Wet slate and clay tile rooftops with chimney stacks after rain

Roofers in Rodbourne

Repairs, re-covering, chimneys and flat roofs across the Rodbourne district, from the railway-era streets to the 1930s semis around Harvey Grove, with the old village by the River Ray at its edge.

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Rodbourne's roofs, from village to semi

Stone cottages around a village church — The old village by the Ray

The oldest part of Rodbourne is the village core at Rodbourne Cheney, where a church, a manor and a green sit beside the River Ray. St Mary's Church is listed grade II with 13th century origins, and the Manor House is listed grade II* as a stone-tiled house with late 16th century roots. Alongside them the council's appraisal records old sarsen stone kerbs and stone cottages typical of the locality. Roofs of stone tile are very heavy, so the timbers beneath them are stout, and the usual repair is to lift an area and set the existing stones back in order, not to buy new ones. That is slow, skilled work, and we plan the access and the storage of stones before a single one is lifted.

A brick terrace with slate roofs and chimneys — Railway-era streets

When the Great Western Railway arrived it began Rodbourne Cheney's change from a rural community to an urban one, and the streets of the wider district grew around the works. The appraisal cites red brick and slate dwellings as typical of their period, and terraces in that style depend on slate and lead. Those roofs are now well over a hundred years old in places. What goes first is rarely the slate itself. Nails corrode, so slates slide. Lead at chimneys and on the walls between houses splits. Ridge bedding loosens. On a terrace, a leak seen in one bedroom can come from the roof two doors away, so tracing the water comes before pricing.

Hipped semi-detached houses with bay windows — Harvey Grove and the 1930s

A wave of 1930s semis, Harvey Grove among them, pulled Rodbourne Cheney inside Swindon's urban area. Semi-detached houses of that decade are typically hipped, with the slopes sweeping back from the front corners, and many have a bay window with a small roof of its own and a chimney stack on the party wall. Each of those details is a junction, and junctions are where bedding, lead and fixings fail first. A roof like this can look sound from the road while one hip is loose. Many such houses have been re-covered since in concrete or clay tile, and a street can show several different coverings side by side. Rear extensions, garages and porches add flat roofs, which age on a different schedule from the pitched roof above.

From Swindon out to the River Ray

Distance: 2 road miles west of central Swindon
Council: Swindon Borough Council
Conservation area: Rodbourne Cheney, designated 25 June 1990, covering the old village core
Listed buildings: Manor House (grade II*, stone-tiled) and St Mary's Church (grade II)
Setting: The River Ray, with open space to the north-west of the conservation area

Rodbourne roof questions

Is my Rodbourne house inside the Rodbourne Cheney conservation area?

Only if it is in the old village core around the church and manor. The rest of the district is outside it. We can read the council's appraisal map with you.

Do hips on 1930s semis near Harvey Grove need special care?

They do. A hip is a join between two slopes, so the bedding, the fixings and the cut tiles at the ridge are what we examine first. Worn bedding is replaced with mechanical fixings, not more mortar alone.

Can sarsen-kerbed streets by the green take scaffold and skips?

Yes, with care. Old stone kerbs are part of the character of the village, so we plan where scaffold feet and skips go to avoid cracking or chipping them.

Where does old Rodbourne end and the railway town begin?

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

Roofers on a slate roof along a limestone village street

The short answer

The old village around St Mary's and the Manor House is a small area on the River Ray. The wider Rodbourne district grew after the Great Western Railway arrived, with brick and slate streets and later 1930s semis. The roofs change character within a few minutes' walk.

The Rodbourne area takes in a medieval church, a Tudor-era manor, a railway terrace and a 1930s cul-de-sac. The council's appraisal for the Rodbourne Cheney conservation area describes how the railway turned a rural community into an urban one, and the roofs record each stage.

Why do the different ages matter?

