Balderton sits 21.3 road miles east-north-east of the city centre
Balderton skylights and rooflights
One of the biggest villages in Nottinghamshire, built along a turnpike road and now joined on to Newark. Old roads, a pump works and new estates give Balderton roofs of very different ages.
A road built in 1767 to get round the village
London Road was laid down in 1767 as a turnpike bypass for the Great North Road, which then ran straight through Balderton. One of the coach houses that served the traffic still stands, now a public house. Roads shaped this place, and they still decide how we get to a job here.
Balderton, read from the old road outwards
Balderton is a Nottinghamshire parish, large enough to count among the biggest villages in the county, and it now adjoins Newark-on-Trent. Its parish had 9,917 residents at the 2021 census. This page takes the village in five parts: the pump works that made its name, the planning position under Newark and Sherwood, the road and rail around it, the open land beyond the houses, and the products that suit its roofs. Our skylight installation in Nottingham page covers the service overall.
01
A pump works, a turnpike and the houses that grew around them
In 1901 Simpson and Company opened a pump manufacturing works in Balderton. The firm became Worthington Simpson in 1917 and, from 2001, Flowserve Pumps. The pumps it makes are used in the chemical, water and pharmaceutical industries.
The road gave the village its first life. London Road was built in 1767 as a turnpike to take traffic round the Great North Road, which ran through Balderton on its way north. A former coach house on that route is now a pub.
What that means for the roofs
A village with a long road, a century of factory work and new estates has a mixed housing stock. The type of house on your street only shows on the survey, because the same village can offer a tight attic and a deep extension within a few minutes of each other.
Fernwood and the new edge
Fernwood is a new housing estate close by, and another site in the area is earmarked for housing. New-build roofs are usually trussed, with factory-made frames that need extra support if a rooflight is cut in. We study the structure from the loft first, then fix the opening to suit it.
New Balderton
New Balderton is a neighbourhood about 0.9 km from the village centre. We cover it as we cover the rest.
02
Newark and Sherwood decides, and a conservation area covers the centre
5listed
buildings inside the Balderton conservation area
8listed
Historic England entries in the outer ring
1992designated
year the Balderton conservation area was set up
For any planning or Building Control question about your house, the authority is Newark and Sherwood District Council. It is a district council, not a borough, and it is a separate body from Nottingham City Council.
What is recorded in the village
The Balderton conservation area takes in the village centre point. It was designated on 17 March 1992 and contains five listed buildings: the Grade I building plus four more of a lower grade. Pull back to a 1.5 km radius and Historic England has eight entries in total, one Grade I and seven Grade II.
Just beyond, the Newark conservation area lies 1.57 km from the village point. It belongs to the neighbouring town, and its 356 listed buildings are well outside what we are describing here. A house on the Newark side of Balderton is checked against that boundary as well.
Cutting a hole in a roof
Three things can change the answer for a rooflight: a listing, an Article 4 direction, or a house divided into flats. A listing means separate consent for the new opening. A conservation area on its own usually leaves a rooflight within permitted development, but an Article 4 direction can take that right away. We ask Newark and Sherwood about your address before a rooflight is ordered, and tell you what they say, so nothing is ordered on a guess about your particular house and street.
Planning exemptions for householder rooflights, and the building rules behind a new roof opening, are gathered on one page: our rooflight consent guide. Where notification is needed, our submission goes to Building Control and the installation follows the regulations of the day.
03
The A1, the main line and the stations we do not use
By road, Balderton is 21.3 miles from the city centre, east-north-east, and the drive usually takes around 34 minutes. Two classified roads run close to the village, the A1 and the B6326. The A1 is the descendant of the Great North Road that once ran through the village centre.
The East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh crosses the parish to the north of the village. The nearest stations are Newark Northgate, on that line, and Newark Castle, on the Nottingham to Lincoln line. Neither is within 2 km of the village centre, so we come by van.
The survey, step by step
It costs nothing. We start in the room that needs light and see how it feels at the worst time of day. Then we climb to the roof and read it. A written quote follows, with a fixed price that stands until the job is finished.
On busy main-road streets there may be little parking. When we book we ask about the approach, and whether the back garden can be reached without carrying anything through the hall.
