Homes and gardens in Dormanstown
Dormanstown was planned as a whole. Work started in 1917 to house workers for the Dorman Long steelworks, and the layout was drawn up by the town planners Stanley Adshead, Stanley Ramsey and Patrick Abercrombie in the garden village style of the time: broad roads, green verges, and houses set back behind front gardens. By 1920 it housed 342 families. Several streets carry the names of the architects, and 1-20 Dormans Crescent is now Grade II listed, as is Westfield House.
The village has grown since, with inter-war and post-war council housing added around the original core. The 2021 Census for the Dormanstown ward shows a place that is overwhelmingly semi-detached: 67.1% of homes are semis, 19.8% terraced and 8.1% flats. Just 3.7% are detached.
A garden-village semi typically has a front garden, a side path and a long back garden, often far longer than it is wide. That shape suits a patio straight off the back door with a path running down to a lawn, shed or vegetable plot. Many of these gardens still have the original concrete path and a small slabbed area that has cracked or tilted as the ground has moved over the decades.
Because so many houses are in pairs with side paths, access is usually good: materials can be barrowed down the side rather than through the house. Where a side extension or garage has closed the gap, we plan for hand-carrying instead.
Clay ground under the gardens
The British Geological Survey shows Dormanstown on glacial till over Redcar Mudstone. Till is a mixed, stony clay. It holds water, it softens when wet and it can shrink a little in long dry spells. That is the main reason old patios here sink at the edges or hold puddles.
Our approach on clay is simple. We dig out the topsoil and any soft clay to a firm level, lay a geotextile to stop the clay pumping up into the stone, and build a compacted sub-base thick enough to spread the load. The patio gets a steady fall away from the house so water runs off rather than sitting on the slabs or soaking toward the walls.
The Environment Agency does not show Flood Zone 3 within 750 metres of the centre of Dormanstown. Surface water mapping, though, shows plenty of low spots across the flat ground here, which matches what many owners see after heavy rain. If a garden already holds water, we can add a channel drain at the patio edge or a soakaway at the far end where the ground allows.
Planning in Dormanstown
There is no conservation area in Dormanstown, so national permitted development rules apply to almost every house. A ground-level patio in a back garden does not need planning permission. Raised decks or platforms over 30cm high do.
The front gardens are a big part of the garden-village look. If you want to pave one, the rule is that more than five square metres of new hard surface must be permeable, such as permeable block or gravel, or drain to a lawn or border within the garden. Owners of the listed homes on Dormans Crescent should check with the council before changing anything that affects the setting of the building.
What decides the price
We quote after a visit. In Dormanstown the price mostly turns on:
- Size and shape. Long gardens often mean a patio plus a path.
- Clay. Soft till can mean deeper digging and more sub-base.
- Drainage. Gullies or soakaways where the garden already floods.
- Old surfaces. Breaking out original concrete paths and slabs.
- Material. Concrete slabs, Indian sandstone and porcelain vary.
- Access. A clear side path keeps barrowing quick.
Places next to Dormanstown
- Coatham patio page: North: Victorian terraces and flats near the sea front.
- Eston patio page: West across the Trunk Road: a former ironstone town under the Eston Hills.
- New Marske patio page: East: a hillside village with newer detached homes.
Service pages Dormanstown owners use: patio slabs and paving, indian sandstone patios, garden paths and steps.
All places we cover: areas page.
Asked about patios in Dormanstown
Our back garden floods after heavy rain. Can a patio help?
A patio laid with a fall and a drain can stop water sitting by the house. On clay we also look at a soakaway or channel drain to take water away.
Can you match the patio to the age of a garden-village house?
Yes. Buff or grey textured slabs and riven sandstone both sit well against rendered or brick 1920s semis. We bring samples.
Is the whole of Dormanstown a conservation area?
No. There is no conservation area here, although a few buildings, including 1-20 Dormans Crescent, are listed.
Can you put in a path down our long garden at the same time?
Yes. A path in matching or contrasting stone is often laid at the same time as the patio, using the same base and edging.
Sources: ONS Census 2021 TS044, Dormanstown ward (Nomis); Wikipedia: Dormanstown; Planning Data: listed buildings; BGS Geology Viewer; Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning; GOV.UK: permeable surfacing of front gardens.