Gentler ground beside the southern Stray
The slope here is milder than the western hill, and the stone and brick of Oatlands line the southern edge of the Stray, where the grassland opens and the private gardens begin behind the houses. The Stray stays open ground under the Harrogate Stray Act 1985, so a patio belongs on the householder's own plot. The guide to the Stray and patio rules is the page to read if your windows look onto the grass. Behind those houses, and on through Hookstone and Wheatlands, the gardens are the family kind: wide rear doors, a long lawn, and room for a table. A terrace can often be one generous level, with a single shallow step down to the grass. South, the streets run towards Pannal; north-east, they run towards Starbeck.
Houses at Hookstone and Wheatlands
Hookstone and Wheatlands are semis and detached houses, many of them extended, and the garden now has to suit a kitchen that has moved to the back. We measure for a table with the chairs pulled out, for a route to the bins that stays off the dining area. Older brick, and a garden wall already in buff or grey grit, takes a sandstone flag. Render and wide aluminium doors are where porcelain earns its place, because the module is exact, the joint can be narrow, and the slab takes up very little water through a Yorkshire winter. Natural stone is the conversation when the walls are already sandstone. Block paving joins the two as a path or a small courtyard.
Streets and long back gardens
The streets of this part of south Harrogate are planted and residential, with modest front gardens and back gardens that hold the real outdoor life of the house. Because the fall is gentle, one level and a discreet step often complete the plan, and a second level appears only where the plot itself drops a little or where a slightly sunken area would give shelter from the wind. Front gardens are a separate council question. Once a new hard surface between the front wall and the road covers more than about five square metres, it is expected to let rain through or to shed that rain onto a border or lawn. On a long plot, a smaller sitting area at the far end, linked by stone or setts, means the garden can be used after rain.
Till, mild falls and where water goes
Under the lawns the British Geological Survey generally shows glacial till, a gravelly sandy clay lying over Millstone Grit mudstone, siltstone and sandstone. Till holds water near the surface. We take the soft soil out, firm a crushed-stone layer in lifts, and bed every slab across the whole of its underside, with a fall away from the house towards a border that can accept the water. The flood map for planning is the check for any garden running towards a beck, including the country south of Hookstone as the land begins to feel the Crimple. Most houses here sit above the valley floor at Pannal, so the practical task is surface water on clay, and we still open the map for the postcode. Every place we cover is listed on the areas page.
What a back garden here needs checked
A patio close to the existing ground, in a private back garden, is the arrangement we ask North Yorkshire Council to confirm for a typical Oatlands house. The Stray stays open grassland in front of the district, and the terrace stays inside the private fence. Conservation areas cover the town centre and land associated with the Stray, so a house whose frontage looks onto that grass should be checked on the Planning Data conservation area map before any front boundary is touched. If a terrace would stand more than about 300 millimetres above the ground beside it, that height is where the council normally expects a planning application. On these gentler plots the paving can usually stay near the soil it replaces. A listed house may need a separate consent, and a tree on a conservation-area frontage needs notice to the council before it is cut.
More places near Oatlands
- Patio design in Pannal: South: a Crimple valley village with a stone main street and larger gardens.
- Patio design in Starbeck: North-east: a railway suburb of Victorian terraces and smaller plots.
Surfaces for Oatlands gardens: yorkstone & sandstone, porcelain paving, block paved patios.
The full list of areas: All areas.
Patio FAQs for Oatlands
Can a patio go on the Stray if our house faces it?
The Stray stays open grassland under the Harrogate Stray Act 1985, and the terrace belongs in your private garden. The Stray guide explains the Act, the town-centre conservation areas and the usual checks for a back garden.
Our plot is almost level. Do we still need steps?
Often a single shallow step from the terrace to the lawn is enough. We add another level only where the garden itself falls, or where a slightly sunken area would give shelter. The paving can then stay close to the existing ground.
Porcelain or sandstone for wide rear doors?
Porcelain is the practical choice beside wide modern doors and render, because the joints stay narrow and the surface takes up very little water. Sandstone is what we lay where the house and the garden walls are already in local stone.
What should we send with the enquiry?
The postcode and a short note on the garden, the doors and how you want to sit outside, through the quote page. We reply and look at the plot, including gardens towards Pannal.
Sources: Planning Portal: patios; BGS Geology Viewer; Flood map for planning; Planning Data: conservation areas.