21.3road miles
driving in to Nottingham centre
34minutes
drive time at ordinary traffic
Choosing between village and edge
Whether your street is new or old, we ask about access when we book. Either way, we plan the delivery of glass and frames so that it does not block the neighbours.
Further reach
We work well beyond Balderton, out to a thirty mile radius around Nottingham. The full list is under areas we cover.
04
One named hill, a conservation park and a roof in the weather
Where a roof is exposed, the weather reaches every slope.
Beacon Hill rises 2.4 km from Balderton's centre, with Beacon Hill Conservation Park beside it at 2.7 km. How exposed a roof is affects how it behaves through the year.
A roof with little shelter takes weather from every side. Wind pushes rain under any loose edge, sun and frost cycle the seals, and long wet spells keep the surface damp. None of this stops a rooflight being a good idea, but it does shape how we fit one. At the survey we look at the roof edge facing the open side, since that is where an old flashing or a lifted tile shows its age first, and we tell you if it needs dealing with before a new opening is cut beside it.
Fixings and flashings
We follow the maker's instructions for fixing, on the covering you have, and use the full set of clips and screws. Flashings overlap so water runs over each joint. On a flat roof, the membrane is carried up the upstand and sealed, and the finish falls away from the opening.
Light under flat grey skies
The sky in an open landscape is wide, and in the dull months it is even and soft. A rooflight takes advantage of that: it faces the largest piece of sky the house has. In a kitchen with garden doors, a long flat rooflight over the table lights the centre of the room, where side light fades.
Keeping glass clear
Mist inside the pane means the sealed unit has failed. It is a common reason to replace an older rooflight, and often the new unit fits on the existing upstand without further work. We tell you at the survey whether that is possible. On an open roof like that, we check the flashing kit is rated for the pitch and set the upstand a little higher, so wind-driven rain has further to climb before it finds a joint.
05
What tends to suit the houses here
We choose the product from the room and the roof, never the other way round. Three situations are worth looking at first.
A kitchen diner or extension
Rear extensions are common wherever new estates and older houses meet. A deep room under a flat roof stays dim in its middle. A long glazed panel or a roof lantern over that middle band brings daylight from above. A lantern draws light in from several faces, which helps on overcast days.
- Lantern
- A glazed crown standing on a flat roof, taking light from every face.
- Kerb
- The raised frame round a flat-roof opening, on which the rooflight is seated.
- Sealed unit
- The factory-made double-glazed pane, with a gas gap and sealed edges, inside the frame.
A loft room or a top-floor bedroom
Where a loft room is already in use, a roof window supplies daylight and a way to air the space. We help you pick the size from the roof pitch, the position of the rafters and where you want to see out.
A landing, bathroom or hall
An inside bathroom or a stair with no window can use a sun tunnel. A shallow dome on the roof feeds a mirrored tube that ends at a ceiling diffuser.
New or replacement
We fit new openings and replace existing ones. For a replacement, the survey tells us whether the old kerb or frame can stay. Clear the floor under the opening beforehand, so measuring and protecting the room takes less time.
Booking
Fill in the form on this page, or message WhatsApp on 07880 284133, naming the room and the street, and we will book the visit. A ten-year guarantee on the workmanship comes in writing, and the quote is fixed after we have seen the roof.
Balderton: Newark, the old road and your roof
Does Balderton come under Newark and Sherwood or Nottinghamshire County?
For planning and Building Control on a house, the authority is Newark and Sherwood District Council. We check your address with them before ordering anything. If Building Control must be told about the job, we do the telling, and the rooflight is built to the rules in force.
My house is near the centre. Could it be in the conservation area?
Possibly. The centre of the village lies inside the Balderton conservation area, which holds five listed buildings. From the street alone the boundary is hard to read, so we ask the council. Inside the area, a house still has its permitted development right for a flush rooflight on the front or back slope (side slopes carry their own glazing rule), unless the district has made an Article 4 direction.
Our extension kitchen is dark in winter. Where should a rooflight go?
Above the darkest stretch of floor, usually halfway between the garden doors and the hall. We mark it out on the survey, stand where you sit and look up. A panel or lantern there lights the full width of the room.
How far out do you travel for a survey?
Balderton lies 21.3 miles by road out, comfortably inside our range. You pay nothing for the survey, and we visit your house, because we have no showroom. A fixed written quote follows.