Where three Pennine valleys meet, and the roofs that climb them

Skylights and rooflights for Todmorden's valley terraces and converted mills

Todmorden has the look of a Victorian mill town, gathered on the valley floor, with hillside farmhouses and hamlets above. We choose the rooflight for the weather, the pitch and the person who opens it.

Calderdale Council asked about your address, including any conservation area it sits in
Deep terrace lofts: roof window or dormer weighed up room by room
Rain sensor and closing options explained for weather on the steep valley sides

26 road miles north of Stockport

Todmorden lies at the confluence of three steep-sided Pennine valleys, with moorland and gritstone outcrops all round and the River Calder and its tributary Walsden Water running through. The Industrial Revolution gathered industry and settlement along the valley floor and switched the area from wool to cotton, with the Fielden family prominent. The Rochdale Canal in 1804 and the Manchester and Leeds Railway in 1841 drove the growth. Hillside farmhouses and hamlets sit above the town, while the industrial chimneys have largely gone and the remaining mills have mostly been converted for other purposes.

Victorian mill terraces in the Pennine towns are commonly stone-built under stone slate or Welsh slate. A rooflight has to suit both the covering and the weather. At the survey we ask who will open the window, how high it sits, what the room is for and what happens when rain arrives and nobody is in. The survey is free, and the price follows it.

Rooflights for Todmorden's slopes and slate

Five choices fit the terraces, farmhouses and converted mills of the valley, from a low-profile window on stone slate to a sun tunnel over a landing.

An opening rooflight seen from below, raised on its actuator arm

Using a rooflight in the Calder Valley

A window high on a deep terrace roof is out of reach from the floor, so a rod, remote or solar motor does the opening.
On a steep valley side, a rain sensor, where the maker offers one, shuts the window if a shower comes while the house is empty.
A bedroom under stone slate wants a blackout blind close to the glass, controlled from the same remote as the window.
Outside glass on a steep slope is reached by turning the sash inwards where the window allows it, so we show you how yours moves.

Valley sides, mills and stone: Todmorden roof questions

Three questions that come up when a Todmorden terrace, farmhouse or converted mill gets a window in its roof.

In a deep terrace, is a roof window or a dormer better for the loft?

Victorian mill terraces in the Pennine towns are commonly stone-built with stone-slate or Welsh-slate roofs, and Todmorden has the look of a Victorian mill town. A deep terrace has a long roof plane, and a loft behind it can be a generous room. The question is how to light the room without losing the look of the terrace from across the valley.

The roof window

A roof window follows the slope. It is flashed into the covering, and it keeps the line of the roof as the street sees it. Inside, it gives light and a view of the sky and the hill. It is the lighter piece of building work, and several can be set in a row for a long room. Which way it swings depends on the pitch, and the page on pivot against top-hung windows explains the choice.

The dormer

A dormer is a box that stands out from the slope. It gives headroom and a vertical window, and it is a larger job. It is also a planning question of its own, and the planning guide explains where roof windows stand. We fit roof windows, and we will tell you plainly when a room really needs the dormer.

Reach and rooms

A long loft in a deep terrace may hold two rooms, and each can have its own window and its own blind, so the opening method is chosen room by room rather than once for the whole roof. Think about who uses each room. A teenager's bedroom wants a window that opens from the bed by remote and a blackout blind. A study wants glare control. The new floor must have a way to get out in a fire; the Building Regulations guide explains the test. We handle the Building Regulations notification where one is needed.

A Todmorden terrace loft, room by room

Roof: Stone slate or Welsh slate on a long plane
Window: Roof window; dormer only where headroom demands it
Opening: Remote or solar if high; rod if seldom used
Blind: Blackout in a bedroom, glare screen in a study

We are out all day and it rains. What happens if the roof window is open and nobody is in?

Todmorden sits among moorland, where three steep-sided valleys meet. An open roof window and an empty house do not mix well, so the daily-use question is how the window gets closed when you are not there.

Sensors that close for you

VELUX offers rain sensors on its electric and solar windows, and the sash then closes by itself when drops land. For a household that is out all day, it is the thing to ask for. Our page on rain sensors on rooflights explains what the sensor does and where it stops. A manual window relies on you shutting it on the way out, which is a fine habit but a fragile one on a busy morning. A remote that closes the window and lowers the blind together takes the thought out of it.

