Skylights & rooflights in Earl Shilton
Georgian corners, older roofs, flush glass.
Earl Shilton's older core, with Georgian houses around Hill Top and a thatched cottage dated 1714, sits among later streets, so the town holds roofs from several different periods.
- Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council
- Flush conservation glass
- Listed building consent advised
Georgian Hill Top, a 1714 thatched house, newer streets
Earl Shilton is a market town in Leicestershire, about five miles from Hinckley and some ten from Leicester, with just under eleven thousand residents at the 2021 census. The local history describes old Georgian three-storey houses around Hill Top and a very old thatched house opposite the Roebuck Inn, marked with the year 1714. The parish church was rebuilt in 1854 using stone from the old castle, and an old stone building near the Baptist Chapel once served as the pinfold. The town has a long memory, and parts of it are visible in the buildings.
That older core is where the finish of a rooflight matters most. A Georgian house with a tall plain roof, or a cottage with a long history, asks for glass that sits flat with its covering and a frame slim enough to disappear from the street. Flush-fitting conservation rooflights were designed for these situations, and they are the starting point for any older house here.
Beyond the centre the town grew outwards. The A47 passes through, with a bypass opened in 2009, and the streets around it hold the semi-detached and terraced houses common to many market towns. Their roofs are likely to be tiled, their lofts may be unconverted, and the rooms below have the usual darkness at the middle of the plan: the landing, the hall, the bathroom behind the stairs.
Roof coverings across the town therefore vary widely. Slate, plain clay tile, interlocking concrete tile, felt and single-ply membrane all appear, sometimes on the same house. At the survey we identify the covering first because it determines how the flashing is made and how the unit sits.
Thatch is a special case. A thatched roof is not suited to a standard roof window frame, so where a property like that is involved, we look at the other roofs on the house, such as a rear extension or an outbuilding, and propose light there.
Close to Hinckley and Leicester, the town also draws households who commute. They tend to value a calm, bright home at the end of the day, and a rooflight is one of the few improvements that changes how every hour in the house feels, from the first coffee to the last lamp.
Some homeowners here live in houses that have already been altered, with a bay added, a loft partly boarded or a kitchen pushed out into the garden. That history is useful. It tells us where the structure has been strengthened, where the roof has been opened before and where services run, and it often points to the easiest place for a new rooflight.
Starting with age: period roofs to rear extensions
In an older market town the choice starts with age and protection. A listed or period house points to a conservation rooflight, a later semi to a roof window or sun tunnel, and a rear extension to flat glass or a lantern. Each of those answers is explained in the written quote, with the unit named and the finish inside described.
- Conservation rooflightsFor the Georgian and period houses near Hill Top, a flush frame with a slim central bar.
- Roof windowsThe sensible choice for a loft room in a tiled inter-war or post-war semi.
- Sun tunnelsTakes daylight to the hall or landing of a deep-plan terrace.
- Flat roof rooflightsFor single-storey kitchens and rear additions on houses of any age.
Also fitted here
Near Earl Shilton
- Barwell4 min
- Stoney Stanton6 min
- Sapcote9 min
- Huncote14 min
Drive times from Earl Shilton town centre.
Hinckley and Bosworth, listing and lost permitted rights
The planning authority for Earl Shilton is Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Because the town includes listed and older buildings, we begin each enquiry with three questions about your address: whether the house is listed, whether it stands in a conservation area, and whether the council has taken away any permitted rights on the street. The council makes the final call, and we report what we learn in plain language.
Listed building consent is required for any new roof opening on a listed house, and we help you describe the work, the unit and its position in the application. Building Control notifications, where the job needs one, are handled by us. The rooflight planning guide lays out the rules in full.
An early conversation saves time. Send us a photograph of the roof from the street and a note of the age of the house, and we will say whether a visit is likely to turn up questions for the council. If the council has been asked anything about your roof, we tell you what it said.
01 Period houses and conservation rooflights
Where a flush profile keeps the roofline as the builders intended.
On the roof
A period roof is often a more delicate structure than it looks from the road. Rafters may be hand-sawn and widely spaced, and the covering may sit on laths rather than battens. When we choose a unit, we look for one that fits between the existing timbers so the roof loses as little of its original frame as possible.
A conservation rooflight is made of a steel or a similar slim frame, with a glazing bar and a profile that sits almost level with the slates or tiles. From the street it reads as a thin dark line rather than a bright patch, and it echoes the cast-iron lights that older buildings once used. Its fixing details are designed to keep the roof covering undisturbed beyond the opening.
The flashing is formed to the profile of the covering. On slate it is usually lead dressed into the courses, and on plain tile it is a matching tile-and-lead arrangement. Both are built to last as long as the roof around them.
