The short answer
While worship continues, a church normally falls outside the council's consent system. Anglican churches get roof work authorised by a faculty from their diocese instead. Once worship has ended and the pews are empty, or a chapel has found a new use, a listed building normally needs listed building consent from the council. Ask the diocese or the council before anything is ordered.
What the ecclesiastical exemption exempts
Most listed buildings need the council's listed building consent first, for any work that would affect their character. Churches in active use are a special case. Section 60 of the 1990 listed buildings Act says the usual listed building controls do not apply to an ecclesiastical building that is for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes.
That exempts a church from the council's consent route, not from scrutiny. A parish cannot simply decide to re-lay a slope. The denomination runs its own approval system in place of the council's, and the work must be authorised before it begins.
The wording is tied to use. The exemption does not travel with the building for ever: it applies while worship continues and stops when it does not, a point we return to below.
Do not assume a roof job is too small to need authorisation. Re-covering a slope, changing the stone or tile, altering a parapet gutter or renewing lead can all change how a building looks and works. Asking first costs little. Putting right unauthorised work costs a great deal.
How a faculty works for Church of England buildings
The Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 2010 retains the exemption for church buildings within the faculty jurisdiction of the Church of England. The Consistory Court of the diocese grants a faculty, which is the formal go-ahead for the work. The diocesan Chancellor, as judge of that court, grants it, while the Diocesan Advisory Committee gives formal advice on each application.
For a church in the Stroud area, the application goes to the local diocese, whose office sets out the forms and the timetable, so ask it before you plan the work around a date. Your parish office or churchwarden will know the contact. Procedures differ between dioceses, so follow your own diocese's guidance.
A roof proposal usually begins with an inspection report, often from a regular church inspection, and a specification setting out the covering, lead, fixings and rainwater goods. Historic church roofs are normally specified like for like, in matching stone slate, clay or lead. English Heritage policy, reproduced in Cotswold District Council's 2000 guidance, says new slates should be matched to the originals in kind of stone, colour, texture, size and thickness.
Our part is the survey, the photographs and a written quote for that specification. The faculty application itself belongs to the parish.
Other denominations and the same exemption
The 2010 order also covers qualifying church buildings of the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union (through its listed trust corporations) and the United Reformed Church. Each has an internal approval procedure that stands in for the council's.
If your building belongs to one of these, ask the denomination's buildings or property office what it needs before a roof job is commissioned. We cannot say which procedure fits a particular chapel, because that depends on the trust that owns it.
Not every old place of worship falls inside these arrangements. A meeting house that has closed, or a hall built by a congregation that has since dissolved, may sit outside the exempt group. When you are unsure which category applies, the council's conservation officers can often tell you how the building is treated, and the denomination can confirm it. Get the answer in writing where possible.
Whatever the answer, record the roof as it is today. Photographs of each slope, the eaves, the valleys and the gutters show a reviewer the present state against the proposal.
After worship ends
Because the exemption follows use, a building closed for worship drops back into the ordinary system. On the wording of the Act, listed churches that have closed, and listed chapels now serving as homes, studios or halls, normally need the council's listed building consent before anyone alters their character.
Conversions are caught by the same rule. Someone buying a former chapel and planning a new covering, rooflights or a change to the slopes should talk to the council's conservation team at the outset. Stroud District's own guidance is that a listed building is protected throughout, whatever its grade. Starting work that needs consent, without having it, is an offence under section 9 of the 1990 Act.
Planning permission is a separate matter. The exemption covers listed building controls only, and government guidance on how it operates says it does not remove the need for planning permission for development affecting the exterior of a listed place of worship. For external work that changes how the church looks, ask the council's planning team as well as the diocese. For conversions, find out whether the site lies in one of Stroud District's 41 conservation areas, since extra controls can sit on top of listing.
If you are unsure whether a building counts as still in use, ask both the council and the denomination, and keep their replies.
Roof choices that suit a historic church
Reviewers look closely at what goes back on the roof. Stone roofs in this part of England are steep: Cotswold District Council describes the simplest as a straight pitch, usually 47 to 55 degrees, and our answer on what roof pitch means explains why. Stone is also heavy, about 1,000 kg for every 10 m² in the council's guidance, so a change of covering can bring a structural check.
Lead is common on church roofs, in valleys, parapet gutters and flashings. It is bought by code, and Code 4 is the common pick for ordinary flashings, while the heavier Codes 5 to 8 go into gutters and bigger areas. A reviewer will expect the code and the fixing details to be stated.
Church roofs can last for generations, given regular care. For typical figures across materials, see how long different roofs last. If your building is a house instead, roof work on listed and conservation-area homes covers that case.
We survey, photograph and price a church roof as we would any other, with a written quote for the whole job. Permission stays with the parish, the diocese or the council, and we will explain what the paperwork needs to say. Our written 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the labour we carry out. Ring 01453 933613 or send photographs and we will talk it through. Our home page lists everything else we do.