Patio design in Beckwithshaw

A gritstone slope towards the lane

The slope in a Beckwithshaw garden often runs from the back of the house down towards the lane, on stone that belongs to the Millstone Grit of this south-western side of Harrogate. The village is small and scattered, a church and a loose gathering of houses on the road towards the Washburn, and the plots are larger than a suburban semi usually allows. We look for a level place to sit, held by a low edge on the downhill side. The church of St Michael and All Angels, consecrated in 1886 and built of Killinghall stone, is a listed building whose warm sandstone is a good reference when we choose flags nearby. North-west, the lanes run towards Hampsthwaite; south-east, the land falls towards Pannal. If the fall is the uncertain part, the steps guide shows how we break a slope into landings and risers.

Scattered houses and larger plots

Because the houses stand apart, each garden has its own orientation and its own way of meeting the lane. We plan for the particular house: a dining terrace that takes a table without blocking the doors, a route for boots that stays off the lawn, and, where the plot is wide, a second paved moment further out. Block paving is at home on these wider gardens, for the path, the working yard, and any curve around a lawn. Large flags remain the right surface for the main sitting area when the house is stone. We plan the route for materials along the lane before the layout depends on a long carry.

A stone terrace on a wide garden

On a plot this size the terrace should feel placed. We keep it related to the house, so that it reads as an outdoor room, and we let a generous lawn do the work of scale beyond it. A garden terrace in stone, with a broad tread down to the grass, suits the gritstone houses and the older farmhouses. Where the downhill side needs holding, a low wall in a similar sandstone, or a sett edge if the change is only a single step, gives the terrace a clear finish and stops soil washing onto the paving. Porcelain has a place on the newer houses, where render and wide doors want a precise grid and a surface that stays easy under trees. Flags for the terrace and setts for the path are often the most convincing pairing. The natural stone and porcelain pages describe the surfaces.

Water off the high ground

Gritstone country sheds rain quickly where the soil is thin, and it holds it where a mudstone band or a pocket of till sits under the lawn. Beckwithshaw is high relative to the town, on the country that feeds the Crimple. We set the terrace to fall away from the house, and we give the downhill edge a way to let that water out. A drain behind a retaining edge, and openings through it, keep water from building in the soil and pushing at the wall. The flood map for planning is the right check for a plot beside a beck. The British Geological Survey viewer shows the grit and the drift that guide the dig: rock close to the surface in one place, a soft hollow in another. A stream or a lane that runs with water, noted on the quote form, means we come ready to talk about outlets.

Council checks and the village setting

The listed church is the building everyone can name, so work along the lane deserves a calm choice of material. We check the Planning Data conservation area map for the particular plot, and we treat a listed building as a matter for North Yorkshire Council before levels are fixed. A patio that stays close to the ground in a private back garden is the usual case to confirm. As soon as the paving would sit more than about 300 millimetres above the lower side, because the slope towards the lane has been held up on fill, the council normally expects a planning application. Terracing into the hill, with a low edge and steps, keeps a level place to sit while the height stays honest. A new hard surface between a front wall and the road, once it is more than a small area, needs to let rain through or to run to a border. If you are between here, Hampsthwaite and Pannal, the areas page lists the places our team covers.

More places near Beckwithshaw

• Patio design in Hampsthwaite: North-west: a Nidderdale village on the south bank of the Nidd.
• Patio design in Pannal: South-east: a Crimple valley village, whose church is linked with Beckwithshaw.

Surfaces for wide village plots: yorkstone & sandstone, porcelain paving, block paved patios.

The full list of areas: All areas.

Patio FAQs for Beckwithshaw

Sources: Planning Portal: patios; BGS Geology Viewer; Flood map for planning; Planning Data: conservation areas.