Every Cornerstone roofing project carries a 10-year insurance-backed warranty, alongside the relevant material guarantee from the manufacturer.
Reliable, high-quality work before, during, and after the scaffold comes down.
Ditchling sits at the foot of the South Downs, a short way south of Burgess Hill, and its old village core holds some of the most characterful roofs in Mid Sussex, from timber-framed and tile-hung cottages around the crossroads to the larger period houses spreading out toward the Downs. Cornerstone Roofing has worked on roofs across Ditchling for 35+ years, and most of that work is careful repair and re-cover on older stock, where the new finish has to match what is already there. Every job is backed by our 10-year insurance-backed warranty.
We handle pitched and flat roofs, roof repairs, fascias and soffits, guttering, leadwork and chimney work across Ditchling. The older parts of the village are almost entirely pitched, with clay tile, tile-hanging and natural slate common on the period houses and the occasional Horsham stone slab roof on the oldest buildings, so much of our Ditchling work is matched repair and re-cover rather than wholesale change. Site visits to look over a roof are free and come with no obligation.
Pitched roofs make up almost everything in the older village. The traditional coverings here are plain clay tile and natural slate, often with clay tile hung to the upper walls, while the oldest buildings can still carry heavy Horsham stone slabs that need experienced handling. On a Ditchling roof, especially within the conservation area, keeping the look of the street intact matters, so our pitched roofing team specs around the existing covering rather than the cheapest like-for-like. Where original slate or handmade tile can be salvaged we sort and re-lay it on new battens with breathable underlay and fresh lead flashings.
Shingles are an overlapping, single-thickness covering laid in courses across a sound deck. They depend on the underlay, the deck condition, and a ventilated batten cavity behind the visible covering. Get any of those wrong and the lifespan drops sharply.
Natural slate is a generational roof covering. Properly laid on fresh battens, with a breathable underlay and sound lead flashings, a slate roof will outlast most owners. We cover slate repairs, slate replacement, and full re-slate work across Mid Sussex.
Stone is a heavy traditional roof covering. The slates are graded by size and laid in diminishing courses (largest at the eaves, smallest at the ridge), which loads the supporting timbers significantly more than a tiled equivalent. Any stone-roofed enquiry calls for a structural survey of the deck and timbers before a quote.
Tile is the most common pitched covering across Sussex. Clay tile (handmade or machine-made) and concrete tile (interlocking or profile) both feature widely on the local stock. Tile lifespan is generally longer than the underlay beneath it, which means a roof can still look sound from the street while the underlay has reached the end of its life. We cover tile repairs, re-bedding of ridges, tile replacement, and full re-covers across Mid Sussex.
Flat roofing in Ditchling is nearly always a small area sitting underneath a large one. The old village core is period stock with steep tiled and tile-hung elevations, and the flat roofs are the porch canopies, single-storey rear additions and garage roofs tucked in below them. A flat roof in that position is not only catching the rain that falls on it. It is catching everything the pitch above sheds as well.
That changes what the roof has to do. A few square metres of covering can be taking the run-off from a whole roof slope, arriving fast and always in the same place, so the question becomes where that water is meant to go once it lands and whether the outlet can take it at the rate it turns up. Where the discharge is heavy the answer often lies on the roof above rather than the one below, and our pitched roofing team will look at the two together.
What we look at on a Ditchling flat roof sitting below a pitched slope:
Our flat roof installers work in EPDM, GRP, built-up felt, single-ply and liquid systems, and choose between them on the span, the volume of water the roof actually takes and whether the surface has to be walked on. Every flat roof we lay or repair carries our 10-year insurance-backed warranty.
Modern reinforced multi-layer torch-on felt is a long way from the single-layer felt that gave the material its older reputation. Properly specified, with metal trims and drips at every edge, it gives a watertight finish well into 20-year territory. Felt remains the most economical like-for-like replacement for an existing felt flat roof.
EPDM is a synthetic rubber membrane sold by the roll and laid as a single sheet across most domestic flat roofs. One sheet means no overlaps and no welded joints to fail later. Lifespan comfortably reaches 25 years and beyond on a properly prepared deck.
Green roofs turn a flat surface into planting, additional thermal insulation, and drainage attenuation. They need a sound waterproof base underneath (typically EPDM or a bituminous build-up), proper drainage outlets, and a structural assessment of the supporting joists or deck because the loaded weight is significantly higher than a standard flat finish.
GRP (glass-reinforced plastic, often called fibreglass roofing) is laid wet over a sound deck and cures into a single seamless skin. It’s strong enough to be walked on and available in a range of finishes. Lifespan typically reaches 25 years and beyond on a properly prepared substrate.
Liquid coatings give a continuous, joint-free skin across complex roof details, including parapet cappings, roof-light or vent penetrations, and abutments where a flat meets a pitched tile. They can also be applied as a recoat over an existing failing membrane that’s otherwise structurally sound, which extends the roof’s life without a full strip-out. Most modern liquid systems are vapour-permeable and UV-stable.
Single-ply membrane comes as factory-made synthetic sheets, fixed mechanically, fully bonded, or held in place by ballast, with joints heat-welded on site. Long sheet widths reduce the number of seams on larger flat areas. Lifespan is comparable to EPDM when properly installed.
The roof repair calls we get most in Ditchling are slipped or cracked clay tiles, slate slip on the older stock, worn lead flashings around chimneys and abutments, and ridge or hip tiles that have lost their bedding. On period property, repair is usually the right answer over re-cover while the battens and timbers underneath are still sound. We survey honestly and quote for the roof repairs the roof actually needs, and an active leak gets a temporary cover first so the inside stays protected until the proper fix. All repairs carry our 10-year insurance-backed warranty.
Alongside main roof work we handle leadwork (chimney flashings, valleys and parapet cappings), guttering renewal, fascia and soffit replacement, and chimney repointing or rebuilds. On older Ditchling property the lead chimney flashings tend to need replacing once a generation, and that is often the visible job that prompts a wider look at the roof. While the scaffold is up we will flag anything else that needs attention, since bundling the work costs less than coming back to it later.
Ditchling property, and the conservation-area stock in particular, deserves a roofer who will match what is there rather than what is cheapest. Cornerstone has worked on village roofs across Mid Sussex for 35+ years, with a UK Roofing Awards 2025 Finalist project to its name and a 10-year insurance-backed warranty on every job. If you want a roof matched to the village and finished properly, that is the work we do best.
Ditchling is a historic village at the foot of the South Downs, below Ditchling Beacon, long known for its old crossroads, its art and craft heritage and its protected village centre. The roofscape runs from old clay-tile, tile-hung and slate roofs on the historic frontages to more recent housing on the edges, with a handful of Horsham stone roofs surviving on the oldest buildings. That mix is exactly why matching materials and a sympathetic approach matter so much on local roofs.