Closing it when you are in

With the family at home, rain is still a daily matter: a remote on the landing wall means nobody climbs onto a bed to shut a window, and a child in the room cannot get to the handle. That matters in a loft with a steep ceiling, where the window may sit well above head height.

Open a little, hold it there

On an exposed slope, a small opening takes less weather than a wide one. Ask about the ventilation setting at the survey, and about how the sash is held if the wind gets up. The controls matter more here than on a sheltered street, so we pick them with the weather in mind.

The roof around the window

The flashing kit carries water round the frame, and on stone slate it is worked in with the slates around the frame. We look at the slates themselves at the survey, since a slipped slate above a window can cause a leak that looks like the window's fault. Our page on roof window flashing for slate and tile explains the idea.

Short answer on the hillside

If the house stands empty by day on a steep slope, pick a window that shuts itself in rain. Keep the rod for rooms you are always in.

We live in a converted mill or an old hall. What changes for a rooflight?

Todmorden's remaining mills have mostly been converted for other purposes, and some yeomen clothiers built fine houses in the woollen era, a few of which still exist. Historic England lists the Town Hall and the Unitarian Church at Grade I, and Todmorden Hall and Stansfield Hall at Grade II*. The Fielden family were prominent when the valley switched from wool to cotton, and at one time the town had the largest weaving shed in the world.

Planning and the address

Calderdale Council has designated parts of Todmorden as conservation area, and being inside it leaves your right to add a rooflight to a house in place. What else an address carries is a council matter, so we put it to Calderdale before we quote. The planning guide sets out the national rules we work from.

If the house is listed

Where the house is listed, listed building consent from Calderdale is almost always required before a rooflight job, and it then decides the design. A low conservation-style rooflight is a likely choice on stone slate. See conservation rooflights and listed homes.

Farmhouses up the hill

Hillside farmhouses and hamlets sit above the valley-floor town. Access matters more there. A ladder is awkward on a steep track and a sloping yard, so a window that can be cleaned from inside, and a control that works without climbing, are worth more than on a flat street. We look at how you reach the roof, and the room beneath it, before we recommend anything.

Big roofs and small habits

A large roof plane over a converted mill is a different job from a terrace. There may be many rooms under it, and the window for each is chosen by use. A hallway or landing deep in the building may want a sun tunnel, which needs an opening in the ceiling for its diffuser and a clear run through the roof space. A flat in a conversion needs planning permission for a rooflight, and usually the freeholder's consent, so start with them.

Heard on a Todmorden survey

Gritstone: The hard, coarse stone that outcrops on the moorland round the town.
Stone slate: A heavy roofing slab cut from stone, laid in diminishing courses.
Freeholder: The owner of a building and its roof, whose consent a flat usually needs before a rooflight is added.
Grade I: The highest listing grade, held here by the Town Hall and the Unitarian Church.

Up the valley sides

Todmorden

The ring marks a straight-line radius from Stockport. Our own service area is measured by road, which is the measure we work to.

Does our survey reach you?

We cover all of Todmorden, 26 road miles north of Stockport, from the valley floor by the Calder to the hillside farmhouses and hamlets above.

Nearest town pages

Questions from Calder Valley roofs

Who handles planning for a Todmorden house?

Calderdale Council. We put your address to them before we quote. A registered building control approver can handle building control in its place, if you prefer it.

Will a rooflight work in a stone-slate roof?

Yes, with a flashing kit that suits the covering. Stone slates are heavy and laid in courses, so the fitter lifts and relays them carefully around the frame. We check the slates at the survey. See flashing for slate and tile.

Could a sun tunnel light a landing that has no window?

It can, if there is roof space above. A dome on the roof feeds a tube to a diffuser, which needs an opening in the ceiling. It gives daylight, with no sash to open and no view out. See sun tunnels.

Can an old window be replaced without scaffolding?

For some replacements, yes. It depends on the roof, the access and the window. We say at the survey whether it can be done from inside. See replacing a skylight without scaffolding.

How is a high window on a steep roof cleaned?

Some windows turn inwards so the outer pane can be wiped from inside. We explain how yours moves, and how to clean it, when we hand the job over. The blinds and controls page covers the rest.

Does the survey cover a hillside farmhouse as well as a town terrace?

Yes. In 1801 most people in the area still lived in the uplands, so hillside farmhouses and hamlets sit alongside the valley-floor town. The survey asks the same questions of each: the covering, the pitch, who reaches the window and what the room is for. A fixed written quote follows.

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