Hilltop market-town high street with stone buildings and a church tower

Roofers in Highworth

Roof repairs, re-roofing, chimneys and flat roofs across Highworth, from the stone-tiled houses near the market place to the newer homes on the edge of the ridge.

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Highworth's roofs, from ridge to edge

Stone and brick houses on an old high street — The old centre

Highworth received its market charter in 1206, and the streets around the church and the market place still show it. The council's conservation area appraisal describes walls of shelly Corallian ragstone, quarried at Eastrop and Westrop, and roofs that were historically covered with stone tiles or thatch. Thatch has almost gone, with a single example left in Brewery Street, but stone-tiled roofs are still common here. Gabled roofs predominate, so ridges, verges and gable copings are a large part of the work on these houses. Many of these buildings are listed, and work on them is planned around keeping the original stone wherever it can be saved.

Slate roofs and chimney stacks on a terrace — Victorian slate

From the nineteenth century, Welsh slate arrived in Highworth as it did across the Swindon area, and terraces such as Eastrop Terrace carry it. Slate on these streets is now well over a century old in places, and the problems we look for are the familiar ones: nails rusting through so slates slide, lead flashings tired at chimneys and party walls, and ridges bedded on mortar alone. Matching replacement slate by size and colour keeps a repair from standing out on a street of identical roofs. Where a run of slates has gone, re-slating one slope with reclaimed Welsh slate often keeps the terrace looking whole.

Concrete tile roofs on newer homes — Newer roofs and concrete tile

The appraisal notes that concrete roof tile is beginning to take a hold, and away from the historic core it is the covering on many newer houses. Concrete interlocking tiles are lighter on detail than stone or slate, but they bring their own faults: ridge tiles loosened when the original mortar bedding fails, cracked tiles after frost, and porch and garage roofs that need attention long before the main roof does. Inside the conservation area, replacing stone or slate with concrete is a change the council may well have a view on. Outside the conservation area, a like-for-like concrete re-roof is straightforward work. Porches, garages and kitchen extensions with flat or low-pitched roofs are common here too.

Up to the hilltop market town

Distance: 7 road miles north-north-east of central Swindon
Council: Swindon Borough Council
Conservation area: Highworth, first designated in 1976
Setting: A Corallian ridge above the Upper Thames valley

Highworth roof questions

Do I need consent for roof work in Highworth's conservation area?

Like-for-like repairs usually don't. A change to the look of a roof, or any work to a listed house, is one to clear with Swindon Borough Council beforehand. The appraisal map shows the boundary.

Can you match Highworth's stone tiles?

Yes. Stone tiles are matched by size and laid in courses that get smaller towards the ridge, using reclaimed stone where that is the right source.

How exposed is a roof on Highworth's hilltop?

More than one in the valley below. Ridges, verges and gable ends take the wind, so their fixings matter most. Gable ends on the ridge get the brunt of it.

What is on the roofs of Highworth's old centre?

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

The short answer

A mix that tells the town's history: stone tiles on the oldest buildings, one surviving thatched roof, Welsh slate brought in from the nineteenth century, and concrete tiles on later work. Many walls are local Corallian ragstone, so the roofs sit on heavy, solid masonry.

Walk from the market place towards the church and you pass most of Highworth's roofing history in a few hundred metres. The council's appraisal of the conservation area describes it plainly: stone tiles or thatch were the traditional coverings, Welsh slate followed in the nineteenth century, and concrete tile has started to appear more recently.

How does a Highworth stone-tiled roof go together?

Stone-tiled roofs are heavy, long-lived and laid in diminishing courses, starting with the biggest stones along the eaves and working up to small ones at the top. Repairs need stones of the right size and thickness, and a roofer who knows how to work the courses so the new stones sit flat. Pulling a stone-tiled slope apart to fix one fault can do more harm than the fault itself, so we look for the narrowest way in.

Stone roofs also move more than people expect. Over decades the timbers settle, the courses drift, and the roof takes on a gentle wave that is part of its character. We do not try to straighten that out; we work with it, so repaired areas follow the line of the stones around them rather than sitting proud.

What about the slate and concrete-tiled roofs?

Welsh slate on the Victorian buildings is lighter and thinner, laid in regular courses. Concrete tiles, where they have replaced older coverings, can look out of place in a historic street, and they weigh more than slate. That weight matters, because a covering noticeably heavier than the one it replaces needs a check on the roof structure.

Our pages on slate roofing and roof repairs cover the work in detail.

On the Victorian slate roofs the questions are different: whether the slates themselves are sound, whether the nails have failed, and whether a later repair has used the wrong size or colour. Each answer points to a different job, from a handful of refixed slates to a re-slate with the old slates sorted and reused.

Is a stone-tiled roof in Highworth worth repairing?

