22.8 road miles west-south-west of Bournemouth
skylights & rooflights in west lulworth
Thatched cottages line the lanes around Lulworth Cove, with newer houses on the road out towards Wool, and a tape goes along each West Lulworth roof.
stone, thatch and slate above the Cove
- Thatched cottagesSome listed, with deep eaves and thick, uneven timbers.
- Stone cottagesTiled or slated roofs and small upstairs windows.
- BungalowsSingle storey, with a dark inner hall under the loft.
- Later housesMachine-made tiles, regular rafters, space in the loft.
what we look up first in West Lulworth
- planning authority
- Dorset Council
- protected land
- Dorset National Landscape; village conservation area
- protected landscape
- Dorset National Landscape
- road miles
- 22.8
Nearby
short slopes, narrow codes
a village of small roofs and tight rafter gaps
West Lulworth is a small village inside Dorset National Landscape, with its own conservation area. Its cottages have low eaves and narrow spans, and that shapes which window sizes will fit.
Cottage roofs that only take a narrow window
On a small cottage the space between two rafters is the first number to read.
West Lulworth lies a short way inland from Lulworth Cove, in the part of Dorset that Dorset Council administers and that lies within Dorset National Landscape. The village is made up of cottages in local stone, some with thatch and some with tile or slate, and a smaller number of newer houses and bungalows spread along the road out of the village. Part of the wider parish is Ministry of Defence land at Lulworth Camp, which is a separate matter from private homes.
A cottage roof here is small. The span from eaves to ridge is short, the eaves come down low, and rafters were cut by hand and set at whatever spacing suited the timber. A roof window has to sit in the gap between two rafters, or in a gap made by trimming one of them, and on a small slope the room for trimming is limited. So we hold a tape to the actual gap before anything is chosen.
The window size codes make this concrete. In a VELUX code the opening letter stands for the width and the two digits for the height, so a C is 55 cm wide, an M is 78 cm and a U is 134 cm. On a cottage slope the narrow codes fit most readily.
A VELUX window suits a tiled or slated slope when its frame size matches the gap. On a thatched slope the build-up is different, and the structure and the thatch depth need to be read before any product is named.
Chimneys and dormers add another variable. A stack in the middle of a short slope takes up space that a window would otherwise use, and a small dormer already in the roof may leave only a strip of plain slope beside it. We record both on the sheet, with distances to the nearest rafter, so the window is placed where the framing allows it.
- 55 cm wide and 98 cm high, a narrow code for tight rafter gaps
- CK04
- 78 cm wide and 98 cm high, needing a wider gap or one rafter trimmed
- MK04
- a typical minimum kerb height for a flat rooflight, set by the maker
- 150 mm
Records to read before an application or an order
A conservation area, a possible listing and the National Landscape all sit behind a West Lulworth address.
Dorset Council's heritage records include a West Lulworth Conservation Area, first designated in 1977, and the wider parish lies in Dorset National Landscape. A conservation area does not remove rooflight rights by itself, and nor does a protected landscape. Rights go only where the council has made an Article 4 direction, or where the house's original consent carries a limiting condition. The exact address therefore matters more than the village name.
Some cottages in the village are listed. For a listed building, consent under the listed building regime is required for a new rooflight in almost every case, whichever slope it goes on, and the roof is protected along with the walls. For homes that are not listed, the conditions on what needs an application are in the planning guide.
An owner can work through the same checks alone before calling us, in the order we follow for a village address.
Each lookup takes a few minutes online, and the results are worth saving. A screenshot of the conservation area map with your house marked, a copy of any decision notice and a note of the listing status give the survey a head start, and they go into the file we keep with the measured sheet.
Past applications can also tell you whether a previous owner already fitted a roof window, a dormer or a loft conversion. A window that is already in the roof is a replacement job, with its own rules: the new unit has to meet the current thermal limit, and the notification covers the whole frame and glass together.
Four lookups for a West Lulworth address
- Search the heritage recordDorset Council's heritage pages show conservation area boundaries and listed buildings for the parish.
- Read the planning registerPast applications at your address show what was approved, with any conditions in the decision notice.
- Check for a directionAsk the council whether an Article 4 direction covers your road. We ask the same question at the survey.
- Survey, then applyWith the answers in hand we measure the roof, write the sheet, and prepare any application on accurate figures.
The slope facing the lane and the slope facing the garden
In a conservation area the two sides of the same roof can raise quite different questions.
Most cottages in the village have one slope that faces the lane and one that faces a garden or yard. Anyone walking past sees the front slope. Few see the back one. Councils in conservation areas look hardest at what can be seen from a public place, so the choice of slope shapes the application as much as the choice of product.
