29.3 miles west-south-west of the city centre, on the Staffordshire edge
Skylights & rooflights in Burton upon Trent
A Staffordshire market town on the west bank of the Trent, right against the Derbyshire border, with a centre packed with protected streets. It sits at the outer edge of our patch, and a visit here is worth planning carefully.
A brewing town with a famous by-product
Beer made Burton, and one by-product of the brewing industry is the Marmite made in a factory here. The town was also home to the Thornewill and Warham engineering works, and keeps the restored Claymills Pumping Station. Each roof beneath that skyline gets the same winter sky.
Burton upon Trent, from the Washlands up to Winshill
Burton upon Trent, also called Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire. People who live here are Burtonians, and about 76,000 of them are recorded. It is a large town with a busy planning picture: five conservation areas lie within a kilometre of the middle, and a sixth is a little beyond. The sections below take the planning first, then the industrial past, the lie of the land, the roads and the suburbs. Our general introduction is at skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
Five conservation areas around the town centre
East Staffordshire Borough Council is the body to ask. For a Burton address it decides whether conservation-area or listed-building rules come into play.
The records show a cluster of designated areas close together. The one that takes in the middle of the town is catalogued as Burton Nos 2 and 3, and it holds 70 listed buildings: one at Grade I, four at Grade II*, sixty-four at Grade II and one with no grade entered. George Street, 0.22 km away, was designated on 12 December 1988 and holds eight Grade II buildings. Station Street and Borough Road, 0.43 km out, dates from 21 January 1999 and has twelve listed buildings, eleven at Grade II and one ungraded. Horninglow Street and Guild Street, 0.47 km away, was designated on 14 May 1990 and holds five Grade II buildings. Clarence Street and Anglesey Road, 0.92 km out, has two Grade II buildings. King Edward Place, 1.12 km away, holds four, but it is probably a neighbouring settlement.
One hundred and twenty in all
Across the wider area round the centre, Historic England records 120 listed buildings: one Grade I, five Grade II*, 111 at Grade II and three without a recorded grade.
| Area | Distance | Designated | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burton Nos 2 and 3 | Covers centre | n/a | 70 |
| George Street | 0.22 km | 1988 | 8 |
| Station Street, Borough Road | 0.43 km | 1999 | 12 |
| Horninglow, Guild Street | 0.47 km | 1990 | 5 |
| Clarence St, Anglesey Rd | 0.92 km | n/a | 2 |
Which rules apply to you
If your house is listed, a new rooflight needs listed building consent, and we hold the order until it is granted. If it stands in a conservation area, the ordinary freedoms for a house roof usually still apply unless the council has removed them; where an application is needed, the slope that faces the street is looked at with care. We ask East Staffordshire first, and we aim for a flush unit on the rear. The conservation rooflights page and the national planning permission for rooflights guide explain the principles.
02
Brewers, engineers and a Victorian pumping station
Burton built its name on beer, but the town made more than beer. Thornewill and Warham was set up here in 1740 as a metal hardware and industrial metalwork maker, and later became an engineering firm that turned out steam engines and railway locomotives. The brewing trade even gave rise to the Marmite factory. On the north side of the town, Claymills Pumping Station survives as a restored Victorian sewage pumping station, next to the modern sewage works.
All this history leaves a mark on the buildings. The history shows in the buildings, and in practice it means this: expect a wide mix of ages, forms and roof structures, and expect that some buildings have changed use more than once.
Small commercial jobs
We take on small commercial work as well as homes, and a workshop or office with a flat roof and a dim middle space can be lit from above. A flat rooflight with a proper upstand can light a workshop floor. How those are built and sized is set out under flat roof rooflights.
- Flat rooflight
- A glazed unit set at a very low pitch on a raised upstand, usually over a flat roof.
- Upstand
- The raised kerb on which a flat rooflight sits, built up from the roof deck.
- Trimming
- The extra framing that takes the load of any timber cut for an opening.
Converted buildings
If a former works or warehouse is now flats, note that flats and maisonettes sit outside the permitted development rights that cover house rooflights. So confirm the position with the council before assuming a rooflight is straightforward. We do this as part of the survey, and we explain what we find in plain terms.
Structure first
A Victorian or older roof in brick-and-timber construction usually shows its structure clearly from the loft. We read it, mark where the openings could go and say which rafters would need trimming. That is the basis for a fixed price.
03
A valley-bottom town with hills at its edges
What the lie of the land does to the light and the weather.
The town centre stands on the western bank of the River Trent in the bottom of a valley, at an average height of about 50 metres above sea level. Winshill rises to 130 metres and Stapenhill to 100 metres. Within the first kilometre and a half you will also find The Washlands, only 0.3 km from the centre, and Stapenhill Gardens at 1 km.
