Royton: mill-town terraces and rebuilt streets

Royton skylights and rooflights for Edwardian terraces and rebuilt streets

Royton emerged as a mill town by the mid-19th century, and redevelopment has modernised much of its former Edwardian terraced housing. We fit the rooflight that brings light to a loft room or a dark landing, and show you how it opens, shades and cleans.

Edwardian terrace lofts and landings: roof window or sun tunnel compared on site
Rebuilt streets with concrete-tile roofs: flat rooflight or lantern for the extension
Saint Paul's conservation area and your address checked with Oldham Council first

14 road miles north of Stockport

Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, near the source of the River Irk at the foothills of the South Pennines. In 1780 it was said to contain only a few straggling and mean-built cottages. By the middle of the nineteenth century it had become a mill town, and its last mill closed in 2002. Intensive housing redevelopment has modernised much of its former Edwardian terraced districts.

The roofs tell the same story. Edwardian brick terraces commonly have Welsh slate roofs, and houses built in the last forty years commonly have concrete tiles. An Edwardian terrace has a loft that wants a window and a landing that gets little light. A rebuilt house may want light on an extension, where a flat rooflight or a lantern can go. We begin with who uses the room and how, and a fixed written quote follows once we have seen the roof.

Rooflights for terraces and rebuilt streets

These five suit loft rooms, landings and extensions. Pick the closest match to your room, then read the guide for the product.

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

What a rooflight is like to use in Royton

A terrace loft window can sit high in a sloping ceiling, so a solar motor or a handset beats a rod and a stool.
A loft bedroom wants a blackout blind on the same handset, while a landing under a sun tunnel needs no blind at all.
For a house empty through the working day, some VELUX electric and solar roof windows carry a rain sensor that shuts them when rain starts.
A window you can turn to wipe from inside saves a ladder on a slate roof, and we check whether your slope allows it.

Royton questions: slate lofts, sun tunnels and rebuilt streets

Four questions from the Edwardian terraces and the newer streets, covering the loft, the landing, the extension and the planning check.

Does a red-brick terrace loft take a roof window, and where does it go?

Edwardian brick terraces commonly have Welsh slate roofs, and a terrace has a front slope on the street and a back slope over the yard or garden. For a loft room the back slope is the natural place for a window. It takes the light from the rear, it is out of sight from the road, and it is usually a plain run of slate.

What we read on the roof

The flashing kit has to suit slate, and the width of the window follows the rafters behind it. Both are things we measure at the survey, not from a photograph. Our page on flashing on slate roofs explains the kit.

Planning in brief

A rooflight on a house is usually permitted development, within limits that the planning guide sets out. A roof slope that faces the side carries extra conditions, which the guide describes. In a mid-terrace the slopes face front and back, which keeps things simple, but we confirm the position for your address.

Making the loft a room

A loft turned into a bedroom is building work, so the room upstairs must have a safe route out, and our page on the Building Regulations covers what that involves. Where our roof windows need a Building Regulations notification, we make it.

Cleaning the glass on slate

A slate roof is not one to climb. Ask whether the outer pane of the window you pick can be turned and wiped from inside, and agree the method with us before you order. A window you can clean from the bedroom floor is one that stays clear.

Choosing the opening

The top of a window in a sloping ceiling can sit above head height. If you will open it every day, electric or solar opening is easier than a rod. See roof windows for loft conversions for sizes and positions.

A terrace loft window, set out

Roof: Welsh slate on the back slope
Window: Roof window sized to the rafter spacing
Opening: Solar or electric if daily, a rod if seldom
Blind: Blackout in a bedroom, light filtering in a study
Paperwork: Notification made by us where the work calls for one

Our terrace landing never gets daylight. Is a sun tunnel worth having?

A terrace landing can be a narrow strip with doors on either side and no window of its own. A sun tunnel runs from a small dome on the roof, through the loft, to a diffuser in the ceiling, and the landing is lit from above.

What you get

A sun tunnel brings in daylight. It does not open, it gives no view and it needs a clear run through the loft. That makes it a good fit for a landing, a bathroom or a hall, and a poor fit for a bedroom where you would want to open a window. Our page on rooms that suit a sun tunnel covers each case.

Rigid or flexible tube

The tube comes in a rigid form that carries more light down a straight run and a flexible form that bends round obstacles. We look at the loft at the survey and choose to suit. The rigid or flexible comparison sets out the trade.

