Earls Barton skylights or rooflights looking past fence, tree and roof
Earls Barton is known for its Saxon church tower and its shoe-making past, and the houses that grew around both ask for light in different ways. A rooflight looks past the fence, the tree and the next roof to the sky.
Ironstone, limestone and shoe-factory brick
The village began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement called Bere-tun, a place for growing barley, strung along the northern bank of the River Nene. It is a village and a civil parish, and it is noted for two things: a church with a Saxon tower, and a shoe-making tradition that goes back to the thirteenth century, when leather was brought in from Northampton and a tanyard ran in the village until 1984. The Barker shoe company was founded here in 1880 and is still here.
Industry and geology shaped the village, and the roofs reflect both. Two kinds of building need two kinds of answer from above.
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Old stone houses near the church
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Later family houses and the terraces of the shoe years
The oldest buildings in the village are made of local stone. The church is mainly Northamptonshire ironstone and limestone, with its Saxon tower built from Barnack stone and filled in with local limestone. Older stone houses often have steep roofs and small windows. A conservation rooflight, fitted close to the slope, keeps the roof looking as it did, while it lights an upper room that has had to make do with a single small window.
The shoe trade kept growing. Barker put money into factory premises in Station Road around the turn of the twentieth century, and in 1905 his sons joined the business. A working village that expands this way ends up with newer streets alongside the old stone ones. If your home is a brick terrace, a semi or a later family house, the roof is probably a standard tiled pitch with a loft above, and a plain extension at the back. A roof window turns the loft into a room, while a back kitchen or a dark landing gets the daylight a side window never will from a flat rooflight over the extension or a sun tunnel through the ceiling. The survey confirms what is actually up there.
Three rooms in Earls Barton that need the sky
A kitchen extension beside a high fence
Extra space, but the light has not kept up.
Sideways
Extending backwards is the usual way to grow a house in a village with narrow plots. The new kitchen runs out into the garden, and the boundary fence stands a short step from the glass. The doors face it and the sun slips behind it.
The far end of the room, where the table stands, is the part that suffers. It is the longest distance from the doors and has nothing else to borrow light from.
Straight up
A flat rooflight over the table puts a patch of daylight where the room needs it. If the ceiling has height to spare, a roof lantern brings in light from several sides as the sun moves. Either one lifts the whole room, because light from above reaches the walls and the floor evenly.
The roof of an extension is simply the part of the building nobody has built anything in front of.
An extension is also the right time to think about energy. Existing homes have to meet set limits when glazing is replaced or added, and the figures are listed here so you know what a good unit looks like. The flat roof rooflights page has the product detail.
If the extension is still being planned, tell your builder early. A rooflight can be built into the roof structure from the start, with the opening framed and the upstand formed, and that is simpler than cutting into a finished roof. The glass can be ordered while the walls go up, and the inside finished at the same time as the plastering.
Heat-loss limits for glass in an existing house
- 1.4 W/m²K
- limit for a roof window, or the alternative WER band B
- 2.2 W/m²K
- limit for a flat rooflight or lantern
A landing that never sees daylight
The brightest room is downstairs; the stairs are dark.
Sideways
In a terrace or a semi, the landing occupies the centre of the first floor, with a bedroom on every side. It has no outside wall, so it has no window. The stairwell below is lit by a front door panel or a hall window, and the light dies half-way up.
A tall tree in the garden can cast shade on the back bedroom as well, so the rooms either side of the landing cannot lend it any light.
Straight up
This is the spot a sun tunnel was made for. A small dome on the roof catches daylight, then a mirrored tube takes it down through the loft and a ceiling diffuser spreads it as a soft glow. No wiring is needed and no floor space is lost.
Because the dome sits above the roofline, the tree and the neighbouring houses cannot shade it. It collects light from the open sky, and the landing is lit from the first hour of the morning.
Sun tunnels have a small vocabulary. Knowing the words helps when you compare options, and it makes the quote easier to read.
Terms you will meet when choosing a tunnel
Dome
Clear cap fixed to the roof to gather daylight from the sky.
Tube
A rigid or flexible mirrored pipe that carries the light down through the loft space.
Diffuser
Frosted panel set into the ceiling, spreading the light across the room.
Flashing
The weatherproof collar that seals the dome to the roof covering.
Light well
The passage between roof and ceiling that the tube occupies.
A loft room with a wall at the window
A good room for a child, a desk or a guest, if it were brighter.
Sideways
A loft may get one gable window and nothing else. Whatever that window faces, a wall, a fence or a neighbour's roof, it cannot give the rest of the room any light. With the ceiling sloping away, the centre of the room is hidden and the space feels shorter than it is.
Lofts also run warm in summer and cold in winter, so the quality of the glazing counts as much as the size.
Straight up
A roof window is fitted into the slope and faces straight up and out. One window can light a small room, and two side by side can light a long one. The frame is fitted into the rafters and the inside is lined so the splay carries light into the corners.
If the loft is becoming a bedroom, the Building Regulations will have a view on stairs and escape, and we check those before ordering. Our planning guide covers the permitted development side.
Before you book a survey, a few questions are worth settling. They help the visit go quickly, and they mean the quote answers the right problem.
Settle these before the survey visit
- Which room feels darkest, and when?
- Is the loft boarded, or can the joists be seen?
- Does the roof have trusses or cut rafters?
- Is the house listed, or does a conservation area cover it?
- What will the room be used for?
Conservation and consent in Earls Barton
North Northamptonshire Council deals with planning here, and its pages are at northnorthants.gov.uk. The council's list of conservation areas includes one named Earls Barton. The council's conservation area page sets out its boundary and the rules attached to it.
Sitting in a conservation area does not remove permitted development by itself, though an Article 4 direction can. The planning team will say whether one applies to your road. The planning guide covers the general conditions for rooflights.
The Parish Council also helped to coordinate a Neighbourhood Plan in 2012, following the Localism Act, and it is worth a look if you are planning a larger scheme. Building control information is on the council's building control page.
The road north to the village
The run north out of Milton Keynes covers 24.9 road miles and reaches Earls Barton in about 29 minutes. Where a job is already booked in Cogenhoe, Sywell or Wollaston, one visit can be planned around it.
The distance is short enough that we can come and look at the roof in good daylight, with a morning or an afternoon set aside for the survey. We go up into the loft where there is one, walk the room you want to light, and talk through what each option would do for it. You are welcome to ask for the survey to be timed for when the light is at its worst, because that is the moment the problem is clearest.
Choosing glass for a stone or a brick roof
A stone house with a clay or slate roof wants a slim frame that sits tight against the covering. A brick terrace with concrete tiles is more forgiving, and a standard roof window will sit comfortably in it. For a flat extension, the upstand does the work, and the glass is chosen to suit the room.
There is also the matter of the structure beneath. Rafters in older roofs can be uneven, so the framing of the opening follows what is actually there. Newer roofs may be built from trusses that cannot be cut without support. Either way, the survey finds out what is up there before a price is fixed.
The price in the written quote is fixed, so the number you agree is the number you pay. We finish the inside tidily, deal with the Building Control notification where the work needs one, and cover the workmanship with a 10-year guarantee in writing.
Think about the view as well as the light. A roof window in a loft shows sky and cloud and the top of a tree, and it frames the weather in a way a side window cannot. Where privacy matters, the angle keeps it. Where the room is a workspace, a bright ceiling reduces glare on a screen better than a window behind it. These are small things, but they decide whether a room gets used.
Arranging the visit
The quickest way in is WhatsApp on 07880 284133. Email works too, at info@vertexskylightsmiltonkeynes.co.uk, and so does the online request form. Tell us which room is dark and which way the roof faces, and we will book a free survey for a time that suits you, with no obligation attached. Once the date is agreed, fitting a single rooflight takes one or two days. A shop or workshop in the village gets the same service as a house.
Earls Barton, asked and answered
Will a rooflight suit an old stone cottage in Earls Barton?
A slim conservation rooflight is designed for older roofs. Low in the covering, it holds the line of the roof. Inside, the room gains a pool of daylight from above. If the house is listed, consent is needed first, and the council can advise.
Is there a conservation area in the village?
Yes, North Northamptonshire Council lists one named Earls Barton. The council can tell you if your property is within its edge, and whether an Article 4 direction covers your road.
Can a sun tunnel brighten a dark landing?
Yes. The tube drops from the roof, past the rafters and joists, and ends in a diffuser set into the landing ceiling. The survey checks that the route is clear of wiring, pipes and framing before anything is ordered, and the tube length is measured on site. See sun tunnels.
How long is the drive for a survey?
Heading north, it is about half an hour from Milton Keynes, which leaves room for a survey in either a morning or an afternoon. We look at the roof, the loft and the room below, talk through what would suit, and send a fixed written quote afterwards. Nothing is booked until you say so.
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