Markyate attics on the old road lit by skylights and rooflights
A village on Watling Street with a priory in its past, a river that starts nearby and the Chilterns just beyond its edge. Below, how a skylight or rooflight fits the roofs of Markyate.
Old street frontages and the commuter houses behind them
Markyate is a Hertfordshire village on the line of Watling Street, covered by Dacorum Borough Council and a 26.9 road mile drive south-east from Milton Keynes. The name has been written as Markyate Street, Market Street and Mergyate over the years. Once a rural, farming place, it is now a dormitory village for Luton and the region, a short distance from junction 9 of the M1. That mix of old and new gives a village with two kinds of roof to think about.
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Houses along the old road, with attics and tight plots
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Family houses for people who work in Luton and beyond
The long street through the village is lined with older buildings, built tight to the road and to each other. Their roofs are pitched, their plots are narrow and the rooms in the attic have grown up round chimney stacks and low eaves. In the rear roof, a roof window gives such a room an outlook that the street front cannot, and a conservation rooflight is a gentler choice where the roof needs to look unaltered. Whether any listing or conservation rule applies to your house is for the council to confirm, so ask before you order.
Behind the main street the village has the kind of housing a commuter place builds: semi-detached and detached houses with garages, rear gardens and the odd kitchen extension that has pushed the living space out. Here a flat rooflight over an extension, a sun tunnel for a dark landing or bathroom, and a roof window for the loft are the three jobs that come up. Each follows from the room, and the survey decides between them.
Markyate's three rooms that want the sky
An extension shut in by next door's wall
Four ways to open a roof, and one question to choose.
Sideways
The garden of a village house can be wide enough for an extension, but not wide enough to keep it away from the boundary. The wall alongside is neighbour's brickwork, and the window set in the extension's flank looks at it from a few steps back. The room is warm and bright at the doors and dim everywhere else.
This is a familiar way for a new room to disappoint, because the glass is there but the view is not. A taller window would see more wall. The way out is the sky above.
Straight up
Overhead glass is not stopped by the wall, because the light it collects arrives from high in the sky. Straight up is clear, and an opening in the roof of the extension drops that light on the table, the worktop and the sofa. The kind of opening depends on the roof, the height and the way the room is used.
The table below lines the options up for a Markyate extension. It is a starting point for the conversation at the survey, not a final choice.
Whichever option fits, the practical details are the same. The upstand or the frame is made weather-tight to the roof covering, the structure around the opening is formed to carry its load, and the inside edge is lined and painted so the daylight spreads. A rooflight in an extension roof also needs to meet the current rules for thermal performance, which we cover at the survey.
Planning for a rear extension roof is the council's to answer, and the planning guide sets out the conditions.
| Option | Best for | Know |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed flat rooflight | Low flat roofs | Clear and simple; no airflow |
| Opening flat rooflight | Kitchen and dining rooms | Warm air escapes through the top |
| Roof lantern | Wide rooms with height | Needs more build-up and structure |
| Walk-on rooflight | Roofs used as a terrace | Strong glass you can stand on |
A landing that waits for the day under a tree
The stair is the brightest place in some houses and the gloomiest in others.
Sideways
A landing is the middle of a two-storey house, and it may have just one small window on the half-landing. If a big garden tree stands outside it, the window is full of leaves and the passage beyond it is dim. Doors on the landing are shut for privacy, so no light borrows from the rooms either side.
You switch on a light every time you go to bed or come down in the morning. The space is functional, but it never feels pleasant, and it is where children and visitors form their first view of the upstairs.
Straight up
A sun tunnel is a short route from the roof to the ceiling. A small dome on the slope collects light, that light runs down a reflective tube through the loft space, and the ceiling diffuser spreads it across the landing. The tree beside the house does not matter, since the dome looks at the sky above the roof. Straight up is clear.
It is a compact job. The tunnel needs a path between the rafters and the ceiling joists, and we check that in the roof space before choosing the position. Where the landing is too far from the slope for a tube, a different option may suit better, and we say so.
A sun tunnel is not a roof window. It brings in daylight, not a view, and it does not open. That suits a landing, a hallway or a dressing room, where what you want is brightness. For a room where you also want to see the sky, a roof window is the better answer, and the sun tunnel guide shows where each fits.
Damp and shade under a tree can leave a moss or leaf patch on a low roof, so the dome is placed where rain can wash it clear.
Things to look at before a landing is lit
- How far is the landing from the roof slope?
- Is there a clear route through the roof space?
- Do you want daylight only, or a view and ventilation too?
- Which slope gets the most sky?
A bathroom with a wall for a window
A room that has to be private can still be bright.
Sideways
A bathroom tends to be the room with the smallest window, and it is frosted for privacy. If the window faces the side of the next house, the frosting is the lesser problem. The light is thin whatever the glass looks like, and steam lingers because the window is small and shut.
The answer people reach for is a stronger bulb and an extractor fan. They help. Neither one puts any daylight in the room.
Straight up
A bathroom under a pitched roof can take a small roof window, set high enough in the slope that nobody outside can see in. Daylight arrives from above, the opening can be made to let steam out, and the frosting is no longer needed. Where there is no slope above the room, a sun tunnel does the lighting job.
The glazing is chosen to be tough and easy to wipe, and the frame is finished so condensation does not mark the paint. The rules on thermal performance apply here too, as the figures below set out.
Part L of the Building Regulations, Approved Document L, gives limits for new windows in existing homes. Current Building Regulations apply to the installation, and notifiable work comes with a Building Control notification that we send.
Safety is covered in the glazing, with toughened or laminated glass where the room asks for it, and in the position of the opening, which sits clear of the bath and the shower.
Numbers behind a bathroom roof window
- 1.4 W/m²K
- most heat a new roof window may lose, or WER band B
- 2.2 W/m²K
- highest permitted heat loss for a new flat-roof rooflight
Dacorum Borough Council and the planning question
For planning and building control, Markyate answers to Dacorum Borough Council. Both topics have pages on the council's website, and its planners can confirm if a conservation area covers your street or a listing applies to the house. Ask before you order, because the answer shapes the choice of product.
The centre of the village lies about 0.2 km outside the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just beyond the protected boundary. That is close enough to be worth mentioning to the council when you ask, so you have a clear reply on whether anything special applies to your plot.
The conditions for permitted development are set out in our planning guide, and a conservation area on its own does not remove permitted development, though an Article 4 direction can. Bring the council's answer to the survey and the quote will reflect it.
The drive from Milton Keynes down to Watling Street
The drive to Markyate runs south-east for 26.9 road miles and takes 31 minutes. The M1 passes close by at junction 9, and Watling Street, which the village sits on, was a Roman road long before the motorway. It is an easy run for a survey, and the fitting follows on a day that suits you.
Neighbours worth knowing about are Kensworth, Caddington and Luton. Their roofs and council details differ, so each one is covered on its own page.
What suits which roof in Markyate
The village has pitched roofs on older and newer houses and flat roofs on later extensions. A simple guide:
- A loft room under a pitched roof takes a roof window.
- Choose a flat rooflight for a flat-roofed rear extension, and a roof lantern where the room is taller.
- A landing, hallway or bathroom with no wall to the outside takes a sun tunnel.
- An older roof that needs to look unchanged takes a conservation rooflight.
A photograph of the room is enough to start the conversation when you are unsure which one you need.
A village by a river that comes and goes
Markyate lies close to the source of the River Ver, which has flooded the middle of the village on occasion and which is dry for part of the year. A roof does not mind a dry river, but it does mind rain, and the flashings and seals round any opening are what keep the water out. They are fitted to the roof covering you already have and checked at the end of the job.
The same attention goes inside. The lining is finished, the paint is touched up and the room is left ready to use.
Booking the survey
The survey is free. After looking at the room, the roof and the roof space, we send a written quote, and its figure is fixed for the day of the work. Current Building Regulations govern the installation, we handle the notification where it is needed, and a 10-year workmanship guarantee comes in writing.
To start, use the quote form, send a photograph through WhatsApp, 07880 284133, or email info@vertexskylightsmiltonkeynes.co.uk. We work mainly on homes, and small commercial jobs are welcome.
What Markyate households ask first
Is Markyate in the Chilterns?
Not quite: the centre of the village lies about 0.2 km outside the boundary of the Chilterns AONB. Ask Dacorum Borough Council whether anything applies to your plot, since the boundary is close. The planning guide covers the permitted development conditions.
Will a sun tunnel work over a landing shaded by a tree?
Yes. The dome on the roof looks at the open sky, not at the tree beside the house, so the leaves do not stop it. We check the route between the dome and the ceiling in the roof space, then give a fixed written quote.
Which opening suits a village extension on a boundary?
A flat rooflight suits a low flat roof, an opening version helps a kitchen, and a roof lantern suits a wider room with height. Next door's wall gets in the way of the side window, but the sky above stays open. The survey settles the choice from the roof build-up and the layout of the room.
Who can tell me if my Markyate street falls in a conservation area?
Dacorum Borough Council's planners can confirm both whether a conservation area takes in your road and whether any listing applies to the house. A conservation area does not on its own remove permitted development, but a direction can. Take the answer to the free survey so the quote reflects it.
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