Heading north-west out of the city, 7.3 road miles
Skylights & rooflights in Greasley
A parish made of several small settlements, with a priory ruin at one end and a reservoir at the other. A rooflight here is a decision about one house at a time, so we start by reading the roof.
Open water to the west, woodland to the north
Moorgreen Reservoir was dug in 1794 to feed a canal and it still holds water today. Woodland, a reservoir and two named hills are recorded within a few kilometres, so where trees stand close to a house, a rooflight has to earn its light.
Greasley, one settlement at a time
Greasley is a civil parish north-west of Nottingham, home to a recorded 11,238 people. It is not one tidy centre. It is a string of places that share a parish name, each with its own streets and roofs. These chapters set out what we check before suggesting a skylight or rooflight in the parish, from the council to the trees. If you want the full picture of what we do, begin with skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
A parish of many names, and why that matters for a quote
Greasley is a parish name rather than one settlement. The parish takes in Beauvale, Giltbrook, Moorgreen, Newthorpe and Watnall, along with parts of Eastwood, Kimberley and Nuthall. Moorgreen is even known for being mistaken for Greasley itself.
For a rooflight job the practical point is simple: give us your street and postcode, not just the village name. We then know which part of the parish we are driving to and who sits behind the planning desk for that address.
Starting from the loft hatch
Greasley's parish name covers many separate streets, and we never assume one house is built like the next one along. So the first look goes to the loft and the ceiling below it. A bungalow, a semi, a farmhouse conversion and a newer estate house each hold a roof together differently. The roof tells us what is possible, and we read it at the survey.
Here is what the visit covers. We look at the room that needs the light, we go up and look at the slope above it, and we check the structure underneath: rafters or engineered trusses, how they are spaced, and how water leaves the roof. A rooflight positioned between two rafters keeps the trimming small. A roof built of trusses needs more thought, because they cannot be cut like old timber.
One quote, in writing
The survey is free. We price only once we have seen the roof, and what we write down stays put: the sum on the quote is the sum on the invoice. Whether you want a new opening or a replacement for a tired unit, the process is the same.
02
Broxtowe decides, and fifteen listed buildings sit close to the centre
15listed
listed buildings, every one of them Grade II
1343founded
Beauvale Priory, in the north of the parish
Your planning authority for Greasley is Broxtowe Borough Council. Building Control questions for the parish are handled locally too, and the notification is lodged with the district council or with a registered approver, whichever inspects the work.
Conservation areas near the middle of Greasley
There is no conservation area inside the 1.5 km ring around Greasley's middle. We still put your street to Broxtowe before a rooflight is ordered, and the check is for a listing or for an Article 4 direction, so the answer fits your own house.
Historic England also lists 15 buildings in that circle, all of them Grade II. If your house is listed, consent is needed before anyone cuts into the roof. A listed neighbour does not change your own permitted development right, though its setting would count if an application were ever needed. A listing is about the building, not the street: it does not make the roof next door protected, but it colours how a planner reads a request, which is why we raise it early. Where a house is listed, the council gets the first word and the order comes second.
The priory in the woods
To the north, at the edge of High Park Wood, stand the remains of Beauvale Priory. It was founded in 1343 and is described as one of only nine Carthusian monastic houses built in England. It is a reminder that this ground has been worked and built on for a very long time, and that old buildings here deserve care.
What belongs to Greasley, and what does not
Nationally, the permitted development conditions and Building Regulations for a new rooflight do not change from town to town. They are written up on our planning permission for rooflights page, which we keep current. What belongs to Greasley is local: the council, the listing check, and whether the work needs notifying. If it does, we make the notification and fit the unit to the regulations in force.
03
Water, woods and the roof that sits beneath them
Moorgreen Reservoir, Colliers Wood and Misk Hill, as a roofer sees them.
West of High Park Wood lies Moorgreen Reservoir. It was built in 1794 to supply the Nottingham Canal, the Canal and River Trust owns it, and it now feeds the Erewash Canal. D H Lawrence used it as a setting in two novels, calling it Willey Water in one and Nethermere in another.
Around the parish you will find Beauvale Jubilee Park about 1.3 km out, Colliers Wood at 1.2 km and Watnall Spinney at 1.7 km, with Misk Hill rising 2.7 km away. It is a green part of the county, with hills and woodland close by.
