plan reach it before any price is written, and its answer comes to you in writing. The grade matters less than what the job changes.
Which body signs off a repair to the roof of All Saints' in Biddenden?
All Saints' is a working Church of England church, so its roof goes through the faculty system and not through listed building consent. The Church of England decides each faculty application itself. We can survey the roof and write up its condition, with photographs, for whoever is applying. That report is the practical starting point, and it saves anyone describing a fault from memory, which may not be precise enough for an application.
Do the Article 4 directions near Biddenden reach roof work?
We cannot tell from here what each of the two on record covers, and a guess would be unfair to you. Ashford Borough Council can say whether a direction takes further rights from your address, and it is worth asking before work is planned, quoting the house number and street. Pass us the reply and it goes into the survey notes and the written price, so the job is planned around it from the outset and nothing has to be undone.
Does a Biddenden scaffold standing on the road need a licence?
Scaffolding that blocks part of a public road is licensed by Kent County Council, which charges £52 per week for 2026 to 2027 and says the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application for you. Our own side of that is simple: we arrange it with our scaffolder. A scaffold that stays wholly inside your boundary involves no highway permit, and the survey shows which of the two applies, so you know the position before a date is fixed.
Does changing a roof covering in Biddenden need Building Regulations approval?
The Planning Portal puts the line at work touching less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof; inside both limits, an application is not normally needed. Choose a covering 15 per cent or more heavier and approval follows, with a structural check beforehand. Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team, on 01233 330282, can say how that lands on your particular house, and we will brief them if you wish.
Biddenden roof causing concern? Ask for a survey.
Afterwards you receive one written total price.