Tarvin's red-brick cottages and converted barns, and their skylights and rooflights
A village of red-brick cottages on the old street, 1960s bungalows at the fringe and converted farm buildings gives rooflight installation in Tarvin an unusual mix of roofs. Out on the open Cheshire plain each skylight is flashed with that exposure in mind.
22.9 road miles south-east of Liverpool city centre
Why is the heart of a Tarvin house so dark?
- The cottage staircaseBeside the church and along the old village street, where thick brick walls and small windows leave the stairs of a two-storey cottage dim from the first step to the landing.
- The bungalow hallA 1960s or 1970s bungalow at the village edge keeps its hall and bathroom in the core of the plan, far from any window wall.
- The converted barnUnder the high ceiling of a former farm building converted to a home, where the old openings were few and the roof is the one surface with room for glass.
Cottage staircases, bungalow halls, barn homes
Skylight installation in Tarvin spans brick cottages and farmhouses at the village centre, twentieth-century bungalows and semis, barn conversions and newer houses, and the services below suit those roofs.
- Lanterns for the rear extensions that Tarvin bungalows and semis have gained, giving a kitchen or dining room a ceiling of glass without touching the main roof.
- Village cottage and farmhouse lofts take roof windows set into slate or clay tile, with the flashing dressed to the thickness of the old covering.
- Opening rooflights over barn-conversion stairwells and tall rooms, where warm air collects and a remote-controlled unit lets it out.
- Replacement units for older extension rooflights in the village whose glass has misted inside the seal or whose frames let moisture in.
Cottages by the church, farm buildings turned to homes and bungalows at the edge
Tarvin is a village, and its roofs show how a Cheshire village grows. Around the parish church and along the old main street stand brick cottages, small farmhouses and a few larger Georgian and Victorian houses, nearly all pitched in slate or clay tile. Walls are thick, windows are modest and the rooms under the roof are often tucked behind a steep staircase. Brick was the local material across this part of Cheshire, and you see it in the chimney stacks as much as the walls.
Round that centre are the farm buildings that gave the village its living. Some have been converted into homes, and these are among the most interesting jobs for a rooflight. A former barn or cart shed has a deep roof, big timbers and very few original openings, so the new light comes from above, and the roof structure usually limits the size and position of every unit. Old purlins and trusses are left alone, which means the glass is set between them rather than in the place that looks best on a drawing.
Later decades changed the village edge considerably. Bungalows and chalet bungalows from the 1960s and 1970s take up generous plots under concrete tiles on low pitches, and in their plans the hall, bathroom and sometimes the kitchen have no outside wall. Semi-detached houses from the same decades fill in the roads off the main street. Newer estates have followed, with compact two-storey houses where the landing is the dark room and the roofs are covered in modern interlocking tile.
Chimneys give the older roofs another thing to work around. Brick stacks on the cottages near the church often rise from the middle of the ridge or the party wall, and the lead and flashing round them take up the space where a roof window would otherwise sit. The opening is set to one side, clear of the stack, and the rafters beside the flue are looked at from the loft before any cut is made. On a farmhouse with a long slate or clay roof there is usually room to do this without losing much light.
Because the village is small, one roof often differs a great deal from its neighbour. A survey, not a house-type guess, is what tells you whether a loft is a room waiting to happen, a storage space or a roof that needs a closer look at the timbers before it is cut.
Around the church and the main street
- Brick cottages and farmhouses with slate or clay tile
- Steep stairs and loft rooms under thick roofs
- Flush units chosen to sit quietly in the slope
- Planning checked with the council before quoting
Bungalows, semis and the newer estates
- Concrete tile on low pitches
- Halls and bathrooms without an outside wall
- Sun tunnels, roof windows and rear lanterns
- Usually the simplest route through planning
A village on open ground, where the roof takes the weather
Tarvin has no river mouth or coast to shape its weather. It stands on the flat Cheshire plain, with open fields on most sides and little between a roof and the wind. Rain can arrive from any quarter, and the roofs that feel it most are the ones with the biggest unbroken slope: barns, bungalows with long ridges and outbuildings at the edge of the village. Where a slope faces open country, the head and sill flashing on a roof window are given more cover than the minimum, and the fixings are chosen with that in mind.
Old clay tile and slate each need a different hand. Plain clay tiles on a farmhouse are small and hung in many overlapping courses, so lifting a patch for a new opening takes patience and a supply of matching tiles from the roof itself. Welsh slate on a Victorian house is larger and more brittle. A concrete tile on a 1970s bungalow is the easiest to handle but the heaviest, and the opening is trimmed so no weight rests on the new frame. On any of these coverings the flashing kit is chosen to fit the profile, and only then does the cutting start.
