Special Measures in Place to Protect Bats at Oxburgh Hall Stable

We were contracted by local building company Draper and Nichols to refurbish the slate roof of the East Range Stable Block at Oxburgh Hall.

The stable block is a grade 2 listed building so no alterations could be made to the fabric of the building without prior consent.

Bats had been identified on site, so all work had to be carried out under the close supervision of the Ecological Services Bat Officer and the Bat Mitigation Licence. A tool box talk was carried out before any works were undertaken regarding bat activity to make sure all of our roofers were aware. The bat inspector inspected as we removed each slate to check for evidence of bats.

Where evidence of bats was found, under the direction of the bat officer when we recovered the roof, we shaped the lead to make small bat access hatches to allow access for bats into roosting areas in the roof space.

We contracted Tubes Scaffolding to erect scaffolding to comply with current Working at Height Regulations

We removed the existing slates and carefully set them to one side. Sourcing good quality matching reclaimed natural Welsh slates to replace any damaged or broken slates.

We were asked by the bat officer to use bat friendly membrane under the slates which has a rough surface that bats can grip onto and will help maintain a suitable and safe environment for bats within the roof structure.

The roof was finished with a lovely lead ridge and hip detail which looks great. Following our post about this roof on Instagram, we were contacted by the Confederation of Roofing Contractors who requested to enter images of this roof into their roof of the month competition.

At RG Leverett, we have the skills to work on listed buildings and to put special measures in place to preserve bat colonies. If you are looking for a skilled roofing contractor, you can contact us on 01603 418818 or drop us an email to enquiries@roofsuk.co.uk