Clear SkylightsCrawley

West Sussex · 28.3 miles from Crawley by road

Rooflights and skylights in Sompting, village core to Downs

Sompting is a parish between Lancing and Worthing, with a conservation area at its core and the South Downs National Park over part of it. We fit rooflights and skylights here, check the planning position for your address, and write down the glass we choose.

Get a quote What is a quiet spec?

A still loft bedroom at dawn beneath a roof window
Planning
Adur & Worthing Councils; parts of the parish in the National Park
Homes
Village core, former hamlets, a Victorian house turned school
Roofs
Covering read from the roof at survey
Setting
Between Lancing and Worthing, rising to Steep Down at 149 metres

A protected village core, a hillside parish, no appraisal

  • Rules that change by address

    Sompting Village is a conservation area with no character appraisal, and part of the parish is in the National Park, so each address is checked.

  • A roofscape near a Grade I church

    Close to St Mary's, a flush conservation rooflight on a rear slope keeps the roofline calm, with the covering relaid neatly around it.

  • Rain on an extension roof

    Heavy rain on the glass of a rear extension is loud when the panes are thin or the upstand is hollow, so both are chosen with the weather in mind.

  • Old units that have clouded

    A unit that has misted between the panes has lost its seal, and the fix is a new one built to current standards.

A written spec for a village loft room

Every quote carries a written quiet spec for the room. This sketch shows the kind of note we would write for a loft room in the village; a note for your roof comes once the survey is done.

Room:
loft bedroom in an older house in the village, rear slope
What we would listen for:
rain on the roof glass, and whatever the room hears at first light
Glazing:
flush conservation rooflight, laminated inner pane, panes of differing thickness
Seals and upstand:
continuous gaskets, covering relaid around the opening, a neat lining inside

Noise out hereStill in here

The survey file

Rooflights in Sompting

Sompting is a village and civil parish in Adur, sitting between Lancing and Worthing, and it does not fit neatly into one kind of roof. A rooflight installation in Sompting can mean an opening in an old village building, a new opening on a house in one of the parish's former hamlets, or glazing on a flat extension at the back of an ordinary family home. This page goes chapter by chapter through what the parish is, who decides what can be done to a roof here, and what we would specify for each situation. Skylight installation in Sompting follows exactly the same path, because rooflight and skylight are two names for the same opening in the same roof.

The shape of the parish

A parish between Lancing and Worthing

One parish with several centres and a climb to the Downs, so two roofs a mile apart can ask for different things.

Sompting is one parish with several centres, and the land climbs behind it to the Downs. That shape is worth knowing before anyone draws a rooflight on a plan.

The civil parish covers 10.4 square kilometres and had 8,561 residents at the 2011 census. It includes the hamlet of Beggars Bush and the former hamlets of Upper and Lower Cokeham. Its highest point is Steep Down, at 149 metres. A parish with that much ground and that much change in height is never one streetscape, so two roofs a mile apart can ask for very different things.

From Crawley, Sompting is 28.3 road miles, which is inside the 30 miles we cover. Its neighbours have their own pages, and it is worth reading Lancing and Worthing alongside this one if your house is near the boundary. The planning and housing position of each place is its own.

Sompting in four numbers

  • 10.4 square kilometresArea of the civil parishGround enough for several different streetscapes.
  • 8,561Residents at the 2011 censusSpread across the village, hamlets and former hamlets.
  • 149 metresHeight of Steep DownThe highest point, with land climbing behind the parish.
  • 28.3 road milesRoad miles from CrawleyInside the 30 miles we cover.

The upper slopes matter for light in a plain way. A roof that looks towards higher ground can be shaded by it for part of the day, while a roof facing the other way gets open sky. We choose the position for the room first, and only then look at the glass.

NextWho decides what you can do to a roof here

Who has a say

Who decides what you can do to a roof here

Which rules apply depends on where the house stands, and the position is checked for the address before a price is written.

The answer depends on where the house stands within the parish. Most of the work is done before anyone goes on the roof, by finding out which rules apply to that address.

Planning for Adur is run by Adur & Worthing Councils, with West Sussex County Council as the county authority. Sompting Village is one of Adur's seven conservation areas. It has no character appraisal, which matters in a practical way: there is no published document listing the features the council wants kept, so the judgement is made case by case, and a question about a roof slope is worth asking early.

Sompting and North Lancing lie partly within the South Downs National Park, and the council works with the national park authority on the conservation areas that fall inside it. So a house in the northern part of the parish may have two bodies with an interest in it, and a house in the southern part may have neither.

Conditions that change the answer

  • House in Sompting Village One of Adur's seven conservation areas, with no character appraisal, so each case is judged on its own.
  • House in the northern part Sompting and North Lancing lie partly in the South Downs National Park, so two bodies may have an interest.
  • Opening on a rear slope On an ordinary house this may need no planning application at all.
  • Opening on a slope facing the road Looked at differently from one facing the back garden.

