24.3 road miles to the west-north-west, up the Derwent
Skylights & rooflights in Belper
Nail-makers' houses, textile mills and a conservation area with over 200 listed buildings. Belper is a steep, handsome town in the Derwent valley, and a good place to think hard about a roof.
From nail-making to mill town
Belper was a centre for nail-making from the Middle Ages, and then one of the first mill towns of the Industrial Revolution. Some of the nail-makers' houses still stand. The roofs above those small rooms have kept their own habits of light and damp.
Belper, from the nail-makers to the mills
Belper is both a town and a civil parish, in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, in the valley of the River Derwent, about seven miles north of Derby, with 19,076 people on the record. The parish also takes in Milford and the hamlets of Bargate, Blackbrook and Makeney. We begin with how we reach it, and move through the housing, the heavy planning record, the hills and the products. If you want the whole service in one place, skylight installation in Nottingham is the page.
01
Getting to you: four roads close by, and the station a few steps from the middle
Reaching Belper means 24.3 road miles out from the centre of Nottingham, heading west-north-west, and around 37 minutes at the wheel. That is toward the far end of the area we serve, and we mention it plainly so you know we take it into account. Four classified roads pass within about a kilometre of the middle of town: the A517, the A6, the A609 and the B6013. Belper station stands barely 0.2 km from the centre point.
The hamlet of Blackbrook, 3 km west of the town on the A517 Ashbourne road, is part of the same parish.
How we plan the trip
On a longer run we bundle the visit sensibly. The survey is the first call and there is no charge. We look at the room and measure it, then go up to see the roof and the loft above. When the quote is written, it is a fixed figure, so the mileage is already inside it and cannot grow later.
A town on the side of a valley can have narrow streets and steep drives. Please tell us at booking where a van can stop and how far it is to the back of the house. A long carry changes the plan for ladders, and we would rather know in advance.
24.3miles
of road, west-north-west of the city centre
37minutes
of driving, in average traffic
4roads
classified, within about a kilometre (A517, A6, A609, B6013)
The villages round about
Milford, Makeney and the other places in the parish are all covered. Every other place we serve is named on the areas we cover index. Belper, Milford and the hamlets of Bargate and Makeney all sit in the same parish, and for planning they share the one council, so a single conversation covers them. Tape the planned opening onto the ceiling first.
02
Nail-makers' cottages and the cotton mills
Belper began as a centre for nail-making, a trade that goes back to the Middle Ages. In the early Industrial Revolution it grew into one of the first mill towns, with several textile mills built beside the river. Two of them survive, the large East Mill and the smaller North Mill, preserved as within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. Some of the nail-makers' houses still stand too, and they feature in local walking tours.
The history shows a town built up over centuries for people in very different trades. A roof of real age may carry an old covering and hand-cut timber, and we treat it as one.
An old roof asks different questions
On an older roof, the first question is whether it has the strength for an opening. We inspect the timber from the loft and look for sagging, previous alterations and damp. The second is the covering. Old slate and tile come in their own sizes, and a modern flashing kit must match the material and the profile.
Small rooms, deep darkness
Cottage rooms are small, and a single small rooflight can change one considerably. A narrow staircase lit from above is a different place from a dark one. So is a back bedroom whose only window looks onto a wall, or a pantry that has never had any daylight at all.
Seen from the lane or the back garden, a rooflight in an old slate roof should lie close to the covering, in a frame no wider than it needs to be, so the roofline stays much as the nail-makers left it. Belper's hillside roofs take the weather on the roof first, so we look at the gutter line and at how a neighbour's roof sheds water across the joint before we settle on a position. Where cottage rows stand tight together, ladder access is often along a shared passage, so we agree the route with you at the survey.
- Flashing
- The shaped collar of metal or rubber that seals a roof window into the slates or tiles around it.
- Rafter
- One of the sloping timbers that hold up a traditional roof. Rooflights are framed between them.
- Roof covering
- The outer skin of a pitched roof, such as slate or clay tile.
03
Amber Valley, a World Heritage setting and more than 200 listed buildings
Belper falls under Amber Valley Borough Council for planning. It is the council we speak to about your address.
