Roofers in St Nicholas at Wade
6.6 road miles from Margate. Roof repairs, re-covering and leadwork for St Nicholas at Wade homes, quoted as one written total after your roof has been looked at and photographed.
- Thanet planningThanet District Council decides planning applications here.
- Designated 1972St Nicholas at Wade conservation area, designated 28 January 1972.
- Thanet building controlThanet's own Building Control team, 01843 577522.
A listed forge, a Grade I church and a boundary of 1972
Forge House
Forge House and the forge joined to it carry the same June 1971 listing date, both Grade II.
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas is Grade I and its Church of England congregation still worships there, so roof works go by faculty.
Twenty-two entries
Historic England lists 22 entries within 500 metres of the centre, a village of 879 residents.
Parish of 879 residents
The listing record behind a St Nicholas at Wade survey
| Council | Thanet District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Thanet District Council's own Building Control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | St Nicholas at Wade, designated 28 January 1972 |
| Population, 2021 | 879 (St. Nicholas at Wade parish) |
| From Margate | 6.6 road miles, about 12 min |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 22, National Heritage List |
| Grade II, first listed 1971 | Forge House and the forge beside it |
| Grade I, first listed 1963 | Church of Saint Nicholas |
Two Grade II forge buildings share a June 1971 listing date, the church is Grade I from October 1963, and Thanet District Council dates the conservation area to January 1972.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Thanet District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Forge, church and conservation line
St Nicholas at Wade roofs under a listed forge, a Grade I church and the 1972 line
Three chapters on the listed forge and church, on the two separate tests a re-roof meets, and on the notice periods and wind averages behind a scaffold here.
Chapter 01 of 03
Forge House, the forge beside it and the church
St Nicholas at Wade is 6.6 road miles west of Margate, about 12 minutes by car, and its heritage record opens with a smithy. Forge House and the building joined to it, entered as Forge Adjoining Forge House to the Right, were both first listed on 25 June 1971 and both sit at Grade II. Grade I status belongs to the Church of Saint Nicholas, which entered the list on 11 October 1963. Historic England's National Heritage List has 22 entries inside a 500 metre radius of the middle of the village, and the 2021 Census counted 879 usual residents in the parish.
Consent under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 is the requirement for any works touching a listed building's character, so a roof job on Forge House or its neighbour begins with the entry rather than a quote. Covering, ridge, stack, flashings and gutters all belong to what the entry protects. A repair that copies what is already there is the easy case to explain to a council. A change of material, or a moved stack, is the hard one.
The church works to different rules. Services of the Church of England still take place at Saint Nicholas, and a building in that use sits outside listed building consent under the ecclesiastical exemption, so repairs need a faculty instead. The Roman Catholic Church, the Methodists, Baptists and United Reformed Church each keep their own approval procedures; listed building consent, by contrast, is required for Unitarian and Quaker meeting houses and for any church that has passed to the Churches Conservation Trust. For an owner the useful point is who decides, which is worth asking before a scaffold date is set. The conservation area is a second layer on top of the list, taken up in the next chapter, and a house can sit in one without sitting in the other.
On any listed roof our roof inspections work comes first: every slope, valley and stack photographed and sent to you, alongside a list of anything needing attention first, so the survey and the written price rest on the same evidence. If the stack is the weak point, the chimney repairs page explains the work, and we match existing materials unless you and the council agree otherwise.
Checking a listed roof, in order
Find the entry
Open the National Heritage List entry for the address, if there is one.
Photograph the roof
Every slope, valley and stack, from the road and from above.
Name the route
Listed building consent, a faculty, or neither, depending on the building.
Describe the job
The written work matches the entry, so the application and the roof agree.
Chapter 02 of 03
Two tests, one conservation area line from 1972
Two separate tests meet a St Nicholas at Wade re-roof, and passing one tells you nothing about the other. The Building Regulations test is about the work itself. Thanet District Council runs its own Building Control team on 01843 577522 and refers owners to the Planning Portal. In that test, affecting less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof normally means no application at all. A covering heavier by 15 per cent or more brings approval into play.
The planning test is about the place. Thanet District Council records the St Nicholas at Wade conservation area as designated on 28 January 1972, and the planning dataset places it within about 0.75 km of the village centre. Thanet's table lists 27 areas in the district, and this village is in it. Land in a conservation area is article 2(3) land under the General Permitted Development Order, and the conditions that follow for roof windows are in our roof window planning guide.
