Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

Roofers in Kempsford

Roof repairs, re-roofing, lead and chimneys in Kempsford, from the Grade I church tower and the old canal wharf to the houses that sit between the Thames and the airfield.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

Kempsford's roofs, from tower to wharf

Church tower rising over village roofs — The church and the older core

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is Grade I listed, a twelfth-century building with a thirteenth-century chancel and a three-stage tower, restored by G E Street around 1858. Neighbours of a building that old are often old themselves, and their roofs have usually been mended more than once. A tower and nave roof meet in places that are hard to flash and harder to reach, which is why lead, gutters and pointing are surveyed together. Houses beside it deserve the same care: we look for the covering that is actually there before proposing anything. Old rafters, wall plates and the tops of walls can be as important as the tiles, because a covering is only as good as the timbers that carry it. If a roof has dropped a little, we check whether that is settlement that stopped long ago or movement still going on.

Brick outbuilding with a lean-to roof — The Thames and Severn Canal wharf

A wharf on the Thames and Severn Canal was built here in the 1780s, and Wharf House survives, along with Hannington Bridge, dated 1841. Buildings from the canal era were put up for working use and later adapted for homes, so their roofs often carry the marks of different owners: a lean-to added here, a replacement covering there, an altered pitch where an outbuilding was joined to the house. Where roofs meet at awkward angles, valleys and flashings do much of the work, and they are what we examine first. A valley is the trough formed where two slopes run into each other, and a flashing is the metal strip, usually lead, that seals a roof against a wall or chimney. A small gap in either is enough to let water run in unseen for months.

Concrete-tiled house with a porch roof — Newer homes and outbuildings

Kempsford is a village of about 1,200 people beside the river, with houses of many dates, from period cottages to later estate homes, along with garages, porches, conservatories and barns converted to homes. The coverings vary with the age of each building, so every survey records what is on the slope and how it is fixed. Extensions often add flat or low-pitched sections where they meet the main roof, and those joins are a frequent cause of internal damp. Chimneys on these houses add another point to check, as lead around the base and the pointing of the stack wear at different rates. Conservatories and kitchen extensions should have their own upstands and gutters looked at on the same visit, because a repair to the main roof does not cure a leak that starts lower down.

From Swindon up to the Thames

Distance: 12 road miles north of central Swindon
Council: Cotswold District Council
Council: Cotswold District Council
Conservation area: Kempsford Conservation Area
Setting: An Upper Thames village, about 2.5 miles south of Fairford

Kempsford roof questions

Does the Kempsford conservation area boundary take in my house?

The village has a conservation area. Check the boundary with Cotswold District Council, since a new roof material, or any change to a listed house, is worth a phone call to the council before anything is booked.

Do roofs near the wharf and the river need special care?

Older working buildings often have altered roofs with awkward joins. Valleys, flashings and gutters are checked first, because that is where river-valley rain usually finds its way in.

Who handles Building Regulations for Kempsford roofs?

Cotswold District Council has its own building control team, with registered building control approvers as the private route. We explain what is needed and file the notification for notifiable work.

What is on the roofs near Kempsford church?

Roofer dressing stepped lead flashing around a brick chimney

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

St Mary's has a Grade I listing and a three-stage tower, and the buildings around it are of mixed age. There is no single covering to name for the village, so we identify the material on each roof at the survey and repair it in the same type, size and colour.

Kempsford's best-documented roofs are the church's, and the village history around it is rich: a twelfth-century nave, a thirteenth-century chancel, a tower in three stages, and Victorian restoration by G E Street around 1858. Beyond the church, the written record of the village roofs is thin, so the sensible approach is to look at each building as it stands.

What does the survey look for?

On an older house we start with the covering itself: its material, its pitch, how it is fixed, and how many different repairs it has had. Photographs of every slope go into the written quote, with the faults marked so you can see them for yourself. A roof with a history of patching often has mixed coverings, uneven courses and flashings of different ages, and that tells us where earlier problems were.

Are roofs beside the church different?

A roof beside a tall tower can be shaded, sheltered from some winds and exposed to others, and where trees stand close its gutters collect leaves and debris. Moss and slow-draining valleys follow. Clearing the gutters and cleaning the slope is sometimes the right first step, and our roof cleaning and moss removal page explains when that is enough and when it only hides a deeper problem.

Why treat lead and masonry together?

Where a roof meets a tower or chimney, the lead flashing and the pointing around it fail together. Re-pointing without renewing the flashing, or the other way round, leaves a leak waiting. We deal with the junction as a whole, and the quote says which parts are repairs and which are renewals.

All of this is judged on the roof itself, not on the village's reputation, and the quote says plainly which faults are urgent and which can wait.

