Bolsover sits 24.2 road miles out, north-north-west of town
Skylights & rooflights in Bolsover
A Derbyshire market town on a limestone ridge, with a castle above it and a conservation area covering the town centre. Planning comes first here, then the light.
A town built along a ridge of stone
Bolsover climbs a limestone ridge with a castle at the top, and the old streets follow it. Houses on a hillside catch the weather from several angles, and the roofs are where daylight can be added without touching the street front.
Bolsover, from the ridge down
Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover district in Derbyshire, with a recorded population of 11,228. It lies 24.2 road miles north-north-west of Nottingham, and its centre is a conservation area holding 50 listed buildings. The chapters below begin with the ground it stands on, then turn to planning, the road, the housing and what we usually fit. Our main page on skylight installation in Nottingham covers the service itself.
01
A castle on a limestone ridge, a river in the valley
What a hillside town means for a roof.
Bolsover stands on a limestone ridge, and the castle sits on top of it. Below the town the River Doe Lea runs through the valley, and it gave its name to a sub-stage of the Carboniferous period: the Bolsovian takes its name from a geological exposure at the Doe Lea. Vale Park lies 0.8 km from the town point, and Snipe Bog, a nature area, 1.6 km.
A ridge-top town is exposed. Wind comes at the roofs from several directions, and rain arrives sideways. That changes how we think about a rooflight, because the weather tests the flashing and the seals more than it would on a sheltered street.
Flashings and fixings on an exposed roof
On a pitched roof, the flashing kit has to match the tile or slate exactly, and it has to lap properly under the course above. We check how the existing covering is fixed at the survey. On a flat roof the frame that carries the rooflight is made tall enough to keep wind-driven rain below the glass.
Cold glass and damp rooms
Hillside homes get cold, raw mornings, and Bolsover's ridge catches more of the wind than the valley floor does, and the first surface to show it is the glass, which gathers cooking and shower moisture before any wall does. A sealed unit with a warm-edge spacer narrows the gap between pane and room. If the rooflight opens, the steam can leave. In a bathroom or kitchen ask for an opening sash for fresh air; for a landing or hall, fixed glass is enough.
The sky over the ridge is wide, so a roof opening here looks at a large piece of overcast. That is the reason a flat or low-pitched rooflight can still read bright in the dull months, provided the glazing is clean and the opening is in the right place in the room.
02
The conservation area at the heart of Bolsover
52listed
buildings recorded inside 1.5 km of the centre
50listed
of them inside the conservation area (1971)
6Grade II*
among them, the higher grade
The planning authority is Bolsover District Council. It is not Nottingham City Council, and Bolsover is in Derbyshire, so the planning questions go to a Derbyshire council, not a Nottinghamshire one.
Bolsover's conservation area and the 50 listed buildings in it
The Bolsover conservation area includes the town centre point itself. Designation dates from 17 July 1971, and 50 listed buildings stand inside it, six Grade II* and 44 Grade II. Out to 1.5 km from the centre, Historic England lists 52 buildings in all, six of them Grade II* and 46 Grade II.
Every address gets the same check. The practical result is a short list for each address: is the house listed, does the street sit inside the boundary, which slope faces the public, and which slope does not. Answering those four questions first saves a rooflight being ordered for the wrong place. A listed house cannot have a new roof opening without listed building consent. Inside the conservation area a house usually keeps its permitted development right, so what we need to know is whether your street sits under an Article 4 direction; we put that to the council before ordering.
Rooflights in protected places
A conservation rooflight is a particular product, slender and close to the plane of the roof, with thin glazing bars. Our conservation rooflights page covers the difference from a standard unit. For a listed house, or a street under an Article 4 direction, the council decides whether one is acceptable.
What Bolsover shares with every English roof
Nationally, permitted development and Building Regulations apply in the same way everywhere in England, so the detail sits on one page: planning permission for rooflights.
If the work is notifiable, the Building Control notice is sent by us, and the rooflight is built to the regulations that apply when it goes in.
03
The road in, and a railway that closed in 1951
Bolsover is about 24.2 miles by road from the city centre, to the north-north-west, and around 36 minutes' drive in ordinary traffic. Two classified roads pass within about a kilometre of the centre: the A632 and the B6419. No railway station or tram stop is recorded within 2 km.
There used to be a line. The section between Chesterfield and Shirebrook was closed in December 1951, after the state of the 2,624-yard Bolsover Tunnel, which ran beneath the limestone ridge under the castle, had got too poor to keep open. So today the van is the way to reach the town, which is how we arrive anyway.