Bungalow lofts deserve a word of their own. Many were built with trussed rafters, a lightweight roof structure in which every timber carries load, and cutting one is not a casual decision. Where a roof window or sun tunnel needs to pass through, the opening is framed with a doubled trimmer so the load is carried round it. Converted barns have the opposite problem: their timbers are large and widely spaced, which gives a lot of room for glass but means the rafters beside an opening need to be inspected for the age of the wood.
Gutters and downpipes deserve a glance as well. A rooflight in a big open slope sends a good deal of water off its lower edge in a downpour, and on an old cottage that water lands on a gutter of the same age as the roof. We check that the gutter below the opening is sound and falls the right way, because a unit that is perfectly sealed can still be blamed for a leak that began at the eaves.
Access in a village like this is usually kind. Wide plots and driveways make it easy to land a lantern or erect a scaffold, though some cottages sit hard on a lane where a lorry cannot stop for long. Narrow lanes are a matter for the survey, as is the position of overhead cables, which can affect where a tower goes.
- Trussed rafters in a bungalow roof, and where a trimmer can safely go
- The age and condition of old purlins in a barn conversion
- The bond of the clay tiles, and whether spare matching ones exist
- A lane or cable that limits where a scaffold or tower can stand
- The ceiling height below, which fixes whether a sun tunnel or a window works
How Cheshire West and Chester Council and Building Control touch a Tarvin roof
Cheshire West and Chester Council handles planning in Tarvin and also covers listed building and conservation questions across the borough. Its site at cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk is where you look up whether a house is listed or inside a designated area. A village centre with a church and a long run of older brick is exactly the kind of place where such designations are made, so for a cottage near the church we confirm the position with the council before a price is set. We say nothing about a specific designation here that we have not checked.
For a standard house or bungalow the planning picture is simple. On a dwellinghouse a rooflight is usually permitted development, with the conditions explained in the guide to planning for skylights. Front slopes facing the street, which windows on the street side of a roof deals with, and buildings where the council has withdrawn the rights, are the cases that need a conversation. For a protected slope, slim flush units for a protected slope are the usual answer. A listed cottage or farmhouse needs listed building consent, and the details are on the Historic England site. A barn conversion may also have conditions attached to its original planning consent, and that is worth a look in the paperwork you received at purchase.
Before work starts we notify Cheshire West and Chester Council's building control; the rules behind that notification are covered in a separate guide.
- Survey the roof. Covering, structure and the lane outside are noted, and the unit is chosen to match.
- Price on paper. Nothing is dated until the figure is agreed in writing.
- Tell the inspector. We tell the council or the approver about the work before it starts.
- Inspection. The inspector sees the opening and the finished fit, and checks insulation values against Part L.
Asked by people living in and around Tarvin
Could the roof of my cottage by Tarvin church take a rooflight?
A cottage near the church can often take one, but the answer turns on whether the house is listed or inside a designated area. Cheshire West and Chester Council is asked before pricing, and a flush conservation unit is the likely fit on a slope that matters. The survey also covers the roof timbers and the clay tile or slate round the opening.
Is a sun tunnel better than a roof window for the hall of my Tarvin bungalow?
For a bungalow hall or bathroom lacking an outside wall, a sun tunnel is often the better choice, since it carries light through a narrow run of roof space and needs no new ceiling opening. A roof window suits a room with loft space above it. We measure the run and the ceiling height at survey, and show you which one the roof will take.
What about the barn conversion down a lane near Tarvin, with big old beams?
A barn conversion with big old beams usually has plenty of room for rooflights, since the rafters are widely spaced. The timbers set the size and position of each opening, and we check the age and condition of the wood beside it. Any conditions attached to the original planning consent on a converted barn are worth checking before we order units.
Can the old clay tiles on our farmhouse roof be lifted for a new rooflight?
Plain clay tiles are small and hang in many overlapping courses, so lifting a patch takes patience, and we use matching tiles taken from the roof itself. The opening is flashed to the tile profile ahead of any cutting, and the last stretch of rural road to a farmhouse is allowed for when a scaffold or a delivery of glass is planned.
Who deals with the council over a new skylight in Tarvin?
We do, and you fill in no forms. You will not need to contact the council yourself, because the notice goes to Cheshire West and Chester Council's building control before work starts, or to a registered approver, and whichever receives it inspects the finished opening.
Free survey
Get a fixed quote in Tarvin
- No obligation
- We survey the roof before we price
- WhatsApp or phone, whichever suits
What happens next: we arrange a survey at a time that suits you, measure the roof and the room, then send a fixed written quote. Nothing is booked until you say yes.