For a front slope, a conservation rooflight with a slim steel or aluminium frame and a central glazing bar sits flush with the covering and reads as part of the roof. A rear slope gives more freedom over size and placement, and an opening model there also helps air move through an upstairs room in warm weather.
A third factor is the roof's own proportion. On a small slope, one generous window can dominate the elevation, while two narrow windows set at matching heights look settled. We sketch both layouts on the survey sheet at scale, with the rafters drawn in, so the choice is made on paper before the first tile is lifted.
For a front slope in the conservation area or on a listed cottage, the application carries the drawings and the product specification, and the council responds to what it sees on those.
Slope facing the lane
- Seen from the road, so the council looks closely
- A flush, slim-framed product is the usual proposal
- Smaller sizes keep the proportions of the roof
- Check for an Article 4 direction first
Slope facing the garden
- Out of view from public places
- Wider range of sizes and opening models
- Often the better place for the main bedroom window
- The same records still need checking for the address
What the terms on a cottage survey sheet mean
The sheet names every part of the opening so that two quotes can be set side by side.
The survey sheet we write for a West Lulworth cottage lists each reading with a plain label. Rafter centres, pitch, the reveal and the sill height are the usual ones, and a few more appear for a stone cottage with a thick wall. If a neighbour had a window fitted a few years ago, ask to see their sheet, because the better ones list the same items.
Upstairs rooms in a low cottage can have a sloping ceiling that comes to head height only in the middle of the floor. A window placed at the wrong height gives a view of the wall instead of the sky. We stand in the room, mark the eye line and the sill height on the slope from the inside, and match the glass position to where people sit and stand.
Light matters in an upstairs bathroom in a small cottage too. An opening roof window over the bath or shower gives steamy air a route out, and for a bathroom with no usable slope a sun tunnel brings daylight down a tube. Opening a window helps ventilate a room, and it works alongside an extractor fan.
Windows on the lower slope of a cottage roof sit close to the floor, and the escape rules apply if the upstairs room is a bedroom. Approved Document B sets the size and the height of the opening for escape, and the sill height on the sheet shows whether a given product meets it.
Terms on a West Lulworth survey sheet
- Glazing bar
- A thin bar across the glass of a conservation-style rooflight, echoing the look of an older roof light.
- Reveal
- The sloping or boxed sides of the opening on the inside of the room, finished in plaster or board.
- Sill height
- How far the lower edge of the glass sits above the floor inside, which affects view and escape use.
- Flashing
- The metal or composite collar that seals the window frame into the roof covering around it.
- Trimmer
- A short timber set across cut rafters, carrying the roof load around a new opening.
- Eaves
- The low edge of the roof where it meets the wall, often only a short step above the floor of an upstairs room.
The parts of a quote for a village roof
Some costs belong to the window; others belong to the village.
A quote for a roof window in a cottage covers the glass, the frame and the flashing. It also covers work that depends on where the house stands. The Building Control notification is part of the job where the work calls for it, and the written sheet lets you hold one quote beside another on the same measurements.
Delivery to a village lane is worth planning. A van and a short tower fit a narrow road more easily than a full scaffold, and we agree where each will stand with the owner beforehand. In nearby Winfrith Newburgh and Wool the access plan is worked out street by street in the same way, and the survey itself does not change.
No two cottage roofs match, so we do not publish a price for the job. The measured sheet turns what moves a quote up or down into a figure for your roof.
What shapes a West Lulworth quote
- Visibility of the slopeA front slope in the conservation area may call for a slim conservation pattern, which costs more than a standard frame.
- Size of the openingA wider gap or an extra trimmed rafter adds framing and labour.
- Covering and build-upSlate, tile and thatch differ in flashing, relaying time and who needs to attend.
- Reach and deliveryA narrow lane and a steep slope change the staging and the handling.
- Inside finishPlastering and painting a deep reveal in a thick stone wall takes longer than a thin one.
faq
what West Lulworth owners ask us
Is a rooflight allowed on a cottage in the West Lulworth conservation area?
That turns on the address, because limits come only from a council direction under Article 4 or a condition on an earlier permission. Search the council's heritage and planning pages, or have us check at the survey and put the results in writing.
What is the narrowest roof window that suits a small cottage roof?
The VELUX C codes are 55 cm wide, so they fit where rafters are close together. The survey measures the gap on your roof before a size is named.
My cottage is listed. Who do I speak to first?
Dorset Council, about listed building consent, before an order is placed. We can survey the roof in advance so the drawings you send are accurate.
Will an opening window in an upstairs room help with damp air?
An opening model helps ventilate a room, so moist air from a bathroom or bedroom has a way out. It works alongside any extractor fan and does not replace one.