Kirkburton and Highburton: stone houses, mill history, hill roofs

Kirkburton skylights and rooflights for a hillside village of stone, mills and newer estates

Kirkburton is a village named after its church, and Highburton was built on the hill. We fit rooflights for stone-built houses and newer estates, and show you how each one is opened, shaded and wiped clean.

Kirkburton and Highburton conservation addresses checked with Kirklees Council
Hill-side windows: restrictors and rain sensors for days nobody is home
Riley, Low Town, Brickfields and Turnshaws loft rooms planned from the bed outwards

30 road miles north-east of Stockport

Kirkburton took its name from the church, and Highburton was built on the hill. Highburton has become the residential centre, while Kirkburton keeps a small shopping centre. The woollen industry and coal shaped the place: by 1880 there were eight mills at work in the township, and more than thirty pits operated around the village in the second half of the century. Springfield Mill, from about 1820, and Springfield House, from the 1830s, still stand. The Royal Hotel of 1870 is built in stone.

Housing here takes in the large areas of Riley, Low Town, Brickfields and Turnshaws, and Northwood Park on the route of the old branch railway. A rooflight on a hill, about 130 metres above sea level, meets weather. That makes the daily questions practical ones: what does the window do if rain arrives while the house is empty, and how do you reach the blind? We start with the room and who uses it.

What Kirkburton's houses lean towards

A village with older stone houses and newer estates wants a mix. These five cover the range, from a flush rooflight to a plain sun tunnel.

A fitter fixing a timber trimmer beside a roof window opening in a loft, insulation between the rafters

Hill-village rooflights in daily use

On a hill, rain can arrive quickly. VELUX electric and solar windows have a rain sensor that closes them, which matters when you are out.
In an older stone house the loft room can be an awkward shape, so we plan the handle height from where you will stand.
A bedroom blind should close from the bed, either by remote or by a rod you can reach lying down.
A flush rooflight in an older roof sits close to the covering, and we explain how to wipe the glass safely before you choose.

Hillside, stone and estate: Kirkburton questions

Three questions from a village on a hill, covering rain on an open window, older stone houses and the newer estates.

Highburton is up on the hill. What happens if we leave a window open and rain comes?

Highburton was built on the hill, and Kirkburton itself stands about 130 metres above sea level at the centre. That is not high ground by Pennine standards, but a loft window up a slope feels the weather more than one in a hollow. The real question is simple: what happens when you leave for work with a window open and the sky changes?

Three levels of protection

A manual window on a restrictor can only open a little, so a short shower does less harm. An electric window can be closed with a remote from downstairs, which helps if you are home. A VELUX electric or solar window with a rain sensor closes itself when it detects rain, and that matters when nobody is in. Our guide to rain sensors explains how they behave and what they do not do.

Which room is it?

A bedroom window used every day suits a motor. A landing window opened once a week suits a rod. A box room window used at weekends could go either way. Tell us how the room is used and we will say which level fits. A landing window that nobody visits for days is the easiest one to forget, so it benefits from the most automatic protection, not the least.

The blind on a windy day

A blind on an open window can swing in the draught. One that runs in side channels stays flat against the glass. We show you how to close both before we leave.

Coming home to an open window

Everyone has done it: gone out on a bright morning and been caught by weather by lunchtime. If you can close the window with a remote kept by the door, you save the dash home. With a motor and a rain sensor you save it altogether. With a manual window, keep the opening small when you leave, and keep the rod where you will find it. These are small habits, and they decide whether a hill-side window is a pleasure or a worry.

Handing it over

Before we leave we show you each control in the order you will use it: open, close, blind, and what to do if the power goes off.

Opening terms for a hill window

Restrictor: A catch that limits how far the sash opens until you release it.
Rain sensor: A small panel on an electric or solar window that closes it when it feels moisture.
Top handle: The handle at the top of the sash, reached by hand or by a rod.

Our house is stone and dates from the mill years. Would a flush rooflight suit it?

The Royal Hotel, a Victorian pub of 1870, was built in stone, and Springfield Mill dates from about 1820. On a roof covered in stone slate or natural slate, a conservation rooflight sits close to the covering with a slim central bar, so from the road it reads as part of the roof. That makes it worth weighing even where no rule requires one. Our guide to choosing a conservation rooflight sets out what to compare.

