Felbridge, RH19
Driveways and Paving in FelbridgeSandy Ground, Wide Frontages and a County Line Through the Middle
Felbridge is one of the more predictable places round here to dig, and one of the easiest to send to the wrong council. Both facts change how a driveway here gets priced and permitted.
Working across RH19
A Village of Long Frontages on Free Draining Ground Where the Paperwork Depends on Which Side of the Road You Live
Felbridge has grown along its roads and now runs into East Grinstead as one continuous built up area, but the county boundary runs straight through it. Two houses a few hundred metres apart can both be RH19 and answer to different councils. For a driveway that decides who gives the planning position and who licences the dropped kerb, so we check it before we quote.
The ground is kinder here than across much of our area. The village sits on sand rather than the shrink and swell Weald Clay a few miles north around Crowhurst and Blindley Heath, which usually means a cleaner dig and drainage that works with you rather than against you.
We are a family-run company at Caterham, our own team on the tools, 27 years in the trade and every one of the team trained in health and safety. We work from Copthorne Road and Rowplatt Lane out to Domewood, Hedgecourt, Furnace Wood, Felcourt and Dormans Park.
Domestic and commercial. Free written quotes, fully insured, insurance work undertaken, and 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade.
The ground
Sand All the Way Across the Parish Good News for Drainage, No Excuse for a Thin Sub-Base
The British Geological Survey maps Felbridge on the Upper Tunbridge Wells Sand, interbedded sandstone and siltstone, and that same bedrock runs right across the village and out through Domewood, Hedgecourt, Furnace Wood and the Copthorne Road side, with no superficial deposits mapped over it. You are digging weathered sandy bedrock, not river silt or made ground, and that consistency is worth a lot when you are pricing a long drive rather than a car length of frontage.
The catch is the siltstone bands between the sandstone. They hold water. On the higher ground soakaways and permeable build ups perform well and we use them, because the formation will genuinely take the water. Down towards Hedgecourt Lake, the Wire Mill and the Eden headwaters the ground falls to water courses, lakes and mill ponds, and there the water has to be taken away positively instead.
Free draining sand also fools people. It looks solid, it digs easily and it tempts a contractor to hurry the compaction, but it will not carry an edge restraint or a block surface on its own if it goes in loose. We compact in layers and haunch every edge, because on this ground it is the edges and the kerb line that go first, and no surface material rescues an edge that was never held.
- Consistent sandy formation across the parish, so a long drive prices honestly
- Compaction in layers and full haunching to every edge, because loose sand moves under a kerb line
- Soakaways and permeable build ups used on the higher ground where they genuinely work
- Water taken away positively on the low ground towards Hedgecourt and the Wire Mill
The houses
Detached, Set Back, and Mostly 20th Century the Opposite Problem to a Narrow Victorian Frontage
Felbridge is essentially a 20th century village that grew along its roads. The 2011 census recorded 2,096 residents in 829 households across the parish's 849 hectares, and the stock is overwhelmingly detached: 578 of those 829 dwellings are recorded as detached houses. Copthorne Road runs through the centre, with Rowplatt Lane, Crawley Down Road and Mill Lane carrying most of the rest.
North and west, at Domewood, Dormans Park and Felcourt, houses sit at low density in wooded plots. The Surrey Landscape Character Assessment notes that numerous gated domestic driveways are visible leading off the roads there, with close board fencing a common urban influence.
For us that is the reverse of a terraced frontage. Instead of fighting for width we are setting out a sweep a car can drive round, working out where the turning head goes, keeping the fall away from the house and the garage, and making sure the full length of the run drains without a puddle forming at the gate. A long drive also has to look right empty, which is why the laying pattern and the borders matter more here than on a two car frontage.
- Long approach drives set out so a car turns without a three point manoeuvre
- In and out sweeps where the frontage has two openings to the road
- Gate piers, gate posts and the ducting for automation run in with the base
- Wooded plots at Domewood, Dormans Park and Felcourt, where roots and close board fencing shape the layout
What we do here
Big Drives, Gates and Garden Rooms the Work That Suits a Plot With Room Around It
Block paving and resin-bound are both common here, and the choice is usually about the length of the run. A long resin drive reads as one clean surface and drains through, which suits the sandy ground underneath it. A block drive lets us break the length up with borders and a change of laying pattern where the drive opens out at the house.
Because the plots are deep, garden rooms and their bases are a steady part of what we do, along with the path out to them and the duct for the power. We build the base, drain around it and set the levels so the room sits square and stays dry through the winter.
The rest is landscaping proper: terraces, retaining where the ground drops towards the lakes, fencing and planting. We are on the Marshalls Register of Accredited Landscape Contractors and Driveway Installers, and Marshalls give a ten year guarantee on their paving materials. That covers the materials, not our workmanship. They are two separate things and we will tell you plainly which is which.