For a plain re-covering, section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 puts outside the definition of development the works that make no material difference to how a building looks. Thanet's own conservation-area page points the same way for like-for-like jobs, calling them a lesser risk for planning permission, though the council has the last word for each address. Flats follow other rules: the permitted development rights are written for dwellinghouses, a term that leaves out any building containing flats, so any outside change to a flat in St Nicholas normally means an application. If the house is listed as well, that consent route is settled first and everything else is described to fit it.
Article 4 directions are made by a council to withdraw permitted development in a named place. Thanet's list sets them in Pegwell and Ramsgate, plus the marina extension, and St Nicholas at Wade is not named. New directions can follow, so confirm the position for your own address with Thanet District Council. In practice we start from the boundary map and the weight of the covering, because those two answers decide whether the council needs to hear about a job at all.
Chapter 03 of 03
Notice periods and 9.86 knots of Manston wind
On a village street the scaffold goes up before the roof comes off, so the paperwork has to move first. A scaffold on the highway needs a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and Kent County Council is the authority. Kent County Council's page puts the scaffolding company in charge of the application, filed on the owner's behalf, and the council asks for 5 working days between application and start, renewals included. The charge for 2026 to 2027 is £52 per week, with the applicant holding public liability insurance of £5 million or above.
The table below sets the main conditions side by side. Kent County Council also wants at least 1.2 metre between scaffold and carriageway and night lighting on any part standing in or within 45 cm of the carriageway, and it adds a £78 inspection charge where it thinks a visit is required.
Skips come under a separate permit, priced at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, and the notice is the same 5 working days, with 3 days for a renewal. If the skip stands on a footway, Kent County Council wants a 1.5 metre wide pedestrian walkway kept clear. Skips stay at most 5 metres by 2 metres. We plan the loads so the skip is filled and removed in step with the stripping of each slope.
Dates are fixed in a set order. The survey decides the size of the scaffold, the scaffolder applies to Kent County Council, the permit arrives, and only then is a start day agreed with you. Each evening the slope we are working on is closed in, and the update you get each day covers progress and the next step.
Wind shapes the scaffold and the roof alike. Met Office averages for Manston, 1991 to 2020, give a mean wind speed at 10 metres of 9.86 knots, rising to 11.21 knots in January. Think of them as a description of the station, not your garden, and as averages rather than a forecast. They explain why fixing specifications follow BS 5534 and the exposure of the particular site, and why the working day starts with a look at the forecast.
| Item | Condition |
|---|---|
| Scaffold licence | Apply 5 working days ahead |
| Scaffold to carriageway | 1.2 metre clear of carriageway |
| Skip permit | Apply 5 working days ahead |
| Skip size | No more than 5 m by 2 m |
Source: Kent County Council scaffold and skip terms
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around St Nicholas at Wade
West of Margate, near the village
St Nicholas at Wade sits in Thanet District Council's area beside Sarre, Monkton and Minster, so a roof job here uses the same planning authority, the same Building Control team and the same Kent County Council licences, whichever village you start from.
Forge, church and conservation area questions
My house is near the listed forge in St Nicholas at Wade: is my roof treated as listed too?
No. A listing attaches only to the building its entry names, and Forge House and the forge beside it have entries of their own. Your house is listed only where it carries its own entry; separately, it may sit inside the conservation area designated on 28 January 1972. We check both against your address before any price is given.
Who decides about repairs to the Church of Saint Nicholas roof?
The church is Grade I, and the Church of England's congregation there keeps it in use, a status that places it outside listed building consent. Repairs go through the faculty system instead. We mention the route so nobody assumes the church's rules apply to a house nearby.
Is there an Article 4 direction in St Nicholas at Wade?
Thanet District Council's list places Article 4 directions in Pegwell, in Ramsgate and in the Ramsgate Marina extension, and this village is not named. A council can add new ones, so we suggest putting your address to Thanet District Council before anything outside the house changes, and we raise the same point at survey.
How do I get a skip onto the road outside a St Nicholas at Wade house?
The company supplying the skip applies to Kent County Council for the permit, at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, with 5 working days' notice. The skip can be at most 5 metres by 2 metres, and on a footway the council wants a 1.5 metre wide walkway kept clear. We time the skip with the stripping so it does not sit idle.
Which Building Regulations tests apply to a re-roof here?
Thanet District Council's Building Control team, on 01843 577522, sends owners to the Planning Portal. The Planning Portal's check asks how much is affected: under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof usually means no application. Swapping to a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval, so we note the weight of both.
Have us look at your village roof
Photos, or a visit, and we will look over your St Nicholas at Wade roof; one written total follows.