Skylights & rooflights in Chew Magna Stone cottages, Georgian fronts and the Chew Valley

Conservation area and listed roofs

Much of the old village lies within a conservation area, and a good number of the houses are listed. Bath and North East Somerset Council has the last word on listed building consent and on any limits that apply in the conservation area. A listed roof needs consent for a new rooflight whatever its size. In a conservation area the rear slope is usually easier than the front, so the plan often puts the opening unit out of sight of the street. Our planning guide covers who to ask and when.

For these roofs the natural choice is a conservation rooflight. Its narrow metal frame and single central bar lie flat with the slope and echo the old iron lights that once served barns and attics. Some open on a pole or a winding handle, and our page on whether conservation rooflights open sets out the options.

The Georgian front and its stairwell

The taller houses near the centre are another case. A Georgian front with three floors has a stairwell that works like a chimney: warm air climbs it and stops at the top landing. Where the roof allows, a window set in the rear pitch above the stair lets that air out, and the stairwell starts to draw fresh air up from the ground floor. Because the window sits at the back, the street elevation is untouched.

Roofs this old carry surprises. Rafters rarely sit where a modern drawing would put them, and a purlin may run just where you want the opening. We study the timbers from inside the loft before we draw anything, and we say plainly if two smaller units would sit better between them than one large one. Swapping a complete rooflight, frame and glass, counts as notifiable work, which the Building Regulations guide unpicks.

One more point for the oldest cottages: the ceiling height. Under a low eaves slope you may only be able to stand upright at the middle of the room, and the rooflight has to be placed where you can reach the handle without stooping. We mark the position from inside, standing in the room, before anything is cut, then pick a unit whose handle falls within reach of a person sitting up in bed. That small detail decides whether the window is opened every evening or never touched at all, and a window nobody opens does nothing for the room.

Semis, bathrooms and landings

A 1930s semi on the lanes out of the village tends to have a windowless landing with a box room beside it, and both hold the day's warmth into the night. A roof window set into the back slope over a boarded loft, gives that part of the house a way out for warm air. If the loft stays empty, a sun tunnel can still bring daylight to the landing ceiling, and some include a vent kit.

Bathrooms follow the same logic. Steam climbs, so a window high above the shower lets it out where it gathers, and a vent slot lets thin air currents run overnight. A bathroom tucked beneath a low flat roof can take a small opening unit in that roof instead.

Glazed extensions

The last group is the modern kitchen extension, often built onto the back of an older cottage. A flat roof with a fixed rooflight looks fine in the plans and bakes on a bright July afternoon. Putting a vent in that roof, through a new flat rooflight that opens or a second unit beside the fixed one, lets the heat go while the garden doors stay shut. A lantern roof can take a vent too: see the opening roof lantern page. If you are weighing a fixed pane against one that opens, this comparison lays out the trade-offs, including the rain sensor that shuts a flat unit on its own.

Whatever the house, the steps run in one order: a visit, an inspection from the loft hatch and the garden, measurements of the room, then a written quote with an opening choice against every unit. From Bristol we cover the villages close by, including Bishop Sutton and Winford. What drives the bill is set out on the costs page.

Be the roof old stone or modern glass, the question to ask is the same: where does warm air collect, and what is the easiest way to give it an exit? On a hot afternoon the answer is nearly always the highest point of the room. Once that is answered, the choice of unit, size and opening style tends to settle itself. The sections above set out the common answers for houses in the village, and the survey fills in the details of yours.