Clowne, 29.3 miles north-north-west, right at the edge of our range
Skylights & rooflights in Clowne
A Derbyshire mining town on limestone and clay, with Victorian terraces built for pit families and a small conservation area at its centre. Terraces like those are often dim at the back in winter.
Valleys with cliff-like sides, cut by meltwater
Between Clowne and Creswell, the ground drops into steep valleys that the locals call grips, shaped by meltwater as the last Ice Age ended. The same limestone and clay, watered by springs, lies under the whole of the parish. With that much water in the ground, a roof here earns its keep.
Clowne, read from the roof down
Clowne, a town and civil parish, belongs to the Bolsover district of Derbyshire. The 2021 Census counted 7,755 people. At 29.3 road miles it is one of the furthest places we go. The five chapters ahead begin with the Victorian terraces, then cover the limestone setting, the council and the protected areas close to the middle of town, the old railway and the roads, and the products we would suggest. For everything else we do, see skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
Rows built for mining families
The housing with the clearest history in Clowne is also the most useful to us. At the end of the nineteenth century, rows of Victorian terraced houses were built here for the mining families. During the Industrial Revolution the town grew very fast, swallowing the neighbouring villages of Hickinwood and Markland as it became a mining town.
If your house is one of those terraces, here is what that tends to mean for a rooflight.
The back slope does the work
A terrace has a front facing the street and a rear facing a yard or garden. The front slope is the one neighbours and passers-by see, and a row of identical roofs looks best left alone. The rear slope, or the roof of a back addition, is where new daylight normally goes. Set in the rear pitch, a roof window lights the bedroom or the landing without changing the street.
Narrow, deep and dark
Terraced homes are often narrow and deep. The middle rooms and the stairs are a long way from any outside wall, so they stay dim in winter. A sun tunnel or a roof window above the stairwell sends light to the middle of the house, where a wall window never will.
- Back addition
- A narrower wing built off the rear of a terrace, often a kitchen or scullery, with its own lower roof.
- Stairwell
- The space above the stairs, a good spot for daylight to reach the middle of a terraced house.
- Diffuser
- The ceiling panel on the lower end of a sun tunnel, which spreads the daylight into the room.
Older timbers
Victorian roof timbers were cut to suit each house, and the gaps between them can vary. On the survey we measure those gaps and pick a window size that sits between two timbers where we can. Slate and old tile also need checking, because a new window must seal against a sound covering. Around the opening the slates come off in careful courses and go back over new flashings, so the roof keeps its look from the street. A November survey also shows at once where old slates have slipped or the felt beneath has perished, which we would rather deal with now than find in March.
An older terrace can take a rooflight perfectly well. Checking these things is the reason the survey exists. We climb up, note the condition of the slates or tiles, check how the ridge and the party walls run, and mark out the opening. If a terrace has a shared roof void with the neighbours, we find that out before anyone starts, and we plan the work so it stays within your own roof.
02
Magnesian limestone, springs and an exposed edge
Why the ground matters to the sky above it.
1,825acres
of limestone and clay, watered by springs
7,755people
counted at the 2021 Census
Clowne lies near the southern end of the band of magnesian limestone that runs south from Durham to the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire border. The parish covers 1,825 acres of limestone and clay, watered by numerous springs. Hollinhill and Markland Grips, the valleys with near-vertical sides, lie between Clowne and Creswell. The named green space of Barlborough Country Park lies 1.3 km out from the centre.
Land with many springs is likely to be damp, and that is why we think about water first on a Clowne job.
Damp air, cold glass
In wet weather the air inside a house is heavy as well, and cooking and bathing add to it. Moisture finds the coldest surface, and in most rooms that is the glass. Glazing with warm-edge spacers stays nearer to room temperature. A rooflight that opens, or one with a trickle vent, gives steam a way out.
Wind across open ground
Whatever the wind does, the parts that keep a rooflight dry are the flashing and the upstand, so we match the flashing to your slate or tile, and build a flat-roof upstand high enough to keep standing water away from the glass.
Stone and slate
If your roof is slate, the new window's flashing is dressed under and over the slates around it. We check the slates nearby on the survey and tell you what we find.
03
Bolsover District Council and four protected sites
Clowne belongs to the Bolsover district, so the local planning authority is Bolsover District Council. Nottingham City Council does not decide here. We start with Bolsover.
