Oxted, RH8
Driveways, Patios and Landscaping in OxtedBuilt for Ground That Changes Within a Mile
Sand at Barrow Green, heavy clay at Hurst Green. We dig, base and drain every Oxted job for the ground it sits on.
Working in RH8
One Town, Two Kinds of Ground and Two Different Ways to Build
Oxted is a short run from our yard on Stafford Road in Caterham. Crockett & Crockett is a family-run company led by Oli Crockett, 27 years in the trade, with our own experienced team. The dig, the drainage, the sub-base, the edgings and the laying are all delivered and managed by Crockett & Crockett.
Oxted is the most varied ground we work on. The bedrock changes inside a mile, so a driveway at Barrow Green and one at Hurst Green are different builds even with the same blocks and the same layout. We walk the plot and dig a hole before we price anything.
Most of what we do here is terraces, driveways, garden walls and garden rooms. Quotes are free and written down, with the dig depth, the sub-base and the drainage set out in them. We are on the Marshalls Register of Accredited Landscape Contractors and Driveway Installers, a London Stone registered installer and a Bradstone assured installer, and we are at 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The Marshalls ten year guarantee is a guarantee on the materials.
The ground
What Is Under an Oxted Front Garden and Why It Changes as You Cross the Town
British Geological Survey mapping puts three different bedrocks under the built-up part of Oxted, and two more on its northern edge. Folkestone Formation sandstone sits below the northern streets around Station Road West and Barrow Green Road. Hythe Formation sandstone and limestone runs under Old Oxted. Weald Clay Formation mudstone lies under Hurst Green. North towards the M25 there is a band of Gault Formation mudstone, and New Pit Chalk Formation at the scarp by the old Greystone lime works.
On the sand the dig is quick and water goes away on its own, so a soakaway will usually take a driveway's run-off. But loose sand holds no trench face and no level. It goes back in compacted layers, and the sub-base is compacted in lifts rather than tipped in one go, or the surface dips within a season.
On the Weald Clay at Hurst Green and Holland nothing soaks away, so water is caught in channel drainage and taken somewhere that will accept it. Worked wet, that clay goes to slurry, so we keep plant off the formation and lay a separation membrane before any stone. It shrinks in a dry summer and swells in winter, and that movement pushes out edgings nobody haunched.
- Trial hole first, so the dig and the sub-base are priced off what is there
- Free draining sand at Barrow Green, where a soakaway usually takes the water
- Weald Clay at Hurst Green and Holland: membrane, deeper stone, piped drainage
- Chalk and Gault mudstone on the northern edge towards the old lime works
The houses
Two Settlements, Two Types of Frontage the Old High Street and the Railway Streets
Old Oxted is the medieval High Street, bypassed by the A25 in the late 1960s. New Oxted grew after the railway opened in March 1884, so the streets around Station Road East and Station Road West are late Victorian and Edwardian, much of it in a Tudor style with stucco frontages.
Those houses have a front path, a low wall and a garden never meant to hold a car. Widening one is mostly a boundary question: whether the wall comes down or gets rebuilt lower, where the piers go, and how the front still looks like it belongs on that street.
Old Oxted is tighter again, so the work is a path, a courtyard, steps, or a rear terrace reached through the house. Hurst Green and Holland are later and more suburban, with parking already there and back gardens big enough for a full terrace, a garden room or both.
- Late Victorian and Edwardian frontages around Station Road East and West
- Stucco and Tudor style faces, so paving colours that sit under the house
- Old Oxted: narrow frontages, so paths, courtyards and steps rather than drives
- Hurst Green and Holland: room for a drive, a terrace and a garden room
What we do most here
Terraces First, Driveways Close Behind With the Drainage Designed In, Not Added Later
The commonest job in Oxted is a rear terrace, sandstone or porcelain, usually replacing slabs that have sunk at a corner or gone green because they were laid flat with nowhere for the water to go. We lay to a fall away from the house, on a full mortar bed over a compacted base.
After that it is driveways, in block paving and resin. Which one suits depends as much on the ground under it as the look of it. We also build garden walls, piers and retaining walls, put steps in where a garden drops away, and build garden rooms with the base and ground works included.
Which of those you end up with is usually settled by the ground rather than by taste. A Hurst Green job starts with where the water is going to end up, because the clay will not take it. A Barrow Green job starts with holding the sides of the dig and getting the compaction right, because the sand will not hold itself. The blocks on top can be identical.