Shade changes the brief
Tree cover is the first thing we weigh. A skylight looks up, so a tall oak or a wall of woodland across the road can cost a south-facing slope much of its sky. In a house like that, we compare slopes, and sometimes the better answer is a wider, flatter unit on a different face of the roof. We also suggest looking at the room from inside at the darkest time of day, because a window that feels fine at noon may be dim by three in the afternoon in winter.
Leaves, moss and gutters
Trees shed on a roof. Leaves bank up against the flashing of a roof window and hold moisture there, and moss follows on a shaded slope. On tiles or slate we use the flashing kit made for that covering so water runs past the frame, and a flat rooflight goes on an upstand tall enough to hold ponding below the glass.
Light under a wooded skyline
Where trees stand close to a house, the low winter sun may reach its roof for only a few hours. That is exactly the season Robin plans around. A rooflight judged only on a bright June day can disappoint in December, so we ask when the room feels darkest and size the opening for that hour.
04
Reaching you by the B600 and B6010
By road, Greasley is 7.3 miles out, heading north-west, and the drive comes to about 18 minutes behind the wheel. The classified roads close to the middle are the B600 and the B6010. No rail or tram stop lies within two kilometres of the middle of the parish, so we arrive by van and you do not need to plan around a timetable.
What a survey visit involves
We keep the order simple. First we look at the room and the light, where you sit and where the day gives out. Then we go up and check the roof. Then we measure for the opening and talk through the choices: fixed or opening, one unit or a pair, tile or slate flashing.
For older cottages and farm buildings, we look at what sits above the ceiling too. Thick beams, ties and old insulation all shape where a window can go. If a sun tunnel would reach a dark landing where a roof window cannot, we say so.
Should access be unusual, such as a long drive, a steep path to the back or a flat roof reached only through the house, mention it when you book. It changes how we plan the day and the equipment we bring.
Cleaning is part of the choice. A unit you can reach from a stepladder on the landing stays clear far more easily than one that needs a ladder outside, and we say so when we mark the position.
7.3miles
of road out from the city
18minutes
behind the wheel
05
What tends to suit the houses of Greasley parish
No single product fits every Greasley house, so we never start from a catalogue. We work out from the dark room.
Three common answers
Three products come up most often. A roof window in a loft bedroom or a shower room, a sun tunnel for a landing or internal bathroom, and a flat rooflight or roof lantern on the back of a flat-roofed kitchen or garden room. We decide after the survey, and the choice follows the room, not a catalogue. The full list of towns and villages we serve sits on our areas we cover page.
- Upstand
- The kerb on a flat roof that lifts a rooflight clear of ponding.
- Flashing
- The shaped collar that seals a roof window into tiles or slates.
- Diffuser
- The translucent disc in the ceiling where a sun tunnel's light comes out.
New opening or replacement
Where a unit has failed, fitting a fresh one into the same opening usually beats cutting a new hole, and it leaves the ceiling and roof structure as they are. Cutting a fresh opening is a different job: it alters the structure, so it normally needs Building Regulations approval, which we arrange. Either way we back the work with a ten year written guarantee.
Questions we hear from Greasley parish
Which council do I contact about a rooflight in Greasley?
Planning in Greasley is Broxtowe Borough Council's responsibility. Most new rooflights on a house are handled under national permitted development rules, and the only things that take them away are a listing, a flat, or an Article 4 direction; conservation status by itself leaves them in place. We check your address with Broxtowe before ordering and arrange the Building Control notification if the work calls for one.
Our house is surrounded by trees. Is a rooflight still worth it?
Often yes, but the position matters more than the size. We stand in the room, look up at the slopes and judge which one sees the most sky across the year. A wider, flatter unit on a clearer face can beat a larger one under branches. The free survey settles it before we quote.
Do you cover Giltbrook, Newthorpe, Watnall and Moorgreen?
Yes. All of those places sit inside Greasley parish and inside our 30 mile road radius, so we survey them without charge. We come to your home and look at the room from the inside. A street and postcode in your message helps us find the right roof.
Can a rooflight replace an old one that has misted?
Usually, yes. A misted unit has lost its seal, and the glass will not clear itself. Whether the whole rooflight comes out or a new unit goes onto the old opening depends on the frame and upstand. The survey answers that, and the price follows in writing.