Shadoxhurst · 19.1 road miles west
Roofers in Shadoxhurst
Shadoxhurst has 1,353 residents, a designated conservation area, a Grade II* church and two Grade II buildings, the King's Head Inn and Little Criol. Before a roof there is priced we find out which of those rules, if any, reach it. Then we read the slopes, the valleys and the eaves in turn, and every finding goes into the write-up with its photograph, so each verdict can be checked against the evidence for it.
- Village church
- Grade II*, still a Church of England church, so roof works need a faculty
- King's Head Inn
- Grade II on the national list
- Little Criol
- Grade II, a separate list entry from the inn
- Shadoxhurst boundary
- A designated conservation area; Ashford Borough Council holds the map
Valley lining, hip end, inn-side roof: three Shadoxhurst faults, stamped
What we found
Lining split along the centre of a valley
What it fairly needs
Cut out and relay the lining.
What we found
Listed building, hip tiles shifted
What it fairly needs
Read the entry, then ask the council.
What we found
Board rotted through beneath the lining
What it fairly needs
New board, lining and edge covering.
Send your Shadoxhurst roof in a photograph, with the name of your lane
The fair ledger
Inn, house and church on the list, a village line, the valleys
Shadoxhurst carries three list entries and a conservation area. Each entry deals with one of those questions, names the body that answers it, and then goes up on the roof to see what the answer means for the work.
Entry 01Inn and house
King's Head Inn, Little Criol and the church: three listings, two systems
Two Grade II buildings and a Grade II* church share one village, yet the church runs on its own system while the inn and the house answer to the council.
Two systems for three buildings
On the National Heritage List the King's Head Inn is Grade II (list entry 1362673), Little Criol is Grade II (list entry 1362706) and the village church (St Peter and St Paul) holds Grade II* (list entry 1326649). The inn and the house belong to the usual listed building regime: work that alters what makes them special calls for listed building consent, and Ashford Borough Council is the authority. The church is a Church of England church in use, so it has its own arrangement, the faculty system, which sits outside the council's consent process altogether.
None of this transfers by proximity. A house across the road from the inn is not listed on that account, and a plain-looking house further out can be. The list is the only judge, so it is searched for your address ahead of the visit, and the finding is entered on the first page of the write-up whether it is a yes or a no, which gives a later buyer one less thing to ask.
If an entry turns up, the survey photographs go to the council with a plain description of the repair. Our roof inspections page shows what each write-up holds, and chimney repairs covers the stacks on an older roof and the lead around them.
Near the inn and the church
Listed roof, hip tiles shifted
Consent, then refix
Chimney flashing standing proud at one edge
Relay the flashing
Whole slope worn and leaking
Strip and re-cover
Myth: If the inn across the road is listed, so is my roof.
Fact: Listing attaches to one building at a time. Your house is covered only where the list names it.
Entry 02Village boundary
The Shadoxhurst conservation line and the Article 4 question beside it
Shadoxhurst has a designated conservation area, and which houses sit inside the line is read off the council's map, not judged from the road.
How far the village line reaches into a repair
The Shadoxhurst conservation area is designated, and its boundary is held by Ashford Borough Council, whose own count is 43 conservation areas across the borough. For a plain repair the line alters next to nothing, because ordinary re-roofing proceeds on the usual footing. It starts to matter when work is larger, which is why the line is checked before the survey rather than afterwards, when a plan may already have been drawn and a deposit paid.
A house near the edge is the awkward case. The line can follow a hedge, cross a plot or leave one neighbour inside and the next outside, so judging by eye misleads. We look at the map, and if it leaves us unsure we put the address to the council directly and wait for the answer, however long that takes, because a guess here can cost more than a delay.
Article 4 is the further check. A direction removes certain permitted development rights, and whether one covers your road, the council can say. Anything touching the roof's shape, such as a new window in the slope, is dealt with in our planning permission guide, so read that before drawing anything, and ask the council before you spend on plans.
My house is on the edge of the line: who says which side it is on?
The council's map says, and the survey reads it for your address before any work is priced. Where the edge runs through or beside a plot and the map leaves doubt, we write to Ashford Borough Council and put its answer on the quote, so neither of us is guessing.
Grade II*
Historic England's grade for the village church, list entry 1326649
Reading a valley, top to bottom
The valley is the busiest line on many a roof, since two slopes drain into it. We walk it from top to bottom. First the lining that forms the trough: is it whole, or split along the centre where it has flexed? Then the board beneath it, tested for softness, because a lining laid over rotten timber has nothing to rest on. Then the edge covering on each side, cut to follow the line and bedded or clipped, which can slip or crack.