What you do not have to manage

A sun tunnel has no handle, no blind and no motor, so there is nothing to forget or to break. The dome on the roof is the only part outside, and we explain how it is kept clear before we leave.

Dome and loft

The dome sits on the roof covering and is flashed to it, so we read the covering first. The tube runs through the loft past whatever is stored there, and we leave the stored items as they are. If the roof is slate, the flashing is cut for slate.

When a window is better

If the landing sits right under a roof slope, a small roof window gives light and can open. Ask for a handset if it will be out of reach over the stairs, since a window nobody can open soon stops being noticed.

A newer house, a flat-roofed extension: flat rooflight or lantern?

Houses built in the last forty years commonly have concrete tiles on the main roof, and one that has gained an extension with a flat roof has an obvious place for light. The decision is between a flat rooflight, which sits low on an upstand, and a lantern, which rises in a pitched glass frame.

How they differ in the room

A flat rooflight is neat from the garden and simple to keep clear. It suits a narrow room or a utility space. A lantern adds height and sky, and suits a wider room where the dining table sits underneath. Our page on a rooflight in an existing flat roof covers the structure.

Planning and the extension

A lantern on a roof that is already there normally needs planning permission unless the council confirms otherwise. On a new extension it is assessed with the extension, and the position is confirmed with the council first. A flat rooflight is usually simpler. The planning guide has the detail.

Blinds and the sun

A glass roof over a kitchen is bright. A blind beneath it, or solar control glass in it, takes the edge off. Settle both when you choose, because the blind is fixed to the frame.

Outer glass and bars

A flat pane is quick to wipe. A lantern has bars that collect leaves, so plan how you will reach it before you buy.

Extension rule

Narrow room, flat rooflight. Wide room with the table in the middle, lantern. Decide the blind with either.

What do we check near Saint Paul's conservation area or a listed building?

Oldham Council's area includes the Saint Paul's conservation area in Royton, designated in 1988. Living in a conservation area is not by itself a bar to adding a rooflight. The address and the roof slope decide the rules, and the planning guide explains what changes them.

Checking the address

planning.data.gov.uk lists Saint Paul's, though the data may have gaps, so we do not treat it as complete. Your address goes to Oldham Council during the survey, and we pass its answer on in plain words.

Churches and the old mill

Historic England lists the Church of St Anne at Grade II*, the Church of St Paul and Lion Mill at Grade II. Lion Mill is one of the old mills. If your own house is listed, listed building consent will almost always come before any rooflight work, and it sets the design. Our page on listed homes and rooflights explains the steps.

A rooflight that suits a slate roof

Where the roof is old slate, a conservation rooflight sits low in the slope and can have a slim central bar. Seen from the street, it can look like part of the slate. Some models open, so the daily questions of reach, blind and cleaning still apply.

Terms you may meet near the church

Designated area: An area the council has designated for its special character.
Grade II*, the grade of St Anne's: A listing grade for particularly important buildings, below Grade I.
Conservation rooflight: A low-profile rooflight made for older roofs, with a slim frame.

Royton streets and terraces

Royton

Royton falls inside the ring we draw around Stockport, so the terraces and the rebuilt streets are all within the area we survey and fit.

Is your Royton postcode covered?

Royton is 14 road miles north of Stockport, and our surveys reach the Edwardian terraces and the rebuilt streets alike. Type your postcode to check.

Nearest town pages

Royton homeowners want to know

Which council decides planning for a Royton house?

Oldham Council. We check your address with it before we quote. Building control can go to Oldham Council or to a registered building control approver.

Can we replace an old roof window without redoing the ceiling lining?

It can often be done. A replacement the same size as the old unit goes into the existing opening, and the lining inside stays. The size code on the old label tells us. See new opening or same opening.

Is a sun tunnel fine if my loft is cluttered with boxes?

Usually, as long as a route is clear between the roof and the ceiling. We check the route at the survey and choose the tube to suit. The boxes can stay where they are.

What does a rain sensor do while we are at work?

On the VELUX electric and solar roof windows that carry one, it closes the window when it feels rain. It is the maker's feature, not a feature of every window. Our page on rain sensors says what it does and does not do.

Is a rooflight still worth it if the house has been through redevelopment?

Yes. The questions are the same in any home: who opens it, how high it sits, how the glass is cleaned. The flashing follows whatever covering the house has, and we confirm it at the survey.

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