How do canal-era roofs by the wharf differ?

The answer

They were built for work first and homes later, so they often have altered pitches, added lean-tos and mixed coverings. The faults usually sit at the joins between roofs, in valleys and flashings, rather than in the covering itself, and repairs are aimed there.

The wharf on the Thames and Severn Canal dates from the 1780s, and Wharf House still stands. Hannington Bridge over the Thames followed in 1841. Buildings from a working waterside seldom stayed as first built, and the roofs show it.

Where do joins and additions fail?

When an outbuilding is linked to a house, or a store becomes a kitchen, a new roof meets an old one. The junction may be a lead-lined valley, a stepped flashing or a patch of mortar, and the last of those is the weakest. Renewing the join in lead is often the right repair, with the main covering left alone. Lead is dressed to the shape of the roof, outlasts most mortar fillets by a distance, and can be matched in code to the exposure of the spot it protects.

Is a wet wall always the roof's fault?

Waterside buildings sit on damp ground, and rainwater that spills from a failed gutter can add to it. Before blaming the roof for a wet wall, we check that the gutters, downpipes and drains are doing their job. A downpipe that discharges at the foot of a wall, or a gully blocked with silt, can leave a wall damp for years while the roof above gets the blame.

How is the repair chosen?

A sagging ridge can mean a rotted timber or a loose fixing. A stain on a ceiling can come from a pipe, condensation or a roof leak. We trace the water to its source before suggesting a repair, and the quote covers only the work needed to cure the problem. Where a whole roof has run its course, our roof replacement page describes how a new covering is planned and measured.

Along a river, ground water and rain arrive together, so we look at what is happening below the eaves as well as above them.

Our view

Fix the joins first, because on altered roofs that is where the water gets in.

Which consents apply to roof work in Kempsford?

Reclaimed Cotswold stone slates sorted by length beside a limestone wall

Gloved hands fitting a weathered Cotswold stone slate

The short answer

Planning permission is rarely needed for a repair in matching material. Kempsford has a conservation area, and its church, Wharf House and Hannington Bridge are listed, so a new covering or work on a listed building is a matter to discuss with Cotswold District Council. Larger re-roofs also fall under Building Regulations.

Most roof maintenance in Kempsford needs no application at all. Putting back broken tiles or stones in matching material, resetting a ridge or renewing a flashing counts as upkeep. A handful of situations are different.

Is there a conservation area?

Kempsford Conservation Area is recorded with Cotswold District Council. Whether a direction removing permitted development rights applies to your address is a question for the council. Changing material, or altering how a roof looks from the lane, is worth raising with the council before you commit, and the same goes for new roof windows, which are covered on our skylights page.

Which buildings are listed?

The church, Wharf House and Hannington Bridge are all among the village's listed structures. Consent is needed before anything alters a listed building's character, and the roof covering is part of that. Church of England churches in use follow the faculty system instead. For a listed house we propose identical materials first and raise any change with you before it is priced.

Does re-covering a Kempsford roof have to be notified?

Re-covering is not normally notifiable when it affects less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof. Past those limits, approval applies, and insulation can become part of the job. Cotswold District Council runs its own building control team, and a registered building control approver is the alternative. We explain what is needed and handle the notification.

If you cannot tell whether your home is listed or sits inside the boundary, the council can tell you, and we will talk you through the reply.

MythLiving near a listed church means your own roof needs consent for every repair.

FactOnly your own building's status matters, and repairs in matching material seldom call for an application.

Roofing services in Kempsford

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from beside the Thames

Why do roofs beside Kempsford's wharf have so many lean-tos?

Waterside buildings were put up for work and later turned into homes, so extensions and outbuildings were added as needs changed. Each addition created a join between roofs, and joins are where leaks start. We check every one of them at the survey and renew the weak ones with lead or a matching covering.

Can you work on roofs close to the church?

Yes. Homes beside St Mary's get the same survey as any other, paying attention to shared junctions, trees and gutters. For a listed building we settle materials and method with you first, and you hear from us before anything about the plan changes.

Does the airfield nearby affect roof work?

Not the rules for roofing. RAF Fairford lies immediately north of the village, and we plan deliveries and scaffold around the lane in front of your house, as we would anywhere. Access and parking are covered in the written quote.

Are ridge tiles in Kempsford held on mortar alone?

On older roofs they frequently are, because a mortar bed was the usual method for years. Since BS 5534:2014 that bed alone is not relied on, and ridge and hip tiles take clips or screws as well. Re-bedding a ridge is the moment to add them, or to swap to a tested dry-fix system.

Ask us about your roof

Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back.

Photos of what we find
A written quote
10-year workmanship guarantee

Or call 01793 626096