One conservation area in town, three near it
The planning data shows a conservation area named Clowne, designated on 4 April 2005 and covering the centre point of the town. Five listed buildings are recorded inside it: two Grade II* and three Grade II. Three other areas lie just over a kilometre out. Elmton with Creswell Farmsteads (designated 10 July 1991) lies 1.05 km off and holds one listed building. Southgate House (8 November 1989) lies 1.16 km off with two. Markland and Hollinhill Grips (10 July 1991) lies 1.17 km off and holds none. Each takes its name from farmsteads, a house or a valley rather than the town.
Seven listed buildings fall inside a 1.5 km circle drawn round the town centre, two at Grade II* and five at Grade II.
| Area | Distance | Listed buildings |
|---|---|---|
| Clowne | Centre | 5 |
| Elmton with Creswell Farmsteads | 1.05 km | 1 |
| Southgate House | 1.16 km | 2 |
| Markland and Hollinhill Grips | 1.17 km | 0 |
Reading the table
The first row is the only area that covers the centre. If your house is in the middle of town, in the older streets, we confirm your status with Bolsover before a rooflight is ordered. If you are further out, the others are a reminder to ask, not a restriction on you.
The national conditions that decide whether an application is needed are in our planning guide to rooflights. Where Building Control needs telling, we send the notification for you.
04
Two closed stations and a name with a spelling history
Clowne once had two railway stations, and the map marks both as closed: Clowne South, right at the town centre point, and Clowne and Barlborough, 0.1 km away. The names themselves changed over the years. Both began as Clown, without the final letter. One was later renamed Clown and Barlborough, then Clowne and Barlborough, while the other became Clowne South.
It is a small piece of local history, and it is also a practical fact: there is no train service to the town today, so we arrive by van.
The roads
The A616, the A618, the B6417 and the B6418 are the numbered roads nearest the middle of town. The M1 is also near, and so are the Creswell Crags, which are the only verified example of Palaeolithic cave art in the UK.
29.3miles
out from the city centre
40minutes
by van, traffic allowing
4roads
classified, close to the centre
Getting here and the survey visit
Clowne is 29.3 miles from the city centre by road, to the north-north-west, and a drive of around 40 minutes. That is close to the edge of our 30-mile reach, so we agree the visit with you beforehand and plan it as a proper trip, not a pop-in.
The survey is free. We look at the dark room first, then at the roof, and we put a price on paper only after both. That price is fixed. When we book, we ask about parking and about a route to the back of the house, because terraced streets can be tight.
Towns further south, nearer Nottingham, are listed on the areas we cover page.
05
The short list of what we would fit in Clowne
With terraces, back additions and older roofs in mind, three products cover the dark rooms we are asked about.
Roof window on the back slope
Bedrooms and loft rooms suit a roof window set in the rear slope, which lets in sky and opens for air. Because it faces away from the street, it keeps the front of a terrace as it was.
Sun tunnel for the middle of the house
On a deep terrace the landing, the stairs and an inside bathroom can sit with no outside wall at all. The sun tunnel is the gentle option: a small dome outside, a mirror-lined tube, a diffuser in the ceiling. The opening it needs is modest, which suits delicate old timbers.
Lantern or flat rooflight for the back kitchen
A back addition that has been widened or extended is likely to have a flat roof. Over it, a roof lantern, or a big flat rooflight in a plainer frame, gives the room daylight the yard window never could.
Replacing instead of adding
If a rooflight is already there but has gone cloudy, or its frame no longer closes well, putting a new unit into the existing opening may be the neater answer. We say so after the survey. The work is covered by our ten-year guarantee on workmanship, in writing.
Clowne: what people ask first
Is my Clowne terrace in the conservation area?
It may be. The conservation area named Clowne covers the town centre point and holds five listed buildings, and three more areas lie a little over a kilometre out. Give us your address and we check it with Bolsover District Council before ordering. Inside it, a house has its Class C right, except where an Article 4 direction applies.
Our terrace stairs are dark. Is there a fix that does not mean changing the roof much?
A sun tunnel may be what you want. It needs a small round opening, a short tube and a ceiling diffuser, and it can run through a loft to the stairwell. We check the roof timbers and the loft on the survey, and quote the option that suits.
Is Clowne really inside your area?
Yes, though only just. Clowne is 29.3 miles away by road, which is inside our 30-mile range. We agree the visit with you beforehand, the survey costs nothing and the quote that follows is fixed in writing.
Will a new rooflight cope with a long wet winter?
It will if it is flashed and sealed properly for your covering. We match the flashing to your slate or tile, set flat-roof rooflights on a tall upstand, and fit it to the regulations in force. The workmanship carries a ten-year written guarantee.