If the house is listed, the position matters as much as the type. We suggest a spot on a rear or side slope, away from the main elevation, and explain why when you apply for consent.
Weather protection during the work is planned for an old roof. We strip only the area we can close up the same day, cover the opening with a temporary membrane each evening and take the covering off in sections, so the house stays dry throughout.
In the room
Inside a Georgian or period house the ceiling may be lath and plaster, which resists a clumsy cut and cracks if it is shaken. We score the line, cut back to sound edges and support the surrounding plaster as we go. A new lining of insulated board then makes up the reveal and is skimmed to meet the old surface.
High ceilings suit a deep, generous splay. Where the roof depth allows, we angle all four sides outwards, which spreads light across a tall room and avoids a harsh edge against the dark ceiling around it.
If the house keeps its original cornice or ceiling rose, we mark the opening to stay clear of it. Decorative plaster is part of what makes an older house worth keeping, and a rooflight should work with it.
The last coat of plaster and paint is left to match the existing finish, so the new opening looks like it was always there.
Painting and decorating are left to you or your decorator, though we leave the plaster ready for a mist coat. If the ceiling carries a historic paint scheme, tell us at the survey and we will protect it with extra care during the cut.
The short version
On an older house, a flush frame and a careful plaster return do most of the work of belonging.
A good conservation rooflight is noticed from the inside long before it is noticed from the street.
02 Later roofs behind the old streets
Semis, terraces and extensions where the hallway is the dark room.
On the roof
The streets built around the historic centre include brick houses under tile, with the chimney, the ridge and the eaves line all in view. A roof window here follows the rafter spacing and sits at the height that gives a clear view of the sky from the bed, the bath or the desk beneath it.
Tiled roofs take a flashing kit matched to the tile profile, and we confirm the match at the survey. A mismatched kit can let water in at the edge of a window, so we match it to the roof rather than choose the nearest alternative.
Extensions behind these houses often have flat roofs covered in felt or a single-ply membrane. Where one has aged, we check the deck and the falls, then fit a flat glass rooflight on a new insulated kerb. The membrane is dressed up the upstand and sealed so the junction stays dry.
For rooms with no roof directly above them, such as a ground-floor hall or a bathroom in the middle of the plan, a sun tunnel brings daylight through the loft space in a tube with a reflective lining.
Roof lanterns suit the larger kitchen extensions found in this kind of town. A lantern gives height and a glazed ridge, and it can be sized to the room below so it never looks borrowed from a different house.
In the room
A hallway lit by a tunnel changes character. Dark paint can come back out, the stairs feel safer, and the front door no longer has to carry the whole job of lighting the house. The diffuser in the ceiling is a clean, flat disc, finished in white and set neatly into the plaster.
In a loft room, the opening is boxed in with insulated board and plastered. The reveal is splayed where the depth permits, and any stud work around it is straight and square so the finish is true.
In a kitchen extension, we aim the splay at the table or the worktop so the light lands where it is used. Spotlights and pendants can be moved at the same visit, since the ceiling is open anyway.
Every room is left clean and ready for decoration, with sheets removed and dust cleared from the floor and the surfaces.
If you cannot decide between a roof window and a tunnel, we can mark both positions on the ceiling with tape during the survey, so you see the effect before you choose.
Where a new opening sits close to a wall, we keep the splay clear of the join so the plaster lines stay straight and the corner reads cleanly. Small decisions like these are the difference between a rooflight that is merely installed and one that is finished.
The short version
In a plain terrace or semi, the hall and landing gain the most from a single well-placed opening.
Hill Top roofs, dark halls and surveys in Earl Shilton
Which rooflight suits an older house near Hill Top?
A conservation rooflight is usually the right answer: slim frame, central bar, and a profile that lies almost level with the covering. If the house is listed, consent is needed first, and we help you describe the work and its position. At the free survey we confirm the roof structure and the best slope for the opening. A roof with several slopes may offer a choice of positions, and we compare them with you on site.
Can you light a hallway that has no roof directly above it?
Yes, with a sun tunnel. A short or long tube runs from a small dome on the roof, along the loft, to a diffuser set in the ceiling, carrying daylight down into the hall or landing. We check the route through the loft, the insulation and the pitch of the roof before we recommend one. The finished diffuser sits flat in the ceiling and is easy to keep clean.
How soon can you come to Earl Shilton for a survey?
Thirty-odd minutes in the van brings us to Earl Shilton, so a visit fits easily into the week. Use the form or WhatsApp us and we will suggest a day. A fixed written quote follows before any work is booked. The quote names the unit, the finish inside and the guarantee.
We survey before we price.
Then we finish the room.
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