Roofs at different heights
A town that climbs from 50 to 130 metres has roofs at several levels, and the higher ones see more weather. Fixings, flashings and the height of a flat rooflight's upstand are decisions we weigh for each roof. A roof in the valley bottom and a roof on the edge of Winshill do not face the same wind.
50m
average height of the town centre, in the valley bottom
130m
height reached by Winshill, on the rising ground
Light in a valley
In a valley bottom the low winter sun can disappear behind rising ground early. When direct sun is blocked or hidden by cloud, a room depends on diffuse light from the sky overhead. A rooflight lets that in over the whole ceiling instead of from one wall, which helps most in the dim hours either side of noon.
Water and the river
The Trent and the Washlands bring damp air into the town. In winter, moisture from the kitchen and bathroom settles on cold glass first. Choosing a good glazing unit with an insulating edge reduces how much forms. Our pages on energy-efficient rooflights compare the options.
Keeping the roof clear
Trees near the parks drop leaves and seeds on roofs, and a flat rooflight collects them at the upstand. We leave enough height there for water and debris to stay below the glass line.
04
The A5121, the A38 link and the station
Heading west-south-west from the city centre, you reach Burton after 29.3 road miles and roughly 40 minutes behind the wheel in ordinary traffic. That sits right at the edge of our 30-mile limit, so we are exact about how the roads work.
Seven classified roads pass within roughly a kilometre of the centre: the A444, A511, A5189, B5008, B5017, B5018 and B5416. The A5121 carries traffic through the middle of the town and joins the A38, A5189 and A511. Burton-on-Trent railway station is 0.9 km from the middle and open, though we come by van.
Planning a long-range survey
For a farther town we arrange the visit carefully. A few messages beforehand save a wasted trip. We ask whether the house is listed or in a conservation area, what type of roof it has, which room needs the light and where a van can park. In central streets near the conservation areas, parking can be tight, so we ask early.
29.3miles
by road, at the edge of our 30-mile range
7roads
classified roads within about a kilometre of the centre
On the day
The survey costs nothing. We look at the room, then the roof, then the loft or ceiling void beneath it. A written quote follows, and the figure is fixed. There is no showroom visit, because we come to you.
Staffordshire, not Derbyshire
Burton is in Staffordshire, close to the Derbyshire border, and we work across county lines routinely. The council that matters is the one that holds your address, which here is East Staffordshire. Our areas we cover index shows the rest of the map.
05
Stapenhill, Winshill, Anglesey and the rest
Burton is made of districts that were once separate. The five urban parishes of Burton upon Trent, Burton Extra, Horninglow, Stapenhill and Winshill were merged into a single parish in 1904. The localities recorded around the centre are Stapenhill and Anglesey at 1.1 km, Winshill and Eton Park at 1.7 km, Shobnall and Brizlincote at 1.8 km and Horninglow at 2.4 km. We cover all of them.
What suits which kind of house
Each district has its own mix of houses, so here is how we think about it. In central and older streets, the rear slope is the first choice for a roof window, and in a conservation area a slim, flush unit also suits an older roofline. In the suburbs, a deep extension at the back of a house suits a roof lantern or a flat rooflight. In a hall, landing or bathroom with no outer wall, a sun tunnel brings in daylight from a small opening.
Replacing instead of adding
Where an old unit has misted, leaked or stiffened, replacing it in the existing opening is often a smaller job than cutting a new one. We say at the survey which applies. All of our workmanship comes with a written ten-year guarantee, and if the work needs notifying to Building Control, we make that call.
Commercial and domestic
A small shop, office or workshop is as welcome as a house. The approach is the same: the room first, then the roof, then the price, in writing.
Burton homeowners: protected streets and long-range surveys
Which council decides on a rooflight in Burton upon Trent?
East Staffordshire Borough Council is the planning authority. The centre sits within a cluster of conservation areas, so for any older house near the middle we confirm the position with the council before an order goes in. If the work is notifiable, we send the Building Control notice ourselves.
I live in a converted works building. Is a rooflight simple?
Not always. Flats and maisonettes do not carry the same freedoms as houses, and a converted building may be listed or in a protected area. We check the status first and explain it plainly. If a rooflight is possible, the survey sets out the options and the fixed price.
Is Burton too far out for you?
No. It is 29.3 road miles from the city centre, just inside our 30-mile limit. We come to you for a free survey, and we ask a few things beforehand, such as listed status and parking, so the trip is useful.
Can a rooflight light a workshop or small unit?
Yes. A flat rooflight over the work area brings in even daylight without taking up wall space. We check the structure and agree the size at the survey. Small commercial jobs are as welcome as homes, and the quote is fixed in writing.