The heritage record here is long. The Belper and Milford conservation area takes in the town centre point and dates from February 1975. Inside it are 210 listed buildings: one Grade I, fifteen Grade II* and 194 Grade II. Cast the net 1.5 km wide and Historic England counts 168 listed buildings: 155 at Grade II, eleven at Grade II*, one at Grade I and one with no grade on file. The town also forms within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
Reading the numbers against your own house
The numbers are large, and each address is checked on its own. A home can be unlisted and still stand inside the conservation area, where we look for an Article 4 direction before planning anything. We establish which of these applies to you before we propose anything.
For a listed building, a new rooflight needs listed building consent, applied for separately. Before we cut anything in a house like that we agree with the council what will be seen from outside, including the size of the frame and how the glazing bars will look.
210listed
buildings inside the Belper and Milford conservation area
168listed
buildings around the centre in all
1975
year the conservation area was designated
Amber Valley's part, and where the rest is written
The conditions that apply across England sit in planning permission for rooflights. Where Building Regulations approval is needed, we arrange it through Amber Valley Borough Council or a registered approver, whichever the job calls for.
04
The Derwent valley and the hills above the town
A steep site, a lot of water, and the winters that come with both.
Belper sits in the valley of the River Derwent. Hills rise on either side: Pinchom's Hill and Firestone Hill are both 1.7 km from the centre and Bessalone 2.2 km. In the middle of the town, the Memorial Gardens are 0.1 km away, Belper Parks 0.5 km and the River Gardens 0.8 km. Wyver Lane Nature Reserve is 2.1 km off. Open ground like this gives the town room to breathe.
Sheltered, but not for light
Hills on either side can shorten a winter day, because the sun has more ground to clear before it reaches a house low on the slope. Whether that applies to you depends on where you live. So we do not assume: we look from the street and from the roof at what stands between your room and the sky.
| Place | Distance |
|---|---|
| Memorial Gardens | 0.1 km |
| Belper Parks | 0.5 km |
| Belper River Gardens | 0.8 km |
| Pinchom's Hill | 1.7 km |
| Wyver Lane Nature Reserve | 2.1 km |
Water and slope
A steep site means rain runs off roofs fast and gutters carry heavy loads in a storm. We make sure the flashing around any new opening sends water down the slope towards the gutter. Valley damp also feeds moss, which tends to gather at the lower edge of a rooflight unless the surround is built to shed water.
05
Which rooflights suit a Belper house
Listing settles the first decision. After that, the room does, and in a town of this age the two are rarely far apart.
For the slope that shows
On a street-facing slope in the old town, a flush unit with a slim frame that sits low in the slate keeps the roofline quiet, and it is the usual choice where listed building consent is needed. To the eye it is part of the roof, not an addition to it. Our page on conservation rooflights goes through sizes and how the glazing bars are used.
For a room in the roof
A cottage with a room under the slope will take a roof window on the rear. The rooflight should be sized to the rafter spacing so the existing timbers are disturbed as little as possible, which is a measurement we take in the loft before any order is placed.
For a staircase or a passage
Terraces and cottages can have a narrow stair that never sees daylight. A small rooflight at the top lights the whole flight. Where a loft sits in the way, a sun tunnel can carry the light past it.
Replacing what is there
A house may already have a rooflight that has clouded inside the glass or let in water at the edge. If the opening is sound, a new unit goes where the old one was and the covering around it is left undisturbed. We can replace it, often on the same opening, so the roof around it is left alone. Workmanship on any fitting carries a written ten-year guarantee.
On roofs, rules and a steep valley
Does the World Heritage Site stop me fitting a rooflight in Belper?
Belper forms part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, and its centre is a conservation area. Neither is a ban on rooflights. We ask Amber Valley what applies to your address and tell you before anything is ordered.
My terraced cottage has a very dark staircase. What suits it?
A small rooflight at the top of the stair is the usual choice, because light then falls down the full flight. With a loft above the landing, a sun tunnel offers another route. We check which your roof will take on the survey, and we say whether the house is listed.
We are 24 miles out. Do you still come?
Yes. Belper is inside our road radius from Nottingham. The survey is free, the quote afterwards is fixed and the distance does not change it. We come to you, as we have no public premises.
Can an ageing rooflight be swapped without disturbing the slates around it?
Often, if the opening and frame beneath are sound. We fit the new unit on the existing opening so the surrounding covering stays as it is. We confirm on the visit, because a poor frame or a leak into the timber would change the plan.