- Sandstone and porcelain terraces laid to a fall, set out before anything is cut
- Block paving and resin driveways, drained for the bedrock underneath
- Garden walls, piers and retaining walls in brick and stone
- Garden rooms, including the base, the drainage and the ground works
- Steps, pergolas, turfing, fencing and flower beds to finish a garden
Levels, access and planning
Level in the Middle, Steep on the Northern Edge and Three Conservation Areas in the Parish
The town centre and Hurst Green sit on comparatively level ground. The land climbs north through Barrow Green towards the chalk scarp and the former Oxted Greystone Lime Company quarries, so the steep frontages are on the northern edge rather than in the town. There the job starts as retaining: a wall or sleepers, steps at a rise you can use in February, and a gradient a low car will clear.
Tandridge District Council is the planning authority, and three conservation areas cover parts of the parish: Oxted, Station Road West, and Broadham Green and Spring Lane. In a conservation area Tandridge says permitted development rights over minor works such as roof dormers, cladding and satellite dishes are more restricted, that six weeks' notice is needed before cutting, topping or lopping trees, and that materials should reflect those found locally.
About 94 per cent of Tandridge district is Metropolitan Green Belt, although the Oxted and Hurst Green built-up area is inset from it, and the chalk slopes north of the town are in the Surrey Hills National Landscape. For front gardens the Planning Portal guidance is that permeable or porous surfacing needs no permission at any size, and that permission is expected to be needed once a traditional impermeable drive covers more than five square metres.
For a dropped kerb the highways authority is Surrey County Council. Its guidance is to check with the district council whether permission is required, then apply online in stages, after which a Highways Customer Officer marks out the crossover on site. In Old Oxted and the lanes off it we bring a smaller machine and barrow spoil out rather than stand a lorry across the road.
- Steep northern frontages, so retaining walls, sleepers and usable step gradients
- Tandridge District Council for planning, Surrey County Council for the crossover
- Conservation areas at Oxted, Station Road West, and Broadham Green and Spring Lane
- Narrow lanes off Old Oxted: smaller plant, spoil barrowed out, the street kept open
Villages and neighbourhoods
Where We Work in and Around Oxted
These are the parts of Oxted we are called to most, and the ground under them is not the same from one to the next. If you are just outside one of them, contact us anyway.
Our work
Terraces, Patios and Garden Work
Questions
Oxted Questions We Get Asked
Will a soakaway work for a driveway in Oxted?
It depends which end of town you are on. On the Folkestone Formation sand around Barrow Green and the northern streets, water soaks away well and a soakaway will usually take a driveway's run-off. On the Weald Clay under Hurst Green and Holland it will not, so water has to be piped to a point that will accept it.
Why does a driveway in Hurst Green cost more than the same one in Barrow Green?
Different ground under it. Hurst Green sits on Weald Clay, which holds water, softens when worked wet and moves between summer and winter. That means a deeper dig, a separation membrane, more sub-base stone and a drainage run. The sand at Barrow Green drains itself. Same blocks, far more groundwork under one of them.
Do I need planning permission to pave my front garden in Oxted?
Usually not, if the surface is permeable. National guidance says permission is not needed for permeable or porous surfacing such as gravel or permeable concrete block paving, at any size, or where rainwater drains to a lawn or border. It says permission will be needed for a traditional impermeable drive covering more than five square metres.
We are in the Station Road West conservation area. Does that change the paving?
It changes what is expected of the materials rather than stopping the work. Tandridge asks that materials reflect those found locally, restricts permitted development over minor works, and asks for six weeks' notice before work to trees. We choose paving that reads quietly against a stucco Edwardian frontage and agree the detail before ordering.
How do I get a dropped kerb outside my house in Oxted?
Surrey County Council is the highways authority for vehicle crossovers. Its guidance is to contact Tandridge District Council first to confirm whether planning permission is needed, then apply to Surrey online in stages. A Highways Customer Officer then marks out the proposed crossover on site. We build the drive up to the boundary so there is no lip at the gate.
Can you build on a steep frontage on the north side of Oxted?
Yes. The ground climbs towards the chalk scarp and the former Greystone lime works, and those frontages need retaining before they need paving. That means a wall or sleepers holding the change in level, steps at a rise that is safe in ice, and a drive gradient a low car will clear.
Will you work in Old Oxted, where the streets are narrow?
Yes, with the access planned before we start. Old Oxted and the lanes off it will not take a grab lorry standing all day, so we use smaller plant, barrow spoil out to a loading point and time deliveries. The frontages are tight and the buildings are old, so we keep the road open.
Get a quote
Planning an Outdoor Project in Oxted?
Call 01883 340429 or send photographs to info@crockettpaving.co.uk. We will come out to Oxted, dig a hole if we need to, and give you a written quote with the depths in it.
- 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.