Checking the address

Conservation areas on the national planning map include Kirkburton and Highburton. Standing inside one is not a bar on a new rooflight. Kirklees Council holds the detail for each address, so we confirm it before we put a price on anything. The planning guide explains what changes the position.

The church and the mill

The Church of All Hallows is listed Grade I, and Springfield Mill is Grade II. Should yours be on the list, listed building consent is almost always needed for a new or altered rooflight, and it fixes the design. We cover the steps in our note on listed homes and rooflights.

Living with a flush rooflight

A flush rooflight can open like a normal window and take a blind. Cleaning is the same too: the outside is reached from the room if the design pivots, or with a long tool if it does not. The point is to choose a design that suits the house, then settle how you use it.

If your roof is not stone

Not every old house in the village has a stone roof, and a conservation rooflight is not limited to stone. It suits any older roof where you want the window to sit quietly. Where the roof is plainer, an ordinary roof window is the simpler fit, and we will say so if that is the better route. The answer comes from the roof you have, not from a preference of ours.

Springfield Mill and the other big buildings

Large mill buildings have their own rules and their own owners. If your home is a conversion in one, ask who is responsible for the roof before you plan anything, because the answer decides who can agree to a new rooflight.

We are on one of the newer estates. How do we choose a loft window for a bedroom?

Highburton's housing developments grew the village, and the largest housing areas are Riley, Low Town, Brickfields and Turnshaws. Northwood Park stands on the route of the old branch railway. If your house is in one of these, the choice is mostly about the room, not the roof.

Bed, desk, handle

In a loft bedroom the bed decides the window position. A roof window you can reach from where you sit up opens without a rod. A window above the bed's foot needs a motor or a pole. For a study, the desk decides: light from the side is easier on the eyes than light straight above a screen.

Blinds and glass

A bedroom wants a blackout blind in side channels, worked from a remote if the window is high. A study is fine with a pleated blind. The glass matters in a warm room, and our guide to solar control glass explains what is on offer.

A dark landing

If the landing has no daylight and there is a loft above, a sun tunnel brings light without a window to open. It is the plainest fix. The dome is small, the tube is hidden in the loft and the diffuser looks like a ceiling light, so the landing looks tidy as well as bright, and nobody has to remember to open, close or shade it.

Paperwork

A loft bedroom is a conversion, and the new floor needs a safe means of escape. The Building Regulations guide covers it, and we handle the notification for the windows we fit where the work is notifiable.

A study in the roof

If the loft is going to be a place to work rather than sleep, the daily question changes. You will open the window in the morning and want it shut by the afternoon, so a rod or a remote is worth having. Bright sun on a screen is an irritation, so a blind that diffuses the light is more use than a blackout. Think about the chair too: a window you can see out of when seated is one you will like more than one you can only see out of by standing up.

Loft bedroom order

Bed first, then handle, then blind, then glass. The size of the window comes last.

The village and the hill

Kirkburton

The ring marks 30 miles from Stockport, and Kirkburton sits inside it, though a postcode check settles any doubt.

Enter your Kirkburton postcode

We cover Kirkburton and Highburton, 30 road miles north-east of Stockport, from the village centre up the hill. Add your postcode and we will confirm we reach you.

Nearest town pages

Kirkburton roofs, answered

Does the village's hill change how a rooflight is fitted?

Not the fitting itself. The roof covering and the rafters decide that. What the hill changes is how you use the window, because weather arrives faster up a slope, so we talk about rain sensors and restrictors before you choose.

Is planning here handled by Kirklees Council?

Yes. Kirkburton sits in Kirklees, in West Yorkshire. For Building Regulations, the council's own building control or a registered approver can sign off the work, and we handle the notification for the rooflight we fit when the work is notifiable.

Can a rooflight go into a roof with stone slates?

Yes, but the flashing and the slate coursing round the opening need care, and we look at the covering at the survey. See flashing for slate and tile.

Do I need scaffolding to replace a roof window?

Sometimes not. Some replacements can be done from inside and from a safe working position on the roof. See replacing a skylight without scaffolding.

Are electric windows worth having in a bedroom?

If you open the window daily and it sits out of reach, yes. A remote opens and closes it from the bed, and the same remote can lower the blind, so the whole routine takes seconds. A rain sensor is an option on the electric and solar models VELUX makes, and it suits a hillside house. See the electric and solar opening guide.

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