Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

Roofers in Marshfield

Stone-slate repairs, careful re-laying, valleys, chimneys and lead for the houses of Marshfield, the old market village on the southern edge of the Cotswolds.

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Roofs along Marshfield's High Street

Stone terrace on a long straight high street — The planned medieval street

Marshfield was granted its market in 1234, and the High Street, some 350 metres of near-straight road, still keeps the layout of that planned town, with narrow burgage plots running back from the frontage. The houses along it date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are built in coursed rubble with plain freestone surrounds and ashlar. A street like this is read as one composition, so a patch that stands out is noticed from end to end. Gables, shared stacks and the long rear slopes that face the plots behind are the details that shape how we plan a job.

Stone slate roof beside clay tile neighbours — Stone slate, clay tile and slate

The council's 2024 conservation area appraisal says High Street roofs are covered in Cotswold stone slates, clay tiles or slate. Three coverings, three sets of faults. Stone slates hang on pegs and fail where the pegs or battens rot. Clay tiles let go at the nibs and the bedding. Slate fails at the nails. Telling them apart at a glance matters, because a repair that treats a pegged stone roof like a nailed slate one does damage. The appraisal also sets out that Cotswold stone slates should be retained on High Street frontages where they now sit.

Village church tower beside stone cottages — The church, the Tolzey and the valley

St Mary's was rebuilt around 1470 in the Perpendicular style by the monks of Tewkesbury Abbey, and the Tolzey, the town house of 1690, is Grade II listed. Both stand within a conservation area first designated in 1973 and extended in 1998 to include the valley to the south. Down in that valley the buildings shift in character towards cottages, farm ranges and outbuildings, whose roofs are simpler but no less exposed. Stone walls and stone-slate roofs share the same hillside weather down there, and damp from a leaking roof can show as stained plaster in the wall below. Barns and stores often ask for attention before the house does, and we survey them with the same care as the house itself, because an unrepaired outbuilding roof is how a sound stone wall begins to take in water.

From Swindon to the Cotswold edge

Distance: 28 road miles west-south-west of central Swindon
Council: South Gloucestershire Council
Council: South Gloucestershire Council
Conservation area: Marshfield, designated 17 September 1973 and extended in 1998
National Landscape: Cotswolds National Landscape

Marshfield roof questions

Does Marshfield's conservation area cover roof repairs?

A repair that keeps the same covering rarely needs an application. Bringing in a different covering, or any job on a listed home, is when to call South Gloucestershire Council before work begins.

Can stone slates on a High Street frontage be kept?

Usually. Sound slates are rehung on new pegs and battens, broken ones are replaced with stone of the same size and tone, and the courses go back as they were.

Is a ridge-top Cotswold edge village hard on roofs?

It is an exposed position, so verges, ridges and the lowest courses take the strain first. Those are the places we examine hardest at survey.

What covers the roofs of Marshfield's old houses?

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

The council's appraisal names three coverings on the High Street: Cotswold stone slates, clay tiles and slate. Behind them stand coursed rubble walls, houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and a medieval plan, so each roof has to be mended in its own material.

Marshfield sits at the southern end of the Cotswold hills, and its High Street runs almost straight for about 350 metres. The buildings along it were raised in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries on the long narrow plots of a medieval market town. Their roofs came from three different supply lines.

How can I tell stone slate from tile or slate?

Start with the coursing. Stone slates shrink as they climb the slope, big ones along the eaves and tiny ones by the ridge, and their surface is rough and uneven. Clay tiles are small, regular and gently curved. Slate is flat, thin and even. A stone roof also has a depth and weight that the others lack, and the rafters beneath it are sturdier.

What fails first on a pegged stone roof?

The fixings, ahead of the stone. Traditionally each slate hangs over a batten on one or two oak pegs, and when a peg rots or a batten softens, the slate slides. Rain then gets under the course above. We open the affected area, renew the timber and rehang the stones in their courses, without stripping the whole slope.

Why do the stones change size?

Because the rock splits that way. The biggest pieces, about 600 millimetres long and sometimes more, run along the eaves, and the smallest, around 150 millimetres, finish the slope near the ridge. Laying them in diminishing courses gives the roof its look and its tight lap.

Our pages on Cotswold stone roofing and roof repairs follow each case through in turn.

Lead is what keeps a stone roof watertight against a chimney or gable wall, dressed into the masonry joint, and it is often the oldest repair on the whole roof. So the lead is examined early at every Marshfield survey.

Does a Marshfield stone roof deserve keeping?

The answer

Generally, yes. Traditional Cotswold District Council guidance reckons a stone roof kept in regular repair can run to a century, and the stone often outlives the timbers that carry it. Repairing and re-laying keeps both the roof and the street intact.

