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Concrete tiled estate rooftops towards green hills

Roofers in Little Somerford

Roof repairs, stone slate work, mansard roofs, chimneys and flat roofs in Little Somerford, from the old stone farmhouses by the Bristol Avon to the twentieth-century homes that make up much of the village.

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Little Somerford's roofs, from farmyard to Avon bend

Stone-slated farmhouse roof in a village
Stone farmhouses and the church

The county history of Wiltshire records that the larger buildings in Little Somerford are of stone, and that St John the Baptist's church is built of stone rubble with ashlar dressings, ashlar meaning smooth squared blocks. Street Farm still has a stone-slated roof. Stone slating is hung from battens, with the courses shrinking in size towards the ridge. It is heavy and it endures, but the pegs and timber behind it wear out sooner than the stone in front. Eaves, valleys and the joins around old chimneys are where we expect to find trouble on these buildings.

Brick house with a steep mansard roof
Red brick and the mansard at Yew Tree Farm

Yew Tree Farm is red brick under a stone-slated mansard roof, and the Old Rectory is red brick with stone dressings. A mansard has two slopes on each side, a steep lower one and a shallower upper one, with a change of angle between them. That change is a weak point: water collects along it, lead or flashing has to carry the junction, and any slate or stone on the steep face is working hard against gravity. Brick chimneys on houses of this kind need their pointing and lead checked at the same visit.

Interlocking tiles on a modern house
The twentieth-century village

The same county history notes that by 1988 few houses in Little Somerford were older than the twentieth century, so much of the village is later building. Houses of that century can carry concrete interlocking tiles or machine-made clay tiles, while flat roofs are common over its garages, porches and rear extensions. These roofs have different faults from the stone ones: tired ridge bedding, cracked tiles, split felt, blocked valleys and gutters that have lost their fall. The work is usually less delicate than on the old farms, though it still repays a careful survey before any scaffold goes up.

From Swindon to a bend in the Avon

Map showing Little Somerford and central Swindon. 14 road miles west of central Swindon.

Distance
14 road miles west of central Swindon
Council
Wiltshire Council
Conservation area
Little Somerford, a designated conservation area covering most of the village
Setting
In a bend of the Bristol Avon, south-east of Malmesbury

Roof answers for Little Somerford homes

Why does the join on a stone-slated mansard roof leak first?

Because the two slopes meet at an angle where water pools. The lead or flashing along that line wears out well before the slates above and below it.

Does Little Somerford's conservation area stop me re-roofing a brick house?

Not on its own account. A repair in matching materials seldom needs an application, though a different covering is worth discussing with Wiltshire Council before you order anything.

Is it safe to mix new tiles into an old twentieth-century roof?

For a few broken tiles, yes, if the profile and thickness match. Where a whole slope has faded and worn, a patchwork shows and may not shed water evenly.

Q1

What are Little Somerford's oldest roofs made from?

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street
Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street
Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green
Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

The short answer

The county history describes stone for the village's larger buildings, stone rubble with ashlar dressings at the church, and stone-slated roofs at farms such as Street Farm and Yew Tree Farm. There is also red brick, at Yew Tree Farm and the Old Rectory, with stone dressings.

Little Somerford lies in a bend of the Bristol Avon, a few miles south-east of Malmesbury, and its old buildings reflect the stone country to the north. The Victoria County History of Wiltshire gives a useful snapshot of what stands in the village, though it was written some decades ago and buildings will have changed since.

How does stone slate stay on a farmhouse roof?

Stone slate goes on in diminishing courses, with big pieces along the eaves and ever smaller ones above. Every stone hangs from a batten on a peg, so a stone roof is held up by wood as much as by rock. Once the peg or the batten rots, stones slide although they are perfectly sound, and a good repair therefore deals with what lies under the stone as much as the stone itself.

What changes when brick and stone meet?

The Old Rectory is brick with stone dressings, and Yew Tree Farm is brick under stone slates. Mixed buildings like these need a roofer who looks at the whole elevation, because the roof edge is where brick, stone and lead all meet. Our Cotswold stone roofing page describes how stone slate is hung and repaired.

What goes wrong on the newer houses?

The county history of Wiltshire says few houses in the village were older than the twentieth century when it was written, so a good share of what you see today is later building. Those roofs deserve the same care in the survey, but the faults differ: ridge bedding that has crumbled, tiles cracked by frost or foot traffic, gutters that sag and valleys full of leaves and moss. They are straightforward to put right once the cause is found, and a short repair is often all they need.

We photograph every slope before quoting, so the written price rests on what your roof actually shows rather than a guess from the lane.

Roof coverings recorded for named Little Somerford buildings
BuildingWhat the county history records
Street FarmA stone-slated roof
Yew Tree FarmRed brick with a stone-slated mansard roof
Old RectoryRed brick with stone dressings
Church of St John the BaptistStone rubble with ashlar dressings
Q2

How is a stone-slated mansard roof repaired?

