Garden patios in Gilesgate

Houses and back gardens

Gilesgate began as the main street of a settlement around the medieval Hospital of St Giles, beside St Giles Church. Known then as Gillygate, it grew as a "long deeply banked street" running down from the moor and the church toward the city, and by the 18th century it was lined with houses. In the 19th century collieries opened in and around Gilesgate Moor, a mining settlement called New Durham grew at the eastern end, and housing spread along Sunderland Road and Sherburn Road until the old villages and the street merged. Gilesgate station opened in 1844, carried passengers for only 13 years and stayed open for goods until 1966.

The 2021 Census for the area that covers most of Gilesgate, Gilesgate Moor and Old Durham, counted 6,746 people. Its homes are 42.6% semi-detached, 35.0% terraced, 13.3% flats and only 7.4% detached.

That gives three kinds of garden. On the old street, houses have narrow, often steep plots behind them. The terraces of Gilesgate Moor have small back yards, many walled, some with a back lane. The semis on the post-war estates, such as those around Kepier Crescent and Wakenshaw Road, have longer gardens with side access. Most requests are for a tidy, well-drained yard, or a patio to replace cracked concrete behind a semi.

What's under the garden

The British Geological Survey maps glacial till, a stiff, stony clay, over the Pennine Middle Coal Measures, the mudstones, siltstones and sandstones of the Durham coalfield. Till drains slowly and stays wet in winter, so a patio laid straight onto it, or on a thin bed of sand, tends to sink and hold puddles.

We dig out the topsoil and soft clay, lay a geotextile and compact a crushed-stone sub-base in layers. Slabs are bedded on mortar, and the finished surface sits at least 150 mm below the damp-proof course, with a fall away from the house. In walled yards, water is taken to a gully or channel drain, because there is nowhere else for it to go on clay.

The Environment Agency shows no river flood zone within 750 metres of the centre point, but its surface water map marks dozens of low spots. A yard that already holds water after rain needs its levels and drainage planned carefully.

Sloping plots on the bank

The old street climbs steeply, so many gardens behind it rise or fall from the house. We level them in steps: a terrace by the back door, then steps and a low retaining wall to the next level. A patio raised more than 300 mm above the ground generally needs planning permission, so we usually cut into the slope rather than build up. Steps in a yard need a firm, non-slip surface, and we keep the treads even.

Conservation area and listed buildings

The historic street lies inside the Durham City Conservation Area, and around 37 buildings near the centre point are listed, many of them houses along Gilesgate itself. A ground-level patio at the back of a house is usually permitted development, even in the conservation area. Listed buildings, front gardens, walls and trees need more care, and some work needs consent from Durham County Council. Front paving over five square metres must be permeable or drain to a border unless permission is granted.

Choosing a surface

In small yards, porcelain is popular because it does not stain, sheds water quickly and comes in large formats that make a small space feel bigger. Sandstone suits the older houses on the street. Block paving and setts work well where a yard has drains, manholes and awkward corners to work around. We bring samples so you can compare them against your walls.

Cost considerations in Gilesgate

• Access. Yards often need materials carried through the house or along a back lane.
• Clay. Soft ground replaced with compacted stone.
• Drainage. Gullies and channel drains in walled yards.
• Slope. Steps and retaining walls behind the old street.
• Removal. Breaking out old concrete.
• Material. Porcelain, sandstone or block paving.

Next door to Gilesgate

• Garden patios, Belmont: North-east: a suburb of former pit villages either side of the A1(M).
• Garden patios, Sherburn: East: a former pit village surrounded by countryside.
• Garden patios, Shincliffe: South: a conservation village by the River Wear.

Patio types for Gilesgate homes: porcelain patios, stone patios, block paved patios.

See every area: All areas covered.

Common questions from Gilesgate

Sources: ONS Census 2021 TS044, MSOA County Durham 029 (Nomis); Wikipedia: Gilesgate; Planning Data: conservation areas; Planning Data: listed buildings; BGS Geology Viewer; Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning.