Shortstown terrace tiles and flat roofs take a skylight or rooflight
A village on a ridge above the Great Ouse, laid out for airship workers a century ago and grown by later housing on the A600. The roofs run from tiled terraces to flat extension roofs, and each wants a different opening.
Airship-works terraces and the estates that followed
Shortstown belongs to Bedford Borough Council. Lying on a ridge above the River Great Ouse, it is reached by 17.6 road miles of driving eastward out of Milton Keynes. The village began in 1917 with the Airship Works, when homes for the workforce were laid out beside the airfield. Houses came first, then a social club, then RAF families. Three or four generations of building sit within a short walk of each other, and each asks something different of a roof.
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Red-brick terraces with dark red tile roofs
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Post-war quarters and the newer estates east of the A600
The first houses went up by the Short Brothers for their workers. By the summer of 1919 there were 151 of them, built in a plain neo-Georgian manner, red brick below and dark red tiles above, set out in groups of terraces. That regular pattern is the village's character, and a roof alteration is easy to spot against it. The loft rooms in these terraces are modest, and a side wall can stand a short step from the window. A roof window let into the slope, in line with the tile courses and kept low, lights the room without changing how the row reads from the road. The back slope, out of sight of the street, is the natural place to start.
After the Second World War further houses went up as married quarters for RAF personnel, and later housing has been added east of the A600, marketed under the names New Cardington and Eastcotts Green. Houses from these later phases bring rear extensions, converted garages and single-storey flat roofs, and those are the roofs where a flat rooflight or a lantern earns its keep. Gardens are close, fences are tall, and the middle of an extended kitchen can be the darkest part of the house even when the roof above it faces open sky.
Three Shortstown rooms in need of the sky
A terrace loft beside a blank wall
Plain brick, close by, and no daylight to speak of.
Sideways
A terrace house from the airship years has a roof space under dark red tiles, reached by a narrow stair. Someone has made it a bedroom or a place to work. The gable has a single small window, and a few feet from that glass stands the flank wall of the next building, red brick going up past the sill.
The room is dry and sound, and it is dim from morning to evening. A desk lamp is switched on at noon, and the corner under the slope does not see the day at all.
Straight up
A roof window cut into the back slope looks upward, over the wall. Straight up is clear, whatever the neighbours have built, so the daylight arrives from a direction the brick cannot touch. The frame sits in the tile courses and the flashing is dressed to the roofing, which keeps the row looking like itself.
On a back slope that the street never sees, a standard roof window will do. If you would rather the opening is hardly noticed, a slimmer frame sits lower and leaves more of the red tile visible.
These terraces were laid out as groups, so a roof is sometimes shared in character with its neighbours even when it is owned separately. We talk through the rafter spacing and the ceiling below at the survey, and we choose a size and position that suit both the room and what carries the load. A size code such as MK04 is only a shorthand: the letter is the width and the digits are the height, and the survey settles which one fits between the timbers.
If the loft is being turned into a full room with a stair, our roof window pages cover what a bedroom up there needs to know.
Three numbers worth knowing before a loft window
- 1.4 W/m²K
- the warmth ceiling for a roof window in an existing home, or WER band B
- 2.2 W/m²K
- the same ceiling for a rooflight in a flat or low-slope roof
- 4.5 m
- the height above ground that decides when a window counts as a way out
A loft room under the ridge
Up on the ridge, and yet the room might as well be a cellar.
Sideways
Shortstown stands high enough above the Great Ouse that the sky here feels wide. Step inside a post-war house, though, and go up to the loft room, and the width disappears. The side wall of the adjoining house rises past the one window, and the room looks at brickwork.
People find a way to live with it. A spare bedroom becomes a store, and a study at the top of the stairs ends up as the room nobody chooses for the afternoon.
Straight up
The ridge works in your favour once the opening is in the roof. A roof window looks at the part of the sky that the neighbours' walls cannot reach, and a loft can take a pair side by side if the room is wide enough to want them. Light enters from two points on the slope and softens the shadows under the eaves.
We look at the pitch from inside the roof space, because the angle of the slope changes how the window should be fitted and how far it opens. A VELUX-pattern frame and other makes both come in sizes that suit the usual rafter spacing.
Light is not the only gain. A roof window that opens lets warm air leave the top of the house on a still afternoon, and the loft stops being the hottest room in summer. In winter the glazing is rated to current figures, so the room holds its heat.
Verdict: where a loft room's only window faces a neighbour's brick, a pair of roof windows in the slope gives the most even light.
A new extension under a neighbour's tree
A bright plan on paper, a dim room in practice.
Sideways
Newer Shortstown houses can be built with a kitchen or dining room across the back. Gardens on the estates east of the A600 are not deep, and a tree on the next plot can grow tall enough to shade the glass for most of the day. Bifold doors and a side window look out at leaves, and the table in the middle of the room sits in half light.
The room is generous and tidy and well fitted. It simply faces the wrong things, and the tree is not yours to move.
Straight up
A flat rooflight over the table opens the room to the sky above the tree line. The upstand is insulated and the glass has a slight fall so water runs off, and nothing growing in the garden next door affects it. Two smaller units in a row suit a long room, and one larger unit suits a squarer plan.
Where the ceiling height allows it, a roof lantern adds a little shape and sends light to the corners as well. We can set out both on the roof at the survey so you see how each would sit.
An extension roof is a good candidate for an opening rooflight, since a glazed room gains heat on bright days. Whichever type you choose, the inside is left tidy, with the plaster and paint done neatly round the opening.
| Roof | Opening | Best at | Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red tile terrace slope | Roof window | Lighting a loft bedroom | Back slope keeps the street intact |
| Post-war pitched loft | Pair of roof windows | Even light in a wide room | Opens to clear warm air |
| Extension flat roof | Flat rooflight | Daylight above a table | Stands on an upstand |
| Tall extension ceiling | Roof lantern | Light into the corners | Needs room to rise |
Planning in Shortstown, with Bedford Borough Council
Planning applications from Shortstown go to Bedford Borough Council, whose list of conservation areas names none for the village. For one particular address, the planning team at the council will say how the rules apply. Whether your own street carries a restriction is still worth asking about, because a council can place an Article 4 direction on an area and take away rights that houses normally have. A short enquiry to the planning officers settles it, and the council's planning pages show how to ask.
Cardington's airship sheds, built in 1918 and 1927, are Grade II* listed, and that is a reminder that this corner of Bedfordshire has real heritage. If your house is itself a listed building, roof changes need listed building consent. Ask first, then order.
Our planning guide covers what householders may do without an application, which saves repeating it. The Building Regulations side runs alongside. The fitting is built to the regulations as they stand today, and we deal with the Building Control notification ourselves where the work is notifiable. Bedford's building control page explains how the route works.
The drive east from Milton Keynes
Out of Milton Keynes and eastward, Shortstown is 17.6 miles by road, a drive of 21 minutes. It lies on the outskirts of Bedford, so the town is the obvious landmark on the way, and a survey in the village fits easily into half a day. Woodland planted by the Forest of Marston Vale, known as Shocott Spring, lies between Shortstown and Cotton End, if you want a walk after the visit.
Close neighbours are covered on pages of their own. Bedford is the nearest large town, Wixams is a newer settlement close by, and Wilstead is a village nearby. The roofs in each differ, and so do the answers.
What a survey in Shortstown looks at
There is no charge for the survey, and it starts in the room, because that is where the problem is felt. We stand where you would sit, look up, and then go to the roof space or the roof to see what is above. In a terrace from the airship years that means the tile courses, the rafters and the ceiling below. In an extension it means the fall of the flat roof, the thickness of the build-up and where the ceiling can take an upstand.
We measure, take photographs and go over a couple of layouts with you. The quote you receive afterwards is written and fixed, so it does not change on the day, and a 10-year workmanship guarantee in writing goes with the work. Expect the fitting to last a day or two, with plaster and paint made good afterwards. Message WhatsApp on 07880 284133 or email info@vertexskylightsmiltonkeynes.co.uk to arrange a visit; the quote form works too.
If you have not yet settled on a type, the pages for roof windows, flat roof rooflights and roof lanterns set out the differences in plain language. Wherever the room faces a wall or a fence, a skylight changes the view that matters, since straight up is clear.
Shortstown roofs, answered
Can a roof window go into a red-brick terrace roof?
Yes. It comes down to the rafters and the covering. The tiles are lifted, the frame is set between the timbers, and the flashing is dressed back over the tiles. We look at the back slope first, since it is out of view from the street and keeps the row looking as it did. A survey confirms the position and size.
Do I need permission to put a skylight into a Shortstown house?
It depends on your house and your street, and Bedford Borough Council can confirm. No conservation area is named for the village, but an Article 4 direction or a listing would change the answer. We advise checking with the council before work starts, and the national rules are in our planning guide.
My extension is overshadowed by a tree. Will a rooflight help?
It can help. The side glass and the doors are blocked by the tree, yet the sky above the roof stays clear. A flat rooflight brings in daylight from straight overhead, and an opening one also lets warm air out on a bright day.
Can you visit Shortstown for a survey, and how far is it?
Shortstown is 17.6 miles by road from Milton Keynes, 21 minutes in the car, so a visit fits into an ordinary working day. To book, send the room and the street through WhatsApp on 07880 284133, or write to info@vertexskylightsmiltonkeynes.co.uk. The survey is free and the quote that comes after it is fixed.
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