Stone slate is heavy, slow to produce and costly to replace. It is also very long-lived. An owners' guide that Cotswold District Council published in April 2000 reckons a well-kept stone roof can run to a century without difficulty, and that clearing moss and debris each year could stretch that further still. Those are traditional figures and not promises, but they point one way: look after the stone.

Do old stone roofs always lose slates?

Over decades, yes. The guide adds that when an old roof is finally stripped, roughly half its stones are often found to have perished. For that reason a re-laid roof seldom reuses only its own stone, and the top-up has to match. On the High Street the appraisal speaks of retaining stone slates where they are in use today. That is enhancement guidance and not a statutory control, but it tells you what to expect.

Where should replacement stone come from?

From new stone, or from the same building. The policy reproduced in the council guide is that reclaimed slates belong on the building they were taken from, since buying second-hand stone can strip another roof of its covering. You will know the source of every replacement stone, and limestone and sandstone slates are never laid together.

Cost depends on access, how large the area is and how much stone has to be replaced. For scale, national guides give per-square-metre figures, shown below. Ask whether the price you are given allows for VAT and a scaffold, because a High Street frontage needs access over the pavement.

Our work carries a 10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.

What it typically costs

Stone slate, general guide£160 to £210 per m²
Welsh slate, laid new£140 to £180 per m²
Salvaged slate, relaid£110 to £150 per m²
Spanish slate, laid new£100 to £130 per m²

Typical national figures from published guides, not our prices. Scaffolding, access and the state of the timbers all move the total, and the written quote is prepared only once we have surveyed the roof. Checkatrade slate cost guide (September 2026) and MyBuilder slate roof cost (updated 21/08/2026).

Who decides what I can do to a Marshfield roof?

Slipped natural slate with an exposed nail on a weathered roof

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows

The short answer

South Gloucestershire Council deals with planning and conservation here, and Marshfield's conservation area dates from 1973. A repair in the same covering rarely needs an application, whereas a listed roof like the Tolzey's needs listed building consent before anything alters its special character.

For planning and conservation the council that matters is South Gloucestershire Council. Its conservation area takes in the High Street and the valley to the south, and the appraisal published in 2024 describes what the council values there.

When would I need to make an application?

Not often, if the existing covering stays. Putting a different material on, adding roof windows to a front slope or reshaping a chimney is what draws the council's attention. The appraisal's wording about retaining stone slates is guidance rather than statute, yet it signals the answer you would get if you proposed concrete or artificial stone. Our page on stone roofs in conservation areas covers the detail.

What about the Tolzey and the church?

The Tolzey is Grade II listed. On a listed roof, consent is needed before changes that affect the building's special character, and that includes the covering. A church in regular worship use under the Church of England answers to the faculty system and not to the council, so St Mary's is a separate conversation from your house. Should your own home be listed, find out before booking anyone.

Do Building Regulations reach a re-roof?

Sometimes. According to the Planning Portal, a building control application is not normally needed provided the work affects under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. Exceed one of those thresholds, or choose a covering 15 per cent or more heavier, approval applies. Stone is very heavy, so swapping it for another covering calls for a structural look first. If the work does count as notifiable, the consent position is explained to you and the notification is filed with South Gloucestershire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver.

The loft of an old stone house is a natural home for bats and nesting birds, both protected, and work pauses for advice if either turns up.

MythLiving inside a conservation area means the council must approve every slate you touch.

FactMending a roof in the same covering seldom needs approval; it is a move to another material, or a listed building, that gets the council's scrutiny.

Roofing services in Marshfield

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from along the High Street

How are stone slates rehung on a Marshfield house?

We photograph the slope, number and sort the slates by size, renew the battens and pegs, and lay the stone back in diminishing courses with matching stock for the breakages. The finished slope should look like the one you started with, with the site cleared and the waste removed when we finish.

Do stone slate roofs need ventilation or underlay?

Traditional stone roofs were pegged straight onto battens and breathed through the gaps, so underlay or lime torching is a decision for the building, not a rule. We look at what is there and say whether it should stay. Fitting a modern membrane can change how the roof behaves, and on an old stone roof it can trap moisture where the building used to breathe it out.

Can the flat roof at the back of a High Street plot be repaired?

Yes. Rear extensions, lean-tos and outbuildings behind the old frontages often have flat or shallow roofs, and the upstand and flashing against the stone wall is where leaks usually begin. We repair them and renew them when a repair would not last.

How exposed are chimney stacks on the Marshfield ridge?

Stacks stand above the ridge and take wind from every side, which is why they weather faster than the roof around them. After a gale, the stack is the first place to check for loose pots and cracked flaunching. Pointing, flaunching and the lead round the foot of the stack are the first to go, so we look at them closely and describe what needs doing in the written quote.

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