Status is never assumed for a street. The position is checked for the address, at the survey, before a price is written. A rooflight on a rear roof slope of an ordinary house may need no planning application at all, and the national rules are set out in our guide to planning permission for rooflights and skylights. A conservation area or the national park changes the picture, since permitted development rights can be narrower there, and an opening on a slope that faces the road gets looked at differently from one facing the back garden.

NextThe village core and a Grade I church

Around St Mary's

The village core and a Grade I church

The oldest part of Sompting is where a roof opening needs the most care, and a flush conservation rooflight is the usual start.

The oldest part of Sompting is also the part where a roof opening needs the most care. The village is best known for a building with a very old tower.

The Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin is Grade I listed. It is Anglo-Saxon and Norman in date, and its tower carries a rare Rhenish helm spire cap. A listing on that scale does not bind every house around it, but it tells you what kind of place the village core is, and why the conservation area exists. Anything that changes a roofscape close to a church like this gets noticed.

In the conservation area, a rooflight is a small and careful intervention:

  • A flush conservation rooflight, which sits close to the roof plane, is usually the right product, because it disturbs the roofline least. Our page on conservation rooflight installation describes the range.
  • The opening goes on a rear or side slope where the layout allows, so that it is not a prominent feature of the street.
  • The size is kept to what the room needs for daylight, rather than to the largest unit the rafters can take.
  • The covering around the opening is lifted and relaid, so the roof looks as though it was always like that.

Where a building is listed in its own right, the approach changes again, and the consent route has to be settled before any product is chosen. That comes up at the first conversation.

NextSompting Abbotts and larger old buildings

Large old roofs

Sompting Abbotts and larger old buildings

A big house later used by a school shows what deep plans need: light that reaches the middle of the room.

Not every old roof in the parish is a cottage roof. Sompting Abbotts shows the other end of the scale, where a large house was put to new uses over time.

Sompting Abbotts was designed by Philip Charles Hardwick and completed in 1856. It became a preparatory school in 1921. A house built in the mid nineteenth century on that scale and later used by a school is a useful picture for any larger or converted building in the parish: long, wide roofs, and deep rooms under them where daylight struggles to reach the middle of the plan.

Whether a particular property has a roof ready for a rooflight is always a survey question. The principle carries over, though. Deep floor plans are where a rooflight does the most good, because a window in a side wall lights only the first few metres of a room, while a rooflight set into the roof throws light into the middle. The glazed area is worked out against the floor area of the room, and a rooflight sized for a small landing is the wrong answer for a large studio.

What a large old roof asks for

  • Deep floor plansA side window lights only the first few metres, while a rooflight throws light into the middle.
  • Glazed area by floor areaSized against the room, so a landing unit never ends up over a large studio.
  • A survey from the loftRafter sizes, spacings and timber condition are found from inside, not from the ground.
  • Trimmers where rafters are cutThe roof keeps carrying its loads around the new opening.

Old roofs have their own surprises. Rafter sizes, spacings and the state of the timber under the covering are found out from inside the loft, not from the ground, and the opening is drawn around what is actually there. Where a rafter has to be cut, a trimmer is fitted so that the roof still carries its loads.

NextCokeham, Beggars Bush and the wider parish

Ordinary houses

Cokeham, Beggars Bush and the wider parish

The survey reads the covering from the roof and the structure from the loft, and the product follows what is found.

A large share of Sompting's ground sits outside the old core. The former hamlets and the wider parish are where ordinary domestic work happens.

Nothing in the sources for this page lists the house types of these areas, so none are named here. What can be said is how any ordinary house there is treated. The survey reads the roof covering from the roof itself, whether it is concrete tile, clay tile or slate, and the loft structure from inside, whether it is a cut roof or a modern trussed one. The product and the method follow from what is found.

The difference between those structures is large for a rooflight:

Cut timber roof

What it means for the opening
Rafters trimmed around the opening with a doubled timber

Trussed roof

What it means for the opening
Truss members carry the roof, so the opening fits between them

Converted loft room

What it means for the opening
A roof window set into the finished slope

Flat extension roof

What it means for the opening
A fixed or opening flat rooflight on an upstand
What the loft holdsWhat it means for the opening
Cut timber roofRafters trimmed around the opening with a doubled timber
Trussed roofTruss members carry the roof, so the opening fits between them
Converted loft roomA roof window set into the finished slope
Flat extension roofA fixed or opening flat rooflight on an upstand

Each of these is a different job, so the quote follows the survey and not the other way round. Where a unit is already in the roof and is tired, the choice is between a like for like unit and a better one, and the survey shows which is worth having.

NextRain on glass, and a room that stays calm

Rain on the roof

Rain on glass, and a room that stays calm

Rain is the noise every roof has, and the glazing build and upstand decide how much of it reaches the room.

The noise to plan for in Sompting is the one every roof has. The research for this parish sources no airport or trunk-road noise, so this chapter is about rain.

