Roofing in Fakenham

Fakenham is the market town for a wide stretch of north west Norfolk, and we treat it as a base for the villages around it as much as for the town. The centre is older brick and pantile, and there is a substantial amount of post war housing beyond it.

In NR21 the regular work is re-covers, chimney repair and gutter and fascia replacement, plus storm damage after a bad winter because the country around here is open and takes the wind.

A Georgian centre, rebuilt after three fires

Fakenham has had a market since 1250, but fires in 1660, 1718 and 1738 mean most of the older buildings around the Market Place date from the Georgian period, either rebuilt or refronted after the last one. The local brick is an orangey red. Behind the smart fronts, the side and rear walls are often brick and flint, and some of them probably incorporate what survived the fire. The appraisal picks out the eaves as one of the places these fronts were decorated, with moulded brick cornices and dentil courses, and occasionally a brick parapet hiding the base of the roof. A parapet means a gutter behind it that you cannot see from the street, and that is where a lot of leaks on these houses start.

The glazed tile at the front, the red tile at the back

North Norfolk District Council's appraisal of the conservation area makes a point worth knowing before you re-roof in the centre. Slate was the fashionable Georgian covering but was scarce and expensive this far inland before the railway, so Fakenham builders often used pantiles instead: red clay as standard, and dark grey or black glazed ones for the better houses. Because the best materials went where people could see them, a house can have glazed pantiles on the front slope and cheaper red ones at the rear. That is original, not a botched repair.

Conservation area and consent

The Fakenham conservation area was designated in 1975 and extended in 2011, and it is managed by North Norfolk District Council. It covers the historic core around the Market Place and the streets running off it. On listed buildings and in the conservation area some roofing work needs consent, so we check the status of the property at survey before we recommend a material.

Where to go next in Fakenham

For stacks, see chimney repairs in Fakenham. For a re-cover on the post war housing, see new roofs, and for rotten or sagging boards, fascias, soffits and guttering and our guide on whether to cap fascias or replace them. After a gale, read what to photograph after storm damage before anything is moved. We also cover Holt and Wells-next-the-Sea.