Roofers in Shepherdswell
18.4 road miles from Margate. Roof work for Shepherdswell cottages, inns and village houses, with listing, the conservation area and Dover's rules checked before any figure is written.
- District planningPlanning: Dover District Council.
- Village conservation areaShepherdswell conservation area, within 0.75 km.
- Inspected by DoverBuilding control run by Dover District Council.
Three 1987 listings, one conservation area and two older directions
1987 listings
St Andrew's church, the Bell Inn and the Bricklayers' Arms were all first listed Grade II on 28 May 1987.
Village area
The Shepherdswell conservation area lies within about 0.75 km of the centre, so your street is checked against Dover's map.
Two directions
Dover's dataset holds two Article 4 entries here, dated 1978 and 2005, and Dover District Council confirms what each removes.
Shepherdswell with Coldred
A Dover District village with 13 listed entries close by
| Council | Dover District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Dover District Council's own building control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Shepherdswell |
| Population, 2021 | 1,839 (Shepherdswell with Coldred parish) |
| From Margate | 18.4 road miles, about 28 min |
| Parish residents, 2021 Census | 1,839, Shepherdswell with Coldred |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 13, National Heritage List |
| First listed 28 May 1987 | St Andrew's; Bell Inn; Bricklayers' Arms |
The parish figure of 1,839 residents covers Coldred as well as the village, and the village itself has 13 listed entries within 500 metres, so many roofs here need the list entry read before the ladder goes up, and the photographs we send show why.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Shepherdswell, church to kerb
Shepherdswell roofs, from three listings in one day to the licence on the road
Three chapters on the church and inns listed in 1987, the conservation area and the two Article 4 entries, and the Dover rules and Kent permits behind a village re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
Three Grade II listings, all dated 28 May 1987
Shepherdswell has three Grade II listings that share a single date. The Church of St Andrew, the Bricklayers' Arms and the Bell Inn were all first listed on 28 May 1987. The National Heritage List puts 13 listed entries within 500 metres of the village centre, and the parish, joined with Coldred, had 1,839 usual residents at the 2021 Census. The grade and date of first listing sit in each entry, and the entry numbers, 1049052 for the church, 1069987 for the Bricklayers' Arms and 1051096 for the Bell Inn, let you look each one up yourself. For anyone planning a roof job the consequence is practical: the list entry gets read before the roof gets climbed.
Listing protects the whole building, roof included, and under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 works that alter a listed building's character need listed building consent. That consent attaches to the listed building itself, so a neighbouring cottage that is not on the list does not need it for its own roof, although it may fall inside the conservation area described in the next chapter. Large buildings such as a church or an inn carry long runs of gutter, ridge and flashing (the thin metal strip sealing a roof against masonry), and every length of them is part of what was listed.
St Andrew's remains an Anglican parish church in use, so under the ecclesiastical exemption its repairs go through the faculty system rather than through listed building consent. The faculty application is made by the church, not by the roofer. Our part is to describe what is on the roof accurately and to price what the faculty permits. A Catholic, Methodist, Baptist or United Reformed building would answer to its own denominational scheme, while the Churches Conservation Trust, the Quakers and the Unitarians are dealt with through ordinary listed building consent, and a scheduled monument needs a consent of its own.
On a listed roof we match the covering, ridge, lead and any mortar to the existing roof unless the council agrees a change with you, and we photograph each slope and stack so the application and the work describe the same thing. Our lead roofing and chimney repairs pages go further into those two details, from how lead is dressed where a slope meets a wall to how flaunching is renewed round the pots.
Chapter 02 of 03
The conservation area and two older directions
The Shepherdswell conservation area is mapped within about 0.75 km of the village centre on the national planning dataset. Dover District Council reports 57 conservation areas across its district, and its conservation page explains that within a boundary certain normally permitted work, building roof dormers for example, can need permission. The council holds the boundary and the designation details, so whether a particular Shepherdswell street is inside is confirmed by address and not assumed from the name of the village.
A conservation area counts as article 2(3) land under the General Permitted Development Order, which removes permitted development for roof dormers. The re-covering of a house falls outside that exclusion. For dormer and roof window conditions, see our roof window planning guide. Under the Order's definition, a building divided into flats is not a dwellinghouse, so a converted house has no householder permitted development.
Myth
Living in a conservation area means no roof repair can be done without an application.FactDover says rights such as building roof dormers can be lost in a conservation area, so each job is confirmed by address.
Myth
Both Article 4 entries near Shepherdswell are about roofs.FactThey are titled as directions of 2005 and 1978. What each removes is for Dover District Council to confirm.
Source: Dover District Council; GPDO 2015 Sch 1 Pt 1
Dover's published dataset holds 2 Article 4 entries around Shepherdswell. One is titled Article 4(1) Direction No. 1 2005, made under the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) Order 1995. The other is Town and Country Planning Direction No. 3 1978, made under the 1977 General Development Order. A direction takes chosen rights away inside a mapped boundary, and what each of these two removes is for Dover District Council to confirm for your address.