A flat rooflight, or a roof lantern on a rear extension, gives rain a hard, flat surface to fall on. The sound in the room below comes from drops striking the glass, from the thickness of the panes, and from how firmly the unit is fixed. Thin single-skin glass and a loose fit make the most noise. A double glazed unit with a laminated inner pane, panes of different thickness and continuous seals makes far less. We describe quiet this way, by specification, because that is what can be controlled. Our guide to acoustic laminated glass explains the layers, and the page on reducing rain noise under a flat rooflight goes into the detail.

The upstand matters as much as the glass. A tall, solid, well-insulated upstand keeps the glazing firmly mounted and gives the roof edge a neat line inside and out. A low, hollow one can ring. For flat roofs, our flat roof rooflight installation page shows how the pieces fit together.

A calmer flat rooflight, outside to room

  1. 1Panes of different thickness Drops strike the glass, so the thickness of the panes shapes what the room hears.
  2. 2Laminated inner pane Part of a double glazed unit that makes far less sound than thin single skin glass.
  3. 3Continuous seals A firm fit stops the unit rattling under the rain.
  4. 4Tall, solid, insulated upstand Keeps the glazing firmly mounted, where a low hollow one can ring.

A bedroom is where this counts. A loft room with a rooflight is used at night, in the early morning, and when someone is unwell and resting. A kitchen is different: the glass is over a room with the radio on and the extractor running, and a little rain sound is easy to live with. So the first question is what the room is for, and the answer sets how much goes into the glazing build.

NextCold, heat and condensation under glass

Warmth and misting

Cold, heat and condensation under glass

Quiet and warmth tend to come from the same choices, and condensation has its own remedies in the room.

Quiet is one property of a good rooflight, and warmth is another. The two tend to come from the same choices.

A rooflight is a thin part of the building envelope, and it is the part of the room that is coldest in winter and warmest on a sunny afternoon. The glazing build, the gas fill, the spacer bar and the frame all affect how much heat passes through. Building Regulations Part L sets a limit for new and replacement glazing, and we install to it.

Condensation is a separate matter. A cold inner pane in a bathroom or a bedroom can mist on the room side on a winter morning. A warmer inner pane, a well-sealed and insulated upstand, and proper ventilation in the room keep it in check. Part F covers the ventilation, and it is looked at during the survey whenever a rooflight is going into a steamy room.

Signs to watch for under glass

  • Mist on the room side A cold inner pane in a bathroom or bedroom on a winter morning.
  • Cloud between the panes The seal has failed and the answer is a new unit.
  • A steamy room Ventilation under Part F is looked at during the survey.

If a unit already in the roof has gone cloudy between the panes, its seal has failed and the answer is a new unit.

NextHow a Sompting job runs, from survey to made good

The job in order

How a Sompting job runs, from survey to made good

The steps are few and each has a reason, ending in a 10-year workmanship guarantee.

A rooflight job in a lived-in house is mostly a matter of order and tidiness. The steps are few, and each one has a reason.

  1. We visit, look at the roof from outside and the loft from inside, and listen in the room.
  2. We check the planning position for the address and tell you what we found, including any point that needs the council or the national park authority.
  3. We write the quote, with a quiet spec for the room: the noise we heard, the glazing build, and how the upstand and seals are finished.
  4. We install, protect the room below, and make good inside.
  5. We handle the Building Control notification where the work is notifiable.

The work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee, described on our guarantee page. If you want to see what a written quiet spec looks like before you ask for a quote, the quiet spec shows one.

On cost, it depends on the size, the product, the structure and the roof covering, so a figure comes after a survey.

NextQuestions Sompting homeowners ask before a rooflight

Common questions

Questions Sompting homeowners ask before a rooflight

Short answers on conservation areas, the national park, rain noise and older buildings, with the survey settling the rest.

These are the questions that come up when someone in the parish is thinking about roof glazing. The answers are short, and the survey settles the rest.

Is my house in the Sompting conservation area?

Sompting Village is one of Adur's seven conservation areas, so the answer depends on the address. It is checked at the survey, using the council's own records, and you hear the result before a price is written.

Does the South Downs National Park affect a rooflight in Sompting?

Sompting and North Lancing lie partly within the national park, so some addresses are affected. Where they are, the council works with the park authority, and the position is checked for your address. A rear slope in a part of the parish outside both is a simpler case.

Will a rooflight be noisy in the rain?

It can be, if it is specified carelessly. A laminated inner pane, panes of different thickness, continuous seals and a solid upstand are the main ways to keep it calm. The choice is written into the quiet spec so you can read it before the work starts.

Can a rooflight go into an older building in the village?

Frequently the answer is yes, once the roof has been surveyed. The structure, the covering and the planning position decide what is possible. In a conservation area the usual starting point is a flush conservation rooflight on a rear slope.

When you are ready, get a quote, send a message on WhatsApp, or read our guide to choosing a rooflight. The wider picture is on the Crawley rooflight and skylight page.

Near Sompting

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Prefer to message? WhatsApp us or call 01293 974093, or email info@clearskylightscrawley.co.uk.