A hip, where two slopes meet at an outward angle, gets the same treatment in reverse: the ridge or hip tiles and the way they are held down. Each defect is photographed and given a stamp, and the photograph stays attached to it in the write-up. Repair is the first resort, such as relaying a lining and leaving the covering beside it untouched. Replace is for a valley whose board has gone. Check means a closer view from the loft or from a ladder comes first, so the verdict rests on evidence.
One written total covers the whole roof once the survey is done, valleys and hips included, with the photographs set beside each stamp. Our roof replacement page covers the case where a valley is only one sign of a covering at the end of its life.
Entry 03Valleys
Valleys and hips where two slopes meet: lining, board and edge covering
A valley takes the water from two slopes into one trough, so it is read on its own, from the lining beneath the covering to the edges on either side.
What sets the price
- Number of valleys and hips affected
- Condition of the boards beneath
- Reach and access to the roof
- Whether the covering beside can be saved
One written total price
- Lining forming the trough
- Board carrying the lining
- Edge covering cut to the line
Three parts of a valley, read from the lining outwards to the edge covering.
Does a listing, the village line or a faulty valley affect your Shadoxhurst roof?
Send a photograph and your road name, and each finding comes back with its stamp and its reason before a total is named, which means you can judge the roof first and the price second.
West to Shadoxhurst
Shadoxhurst lies west of Folkestone: 19.1 road miles, about 26 minutes by road. At the 2021 Census the parish had 1,353 usual residents, spread along its lanes and around the centre. Send a photograph with the name of your lane to start things off, and the list and the council's map are checked before anyone visits. If your roof has more than one valley, say so on the form, as each is looked at separately and stamped on its own.
Shadoxhurst questions: valleys, listings, the boundary and the scaffold
Replies for the houses near the inn and the church, and for those further along the lanes and the cul-de-sacs.
How can I tell a Shadoxhurst valley is leaking and not the tiles beside it?
Look at where a ceiling stain sits against the line of the valley above it, and note whether it grows after rain, and look from the ground for a dark streak down the lining or tiles that sit unevenly beside the trough. In the loft, a damp board beneath the valley points the same way. The survey follows the water upstream to where it gets in and records it, so the quote covers the valley and not the whole slope.
Does a new roof covering in Shadoxhurst need Building Regulations approval?
Per the Planning Portal, an application is not normally required where less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. On a different test, a new covering weighing 15 per cent or more above the old is itself a trigger for approval, whatever the percentages of envelope and roof. For your own house, ask Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team on 01233 330282; we pass on what the survey found, including the covering now on the roof.
Who applies for the highway licence when a Shadoxhurst scaffold is needed?
On the highway, a scaffold needs a Kent County Council licence, charged at £52 per week for 2026 to 2027. Kent County Council's own words are that the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application for you. That is one reason we arrange it with our scaffolder. A scaffold on your own land needs none, so the survey checks where the poles will stand before a start date is offered, and any licence period is shown on the quote.
I live inside the Shadoxhurst conservation area: can a valley be repaired?
A valley repair counts as ordinary roof repair, which carries on under the usual rules. The boundary affects larger changes, and an Article 4 direction can take further rights away. We read Ashford Borough Council's map for your address first, and anything beyond a repair is put to the council, with the answer recorded on the quote so that the paperwork is complete before any work begins. If the council wants more information, we supply the photographs.
The King's Head Inn is listed: does that put my own roof on the list?
No. A list entry belongs to one building, and neighbours do not share it. Our first step is a search of the list for your address. Should your house be on it, listed building consent from Ashford Borough Council covers work that alters its character, and the survey is written with that in view. The church, in use, follows the faculty system instead, a route that has nothing to do with houses or inns.
What goes into the single total for a Shadoxhurst job?
Everything the survey found that needs doing, set against the photographs and the stamps. A repair that will hold is quoted as a repair, and a re-cover is written up only where the covering is beyond mending. The stamps are shown beside the figure. Extra faults noticed on the visit, such as a cracked gutter outlet, are included in the same figure, so a second invoice never follows. If the survey finds less than you feared, the total is lower, and the notes say why.
Shadoxhurst valley or hip giving trouble? Send a photo.
The written total follows the survey.