The answer

By treating the two slopes and the break between them as separate jobs. The steep lower face is checked slate by slate for failed fixings, the shallower upper slope for water that lingers, and the junction between them for worn lead. Often a repair at that junction stops the leak without a re-roof.

The mansard at Yew Tree Farm is an unusual roof to find in a village this size, and it is worth understanding, because the same shape appears on many later houses and extensions too.

Why does the steep face lose stones?

On the lower slope the stones hang almost vertically in places, so gravity works against the fixings every day. A slipped stone here is not a cosmetic problem: it means the peg or nail has failed, and its neighbours are probably next. We check the face stone by stone, using a ladder or tower in the right place, and refix or replace what is loose.

Why does the break in the slope leak?

Where the steep face meets the shallow one, water runs fast down one side and slowly across the other. The junction needs a lead or equivalent flashing, laid so that it throws water outward rather than letting it creep back. Old flashings crack along their folds and lift in wind. Replacing a length of lead at this junction is often a far smaller job than the stained ceiling below it suggests. Our roof repairs page walks through how a leak is traced before any repair is recommended.

Are the timbers behind the stone sound?

Behind a mansard sits a framed structure that is often thicker than ordinary rafters. If a leak has run for some time, we probe the timbers beside the junction before anything is re-covered, because replacing stone over rotten wood only hides the problem.

When is stripping the whole face the better plan?

Sometimes the face of a mansard is worn across its whole width, with fixings failing in every course. Then patching stone by stone is a poor use of your money, and the sensible plan is to strip the face, renew the battens and hang the stones again. We will say which case you are in, with the photographs beside the quote, and where a smaller job properly cures the fault, that is the one we put in writing.

Our view

Repair the junction first; re-cover the slope only if the timbers behind it have gone.

Q3

Does the conservation area affect roofing in Little Somerford?

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows
Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows
Surveyor on a ladder checking slates with a notebook
Surveyor on a ladder checking slates with a notebook

The short answer

A little. Most of the village lies inside a designated conservation area, so changes to how a building looks are worth checking with Wiltshire Council. Matching repairs seldom need an application, and bigger re-roofs raise separate Building Regulations questions handled by building control.

Most roofing in Little Somerford needs no permission, but three situations are worth understanding before work is booked.

Do matching repairs or larger re-covers need approval?

Putting back stones, tiles or slates of the same kind, laid the same way, keeps the street scene as it was. A bigger re-roof is judged on different grounds. Planning Portal guidance sets two thresholds, 25 per cent of the total building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof: stay below both and building control approval is not normally needed. A covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval too. Wiltshire Council's building control team can confirm whether your job is notifiable, and we handle the notification where it is. Old roofs often need a little extra: a stone slate roof is heavy, and a lighter modern covering over a rafter structure built for stone is not a change to make without checking the loads.

What counts as changing the look?

Swapping stone slate for a concrete tile, or fitting new roof windows to a visible slope, is the sort of change the council examines in a conservation area. Our page on roof window planning explains how the rules for roof windows work.

What if the building is listed?

Somerford House, built in 1609 for Richard and Margaret Estcourt, is one of the village's notable houses, and the church nave may survive from a church that stood there in 1251. Listed building consent is needed for work affecting the character of a listed building. If your house is old, check with the council whether it is listed before making plans.

A short call before the survey saves time. Tell us the age of the house, what the roof is covered with now, and whether it has been altered, and we can say what is likely to be involved before anyone climbs a ladder. If a bat roost or a nesting bird turns up, work stops until it has been dealt with properly, which is another reason to start early.

MythA conservation area means every roof repair needs a planning application.

FactMatching repairs rarely do; what draws the council's interest is a change to the building's outward appearance.

Roofing services in Little Somerford

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the Avon-side lanes

Why do stone-slated roofs near the Avon lose slates when the stone looks sound?

The stone usually outlasts what holds it. Oak pegs rot, battens soften with age and nails corrode, so a slate slips although nothing is wrong with the stone. We lift the affected area, renew the fixings and timber behind it, and rehang the same stones.

Can you reslate a barn or outbuilding attached to an old farmhouse?

Yes. Barns, stables and other farm buildings are in the area we cover, and each is surveyed and quoted on its own, in writing. Stone slate, clay tile, sheeting and flat membranes are all different jobs, and the price follows the covering, the way in and the state of the timbers below.

Is there anything special about repairing a brick chimney on an old rectory?

Yes. Tall brick stacks weather at the top, where the pointing washes out and the pots loosen, and at the base, where lead has aged. We look at both ends, and the haunching that holds the pots, before recommending anything beyond repointing and a new flashing.

Are ridge tiles in Little Somerford fixed with more than mortar?

Older ridges frequently were not, since mortar alone was the accepted method for a long time. BS 5534 changed that in 2014: ridge and hip tiles are now held by mechanical fixings as well, or by a tested dry-fix system. Rebuilding a loose ridge to that standard is a sensible first repair.

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