The same page adds that roof alterations can fall under a direction where the roof faces a road, a waterway or an open space the public can use. At the survey we note which slopes face the road, because that is the part Dover's wording singles out. Dover also lists directions confirmed in other places, among them Nelson Street in December 2017, Dour Street from July 2017 and Middle Street in Deal, an Article 4(2) direction of 1 March 2000. Kingsdown's direction, confirmed on 5 September 2016, is a further Dover example, and like the two Shepherdswell entries it reaches only its own mapped area. If the survey finds your house inside a boundary or a direction, the quote letter names the area and the consent route in plain words, so you can see what is being assumed before you agree to anything.
Chapter 03 of 03
Dover's approval wording, the scaffold and the weather
Dover District Council runs its own building control team, and its guidance on what needs approval is firmer than the national test. Dover lists a new roof covering, pitched or flat, as approval work even where it matches what is there, and a Shepherdswell address follows Dover's page, so we settle the route with the council before the quote. Elsewhere in Kent that line is not Dover's to impose, which is why it is attributed to Dover by name and nobody else.
Where no district wording exists, the Planning Portal's test applies, and under it a re-roof usually proceeds without an application while it touches less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof. If a new covering is heavy enough to raise the weight by 15 per cent or more, the same test calls for approval, and Approved Document A speaks of "more than 15%". A chimney breast taken out always needs Building Regulations approval, and Dover's party wall page gives two months as the notice before work starts, and the neighbour can agree an earlier start. Private building control predates the 6 April 2024 registration scheme, so a registered approver can be used instead of the council.
The scaffold licence on a Shepherdswell road comes from Kent County Council under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, applied for by the scaffolding firm 5 working days ahead; the charge is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, and an inspection, if called for, is £78. Kent County Council's highways line, 03000 41 81 81, answers questions before anyone applies. A skip in the road has its own permit at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, no larger than 5 metres by 2 metres. Under Kent County Council's conditions, 1.2 metres must stay clear between the poles and the carriageway.
Manston, a Met Office climate station in Thanet, averaged about 613 mm of rain a year over 1991 to 2020, with a mean wind of 9.86 knots at 10 metres and 110.05 days a year of 1 mm or more of rain. Air frost came on 21.43 days a year. These describe Manston, and under BS 5534 the fixings on a Shepherdswell roof are set for the exposure of that particular house.
| Check | Figure |
|---|---|
| Building envelope affected | less than 25 per cent |
| Roof affected | less than 50 per cent |
| Weight added by a new covering | 15 per cent or more needs approval |
| Scaffold licence notice | 5 working days |
| Gap, scaffold to carriageway edge | at least 1.2 metres |
Source: Planning Portal; Kent County Council
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Shepherdswell
Out from Shepherdswell to Eythorne, Aylesham and Nonington
Eythorne, Aylesham, Nonington and Whitfield sit under the same Dover District Council, so its wording on re-covering applies in each, though conservation areas and listings differ village by village.
Shepherdswell listings, directions and permits
Does my Shepherdswell roof need listed building consent if I live beside the Bell Inn?
Consent attaches to a building that is itself listed. A neighbouring cottage that is not on the National Heritage List does not need it for its own roof, though the conservation area may still matter. We check the list entry and Dover District Council's map for your address, then tell you which case you are in before a price is written.
Is my street inside the Shepherdswell conservation area?
The national dataset places the conservation area within about 0.75 km of the village centre, which does not settle a particular street. Dover District Council holds the boundary and confirms it by address. If your house is inside, the survey notes it first, because it changes which permitted development rights are available.
Which Article 4 direction applies in Shepherdswell, the 1978 one or the 2005 one?
Dover's dataset holds both: Direction No. 3 of 1978 and Article 4(1) Direction No. 1 of 2005. What each removes, and for which properties, is for Dover District Council to confirm. Its page adds that a direction can catch roof alterations on a slope facing a road, a waterway or land open to the public.
Do I need Dover's approval to re-tile a Shepherdswell roof with matching tiles?
Dover District Council counts a replaced roof covering as approval work, matching or not, so yes, the route is confirmed first. Owners may appoint a registered approver in place of the council's own team. That decision is made at the survey, before any dates are fixed, and you are told which route applies to your address.
Who arranges the skip permit when waste goes on a Shepherdswell road?
The skip company applies to Kent County Council, which gives 5 working days as the notice and charges £45 per week for 2026 to 2027. A skip should be no longer than 5 metres or wider than 2 metres. Dover District Council does not issue it, and we time the waste to keep the skip's stay on the road short.
Shepherdswell roofs: look first, price second
Call 01843 305243 or send a photograph of your Shepherdswell roof; after the survey you receive one written total.