The answer

Usually, yes. Stone tiles last a very long time when the roof is maintained, and the stones themselves often outlive their pegs, battens and fixings. Repairing and re-hanging is normally better value, and better for the building, than replacing the covering with something new.

When a stone-tiled roof starts to leak, the stones are rarely the first thing to fail. Pegs rot, battens soften, and the mortar or moss packing between the courses breaks down. Individual stones slip, and gaps open at the ridge and the verges. All of that can be put right without throwing away the covering.

Should the stones be refixed, or the slope stripped and re-laid?

Where a few stones have slipped, they can be refixed in place. Where a whole slope is moving, the better approach is to strip it carefully, sort the stones by size, replace the battens and fixings, and re-lay the same stones in their courses with any broken ones made up from matching reclaimed stock. That keeps the roof looking as it did, which matters on a street the council has designated for its character.

Reclaimed stone needs care in sourcing. Stones taken from another building can strip that building of its own roof, and stone of a different type or colour can look wrong for years. We match by size, thickness and tone, and say where the stone has come from.

Does changing the covering affect the rafters?

Stone is heavy. Re-laying a stone roof does not change the load, but swapping it for a different material does, and the opposite change, stone onto a roof built for slate, can overload the rafters. Either way, we check the structure first and tell you if building control needs to be involved. Our roof replacement page explains when a full re-cover is the right call.

A well-kept stone roof can go a very long time between major works, and regular attention, such as clearing moss from between the courses and refixing the odd slipped stone, helps it get there.

When a stone roof does need stripping, we photograph it before anything comes off, so the stones can go back in the pattern they came from and the finished slope looks like the one you started with.

Our view

Keep the stones, renew what holds them, and re-lay them in their courses.

Who signs off roof work on a Highworth house?

Roofer on a stone slate ridge beside a stone chimney

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

Highworth is in Swindon Borough, so the council's building control team, or a registered building control approver, deals with notifiable roof work. Planning questions in the conservation area go to the council's conservation officers, and listed buildings need listed building consent for changes that affect their character.

Most roof work in Highworth needs no permission at all. Replacing broken stones, refixing slates or re-bedding a ridge in matching materials is maintenance. Three situations change that.

At what size does a Highworth re-roof need sign-off?

Once re-covering reaches 25 per cent of the building envelope, or half the roof, Building Regulations apply, and the roof may need its insulation improved. Moving to a covering at least 15 per cent heavier brings the same requirement. Swindon Borough Council runs its own building control team, and we sort the notification out when work is notifiable.

What if I want the roof to look different?

Wiltshire County Council first designated Highworth's conservation area on 8 October 1976, and Thamesdown re-designated it in June 1990 after Brewery Street was realigned. Matching repairs leave the street looking as it did, which is why they rarely need a planning application. A change of material, new roof windows on a front slope, or alterations to chimneys can, so it is worth a word with the council's conservation team before you commit. The appraisal itself is a useful read: it describes what the council values in the town's buildings, roofs included.

Is my High Street house listed?

Highworth has a long run of historic buildings along the High Street and around the church of St Michael and All Angels, much of it from the town's market years.

The High Street has listed buildings, including the Old Manor House. Work that affects a listed building's character needs listed building consent, and that includes roofing material. Our starting point is the same material, fixed the same way, and any departure from that is discussed with you first.

If you are not sure whether your house is listed or inside the conservation area boundary, the appraisal map and Historic England's list settle it, and we will look at both with you before pricing.

MythAny roof work in a conservation area needs planning permission.

FactA matching re-roof seldom needs an application; it is changes to the look that the council examines.

Roofing services in Highworth

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from around the market place

Why do some Highworth roofs have stone and others slate?

The town's oldest buildings were roofed with local stone tiles or thatch. From the nineteenth century, Welsh slate became available and cheaper to bring in, so houses built or re-roofed then often have slate, as on Eastrop Terrace. Slate also went onto older houses as a replacement for stone tiles: the appraisal gives Church House in Sheep Street, of 1765, and The Old Manor, of 1652, as examples.

Can you repair the roof of a listed building on the High Street?

Yes, in matching materials and methods. Matching repairs rarely call for consent, but changes that affect the building's character do, so we confirm the approach with you before work starts and suggest speaking to the council if anything changes.

Do you cover the villages around Highworth?

Yes. We work in Hannington, South Marston, Shrivenham, Watchfield and the other villages around the town, as part of the area within 30 road miles of Swindon. Kingsdown and the eastern edge of Swindon are close by too. If you are unsure whether we reach you, the areas page lists every place.

Are ridge tiles on Highworth's older houses fixed with mortar?

Often, because that was standard practice for a long time. Since BS 5534 was revised in 2014, mortar alone is not relied on, so any ridge we re-bed on an exposed Highworth roof gets mechanical fixings or fit a tested dry-fix system. On a hilltop that catches the wind, it is one of the first upgrades we suggest.

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