Kirkby-in-Ashfield, 13.9 road miles to the north-north-west
Kirkby-in-Ashfield: skylights and rooflights fitted and replaced
A town that doubled down on coal and railways, then filled up with Victorian rows and newer estates. Plenty of back kitchens and landings here never see a bright day in winter.
Coal pits and rail junctions made the place
Kirkby-in-Ashfield was once an important centre of coal mining and railways in west Nottinghamshire, with three working mines and several junctions. The town expanded rapidly in the Victorian era, and plenty of its rooms still wait for better light.
Kirkby-in-Ashfield, from pit town to roof ridge
Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town of 21,285 people at the 2021 census, and part of the wider Mansfield urban area. We begin here with the council and the church conservation area, because some of its old farm buildings are listed and need consent first. Then come the Victorian houses, the roads and rail, the parks and lake, and the products we reach for. For the overview of what we do across the county, see skylight installation in Nottingham.
01
Ashfield decides, and the church area is protected
The planning authority for Kirkby-in-Ashfield is Ashfield District Council. It is the same council that covers Hucknall, so a Kirkby survey and a Hucknall survey follow the same route, but each street gets looked at on its own.
St Wilfrid's and Kirkby Cross
The area around St Wilfrid's Church is designated as a conservation area. It is made up of former farm buildings in local stone, and some of them are listed. Cutting a new opening into a listed roof calls for consent first, and inside a conservation area the usual house right still applies unless an Article 4 direction takes it away. We confirm both points with the council before ordering anything for an address in or beside that part of town.
Another recorded area, Kirkby Cross, lies about 1.29 km from the centre point. It was designated on 5 June 1975, and the 16 listed buildings inside it are all Grade II. It sits away from the modern centre, and for an unlisted house inside it the usual rooflight right stays in place unless an Article 4 direction applies. Historic England records only four listed buildings, all Grade II, near the middle of the town.
16listed
buildings inside Kirkby Cross conservation area
4Grade II
Grade II listings recorded near the middle
The rules that do not vary
Permitted development and Building Regulations are national, and we keep them in one place: planning rules for rooflights, explained. What changes with Kirkby is the local layer, and that is what we check.
If Building Control has to be informed, we send the notice ourselves, so no forms land on your mat, and the finished work is built to the regulations in force.
02
A Victorian boom, and new homes planned
The town expanded rapidly in the Victorian era. Fast growth tends to leave repeating rows, and over the decades owners add to them with a back scullery, a bathroom or a lean-to kitchen. In houses like that the added rooms are where the dark ones usually turn up.
The story did not end there. The North Kirkby Gateway Project aims to create new homes and commercial units, so the town has Victorian growth behind it and new building planned. Houses of every age sit side by side here, so the roof over your head, not the street, tells us what to plan.
The back addition
A rear scullery or bathroom, often under a low lean-to or flat roof, usually has a small window or none. A flat rooflight over it gives the room daylight without touching the wall. Read about flat roof rooflights for the way a raised frame keeps water off the glass.
- Lean-to
- A single sloping roof attached to the back wall of a house.
- Truss
- A factory-made triangle of timber that forms the roof frame in newer houses.
- Membrane
- The waterproof sheet covering a flat roof.
- Sill
- The lower edge of a window opening.
The steep rear slope
A roof space that has been boarded out into a bedroom or study wants a window that opens. A window set into the back slope looks over gardens and takes the light from the whole sky. In the grey months a bigger pane usually matters more than a bigger sill, because the light is soft and has to travel.
Windows that open or stay shut
In a small room the choice between a fixed pane and an opening one matters. Fixed glass costs less to build and leaks less air, while an opening window clears steam after a bath and lets stale air out. A kitchen or bathroom usually earns the opening kind. A landing can manage with fixed glass.
Newer homes
Recently built roofs are usually framed with factory trusses, and trusses cannot simply be cut. If you are in one of these homes we check the framing before any opening is priced, since the structure decides where a window can go.
Choosing for an old roof or a new one
A Victorian roof and a recent one ask different things of the same window. Hand-cut rafters can be trimmed round an opening and the frame sits tight between them. A factory-trussed roof needs the opening planned between members, which often means choosing a slimmer or narrower frame. Which suits the room better? We lay the two options side by side at the survey, with the light each one brings to the floor and the work each asks of the roof.
A narrow window in a roof that cannot be cut can still brighten a room more than a wide one placed badly. The position matters as much as the size, so we mark it on the slope before anything is ordered.
03
Two stations, two B roads and the drive in
From the city centre, Kirkby-in-Ashfield lies 13.9 road miles away in the north-north-west, a 25-minute run in the van with clear roads. The B6020 and the B6021 are the two classified roads nearest the middle of town.
The town has its own railway station, 0.6 km from the middle, and Sutton Parkway station is 1.6 km out. Kirkby Bentinck station, 2 km away, is closed. None of that changes how we reach you, since we come with the glazing and ladders by road, but a town with a working station is a town with an easy way out for work.
Booking the free survey
Surveying costs you nothing. We stand in the room first and then go up to the roof, to see the covering and how it is framed. Our written quote comes afterwards and holds on the day, with no extras added. When booking we ask about parking for the van and how the ladders will reach the back of the house, which saves a delay on the day itself.
13.9miles
road distance from the city
25minutes
in the van, roads clear
0.6km
to Kirkby-in-Ashfield station
Beyond the town
Kirkby falls well inside the area we work, as do the villages around it. The areas we cover page has the full list.
04
Parks, a lake and the Erewash Valley edge
Open ground nearby changes how a roof weathers.
Kirkby lies on the eastern edge of the Erewash Valley, which divides Nottinghamshire from Derbyshire. Water is close: Victoria Lake is the named water close to the centre. Green space is even closer. Morven Park is 0.3 km away, Kingsway Park 0.6 km, West Park 0.7 km, Sorrel Drive Park 0.9 km and Portland Country Park 1.3 km. Bentinck Banks Nature Reserve lies 1 km out and The Lawn Nature Area 2.7 km.
Trees and tiles
Streets near parks collect leaves and seed. On a pitched roof the debris settles above a roof window and slows the run-off, so the flashing has to be fitted with enough upward lap to cope with water backing up in a downpour. On a flat roof it lodges against the kerb. We note on the survey which trees overhang the roof, and we set the kerb height to suit.
Condensation on the coldest pane
In a kitchen or bathroom the glass is the coldest surface, and breath and steam settle on it first. A glazing unit with a good edge spacer keeps the inner pane warmer, and a window that opens lets the damp out. Together these stop the droplets that otherwise run down the frame and stain the plaster.
Light from a low sun
From October to March the sun barely clears the rooftops. Skylights that face open sky, over a garden or a park, gather more of that thin winter light than ones squeezed beside a neighbouring gable. Where we have a choice of slope, we lean towards the one with the widest view of sky.
05
What we reach for in streets like these
Our choice depends on the dark room. We list the three jobs we see most in a place with this kind of housing.
The room behind the kitchen
A scullery, utility or small extension needs light that does not rely on a side window. A roof lantern is the grand version, with glass on all sides, and a flat rooflight is the plainer one. Both can be built to the room, and both can replace an old unit that has gone cloudy between the panes. On the survey we look at whether the existing opening can be kept, because reusing it saves cutting the roof again.
A loft you want to use
Where a roof space has been boarded and insulated for a bedroom, a roof window brings sky and fresh air. We position it so you can see out when you are sitting, and we fit the flashing to your tiles or slates.
Walk-on glass for a terrace or flat roof
Some flat roofs double as a terrace or a lightwell over a basement. A walk-on rooflight lets daylight pass down while you stand on top. These are specified for the load they carry, and we deal with that on the survey.
Each job is covered by a written workmanship guarantee lasting ten years, and we tell you plainly after the survey whether replacement or a new opening makes more sense.
On the doorstep in Kirkby: your planning questions
My house is near St Wilfrid's Church. Does that change anything?
It may. The area around the church is a conservation area and some of the old farm buildings are listed. Ashfield District Council is the authority, and we ask them about your address before a rooflight is ordered. A listed building needs consent for a new opening, and in the conservation area an Article 4 direction is what we check for.
Can a window be added to a back bathroom with a flat roof?
Usually the answer is a flat rooflight over the room, raised on a kerb so rain runs clear. Some bathrooms also suit a small opening unit for steam. We check the roof's construction on the survey, then give you a price in writing that does not move.
We live in a newer home on a recent estate. Is that harder?
Not harder, just different. Newer roofs are often built from factory trusses, which cannot be cut like old rafters. We check the framing first and choose a size and position that works with it. If the structure needs a trimmer, it is included in the written quote.
Do you only cover the town centre?
No. We work in Kirkby-in-Ashfield and across the whole 30-mile road radius of Nottingham. Surveys happen at your house, since we have no showroom to visit.