- Resin-bound and block paving drives across the full length of a plot
- Concrete, shingle and driveway repair work on the working parts of a drive
- Garden room bases, drainage and the duct run for power
- Porcelain and natural stone terraces set out to suit a wide, open garden
- Fencing, turfing, planting beds and gate piers to finish a frontage
Levels, access and permissions
Which Council Is Yours: Tandridge or Mid Sussex the Single Most Useful Thing to Settle Before You Apply for Anything
Felbridge is in Surrey, in Tandridge district, but it forms a continuous settlement with East Grinstead and the county boundary runs through the built up area. Postcode lookups against Ordnance Survey and ONS data show addresses only a few hundred metres apart both carrying RH19 but falling either in Tandridge district and Felbridge parish, or in Mid Sussex district and East Grinstead parish. On the Surrey side that means Tandridge District Council for planning and Surrey County Council for the crossover. On the Sussex side it is Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council.
Felbridge has no conservation area. Tandridge's list of 19 conservation areas includes none at Felbridge, Dormansland, Crowhurst or Blindley Heath, so the usual permitted development position for hard surfaces applies, which the Planning Portal describes as no permission needed for a driveway of any size in permeable or porous surfacing, or where rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally, with permission needed for traditional impermeable surfaces over five square metres that do not drain to a permeable area.
Almost all of the parish is Metropolitan Green Belt. Hedgecourt Lake is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Wire Mill Lake and Wood and Chartham Park are Sites of Nature Conservation Importance. The High Weald National Landscape boundary runs along Wilderwick Road to the east, so the village itself sits outside the designated landscape.
The Surrey Landscape Character Assessment describes this stretch of the wooded high weald as high ground, rising and undulating, falling locally to water courses, lakes and mill ponds. The village sits high, and the ground drops away towards Hedgecourt Lake and the Wire Mill, so a long drive on that side can carry a real fall from the gate down to the garage.
- We confirm which district and county you are in before a quote goes out
- No conservation area in Felbridge, so the standard hard surfacing position applies
- Green Belt across almost the whole parish: worth checking before a garden building
- Access checked for the grab lorry on the narrower lanes off Copthorne Road
Villages and neighbourhoods
Around Felbridge
We cover the whole parish and the settlements it runs into, on both sides of the county boundary. Copthorne and Crawley Down carry RH10 postcodes and sit in West Sussex.
Our work
Drives and Gardens of This Kind
Questions
Felbridge Questions We Get Asked
Am I in Surrey or Sussex for planning?
It depends which side of the boundary your address falls, and the RH19 postcode will not tell you. Felbridge is in Surrey, in Tandridge district, but it runs into East Grinstead as one built up area and the county line crosses it. Houses a few hundred metres apart can sit in Tandridge and Felbridge parish, or in Mid Sussex and East Grinstead parish. We check the address against the official data before quoting, so you apply to the right council.
Do I need permission for a new driveway in Felbridge?
Often not. There is no conservation area at Felbridge, so the usual position applies: the Planning Portal describes no permission being needed for a driveway of any size in permeable or porous surfacing, or where rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally. The dropped kerb is a separate matter and goes to the county: Surrey County Council on the Tandridge side, West Sussex County Council if your address falls in Mid Sussex.
The soil here is sandy. Does that make a driveway cheaper?
The dig is usually easier and the drainage is often simpler, so the ground is on your side. It does not make the build lighter. Loose sandy formation will not hold an edge restraint, so it has to be compacted in layers and every edge haunched properly. On this ground the edges and the kerb line are what fail first if the base work has been rushed, and no surface material rescues that afterwards.
Most of the parish is Green Belt. Does that stop a garden room?
Not automatically, but it is worth checking first. Almost all of Felbridge parish is Metropolitan Green Belt, and 94 per cent of Tandridge district is Green Belt, the highest amount for a local council in the country. Paving and patios inside a garden are rarely the issue. A building is a different matter, particularly on a plot that has had extensions already, so we would ask you to confirm the position with the council before we order anything.
Do you work in Copthorne, Crawley Down and Furnace Wood?
Yes. Furnace Wood sits south west of the village towards Crawley Down, and its addresses run into RH10 and into Mid Sussex, Worth parish. Copthorne and Crawley Down are over the county line in West Sussex, in Mid Sussex district. It is the same run out for us, but the planning and highway authorities change with the address, so we confirm which ones apply to yours before anything is priced.
My drive slopes down towards the lake and water sits at the bottom. What can you do?
That side of the village is where the ground falls to water courses, lakes and mill ponds, so a soakaway at the low point has nowhere to send the water. We deal with it by grading the fall deliberately, intercepting the run with channel drainage across the drive rather than letting it all arrive at the bottom, and taking the collected water to a positive outlet away from the building.
Get a quote
Planning an Outdoor Project in Felbridge?
Send us the address and we will confirm which council covers it before we price anything. Free written quotes across Felbridge, Domewood, Hedgecourt, Furnace Wood and Felcourt.
- Free, no-obligation quotationsIn writing, with the build-up and the drainage set out.
- 27 years in the tradeMarshalls Register accredited, Bradstone Assured.
- Fully insuredDomestic and commercial work across Surrey.
Arrange a free site visit
Tell us a little about the project and we will come out, look at the ground and put a written quotation together.
Where we work
Paving, Landscaping & Outdoor Construction Across Surrey
Based in Caterham, we undertake projects throughout Surrey and selected areas of Kent and West Sussex. For larger or more comprehensive projects, we are happy to consider work further afield.