The survey
Visits cost nothing. Our first stop is the room, to see where daylight lands and where it runs out; our second is the roof, for slope, covering, structure and drainage. The quote that follows has a single price, and the price stands.
24.2miles
by road from the city centre
36minutes
by van, ordinary traffic
Access on a hillside
Sloping streets complicate parking. We ask, when booking, where the van can stand and whether there is a route round to the back of the house that spares your hall from ladders. If the street is steep, tell us whether the back garden has a gate or steps, since that decides how the glazing is carried in.
| Suburb | Distance | Covered |
|---|---|---|
| Hillstown | 1.1 km | Yes |
| Carr Vale | 1.2 km | Yes |
Hillstown, Carr Vale and beyond
Hillstown lies about 1.1 km from the town point and Carr Vale about 1.2 km, and we work in both. The areas we cover page sets out the rest of our 30-mile road radius, from Bolsover to the villages around it.
04
Pit town, Wimpey estate and the roofs that followed
Coal mining was the major industry of the area, and it has declined across Britain as it has here. Housing grew with it. The Castle Estate, known to local people as "the Wimps", was built in the 1950s by the construction company George Wimpey.
Alongside that sit the older streets of the market town, so a single neighbourhood can hold roofs of very different ages and construction.
Post-war estate houses
In some estate houses the hall and landing have no outside wall. A sun tunnel suits that kind of space, because the tube needs an unobstructed line between roof and ceiling. We look at the loft to see whether a rigid or flexible tube fits. If the estate house has a loft room, a rear-facing roof window lights it; if the hall is the problem and the loft is untouched, the sun tunnel goes through it.
- Conservation rooflight
- A slim rooflight that sits close to the roof plane, made for older or protected buildings.
- Rafter
- An angled timber that holds up the tiles or slates.
- Grade II*
- A higher listing grade than Grade II, given to particularly important buildings.
- Sun tunnel
- A small roof dome joined to a ceiling diffuser by a reflective tube.
Older stone and brick houses
In older houses, the roof structure may be unevenly set out, and the covering may be tile or slate. We measure the rafter gaps on the survey so that a roof window sits between two rafters where it can, and we choose flashings to suit the covering.
Back rooms and extensions
Rear extensions are the other recurring case. A kitchen built out into the garden is often bright at one end and dim at the other. A rooflight over the dim end is the usual answer.
Existing rooflights that have fogged inside, or whose frames are tired, can be replaced. Whether the new unit sits on the old opening is something we judge on the visit.
05
Rooflights that suit a hillside market town
Old-town streets, post-war estates and small commercial units each point to a different product.
A lantern over an extension
Where a single-storey extension runs back from an older house, a roof lantern raises the ceiling and brings in light from several faces of glass at once. That is why it still reads bright under cloud. We size it to the room and the structure, not to a catalogue pattern.
A roof window for the loft
A roof window gives a loft room sky to look at, and a sash to open. On a house in the conservation area we look at the back slope first, and we confirm with the council before ordering.
Small commercial premises
A shop, workshop or office also falls within our service area. We survey those the same way: the room first, then the roof, then a fixed written quote.
Fitting and guarantee
Whether the work is new or a replacement, we install to current Building Regulations and handle the Building Control notification where it applies. Our workmanship carries a ten-year written guarantee.
Your survey is free, and we price only after we have seen the roof. That is how a quote can stay fixed on the day.
Bolsover homes, listed buildings and rooflights
My Bolsover house is in the conservation area. Can I still have a rooflight?
Frequently. A house in a conservation area normally keeps its permitted development right. The Bolsover conservation area covers the town centre, and an Article 4 direction can change the rules for a slope facing the road. We check whether one applies before work starts, usually aim at the back slope, and suggest a slim conservation rooflight where the building calls for one.
Is Bolsover in Derbyshire a problem for you if you are based in Nottingham?
No. Bolsover lies 24.2 road miles from the city centre, inside our 30-mile limit. The planning council is Bolsover District Council, not a Nottinghamshire one, and we deal with it directly. Nothing is charged for the visit, and it takes place at your house.
Our 1950s estate house has a dark hall. What would suit?
A sun tunnel is the usual choice for a hall or landing with no window, as long as there is a clear run through the loft. Where the stairs climb into the roof, a roof window might serve better. We look at the roof on the visit and then name one fixed price in writing.
Can you replace an old rooflight that has misted over?
Yes. A misted unit has a failed seal, which does not clear on its own. At the survey we decide whether to fit a new rooflight on the existing opening or to rebuild the upstand. The replacement carries the same ten-year written guarantee on our workmanship.