Stone tile on the old buildings fails at its pegs and battens, so repair means lifting and re-laying. Welsh slate on the railway-era houses fails at its nails and flashings. Tile on the 1930s houses fails at its hips, ridges and underlay. Each calls for different tools and a different eye, and a roofer who treats all three the same will miss things.

Why does the survey come first?

Before we price, we photograph the roof from the ground and the loft, note the covering and its condition, and record anything that points to an earlier repair. That gives you a record of what is there, and a written quote that fits the roof rather than the postcode. Where there is a question about a boundary or a listing, we flag it in the quote so it is settled before anyone starts work. On a stone building the survey also decides how much original material can be saved.

The streets sit very close to each other, so a repair on a terrace may need us to think about a stone-tiled neighbour or a street of much newer roofs a few doors along. Our roof repairs page sets out how we choose between a patch and a larger job.

Wherever we start, the aim is the same: keep what is sound, replace what is not, and say clearly which is which. That matters on a street where one house may be a listed cottage and its neighbour a railway-era terrace.

Why do 1930s hips near Harvey Grove leak?

The answer

A hip is a joint between two slopes, so it has more bedding, more cut tiles and more fixings than a plain gable. When that bedding cracks or the fixings fail, water finds the line. Bay roofs and party-wall chimneys add more junctions that wear.

A gabled roof has one ridge and two plain slopes. A hipped roof has a ridge and also a hip running down each end, and every extra line is a joint that has to stay watertight for decades.

Why do hips need mechanical fixing now?

Hip tiles sit on a bed of mortar at an angle, and they are the tiles most exposed to being pushed by wind. Since the 2014 revision of BS 5534, bedding by itself is no longer trusted, and hip and ridge tiles get mechanical fixings too. A hip that has been bedded only on mortar for ninety years will often have hairline cracks and loose tiles, and the bedding underneath may be hollow. The cure is to re-bed with fixings, or to fit a dry-fix system proven against BS 8612.

What about bays and party-wall chimneys?

A bay window has a roof of lead, tile or felt, meeting the wall in a lead flashing that has had a long, hard life. A chimney on the party wall is a different joint again, with lead, soakers and a mortar fillet all doing their share. If a stack or its breast is coming out, we raise the paperwork early: the Planning Portal says Building Regulations approval always applies to breast removal, and where it is built into the wall between two houses, the neighbour must be served notice.

None of this puts a 1930s roof close to the end of its useful life. Many need only careful re-bedding and some new flashing. Our pitched roofing page describes what a larger re-cover involves when the tiles themselves are spent.

If the roof has been re-covered in a heavier tile than the original, the timbers may be working harder than they were built to, so we check the rafters before suggesting any change.

Where we look first

On hipped semis the joins at hips, bays and party-wall chimneys fail well before the field of tiles does.

Does the conservation area cover my Rodbourne street?

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows

Long flat roof on a 1960s brick building being re-covered

The short answer

Only if you are in the Rodbourne Cheney conservation area, designated on 25 June 1990, which covers the old village core around the church and manor and not the whole district. Wherever a listed building stands, altering its character needs consent.

Hearing the words conservation area, many people assume the whole of Rodbourne is covered. It is not. The designation protects the old village, a small part of the district.

What if my house is inside the boundary?

Matching repairs within the area leave a street looking as it did, and they do not usually need planning permission. A different covering, new roof windows or changes to chimneys are what the council is likely to examine, so it is wise to speak to Swindon Borough Council's planning team before committing. Swindon's Article 4 directions are limited to Bishopstone and the railway village, so none applies in Rodbourne.

Does listing change what can be done?

The Manor House and St Mary's Church are both listed, and listing attaches to the building. Any work that would alter its character needs consent, and that includes the roof covering, so even a well-meant change of material can need it. St Mary's is an Anglican parish church still used for worship, so work on its roof is authorised by a faculty from the Diocese of Bristol rather than by listed building consent from the council.

And if my street is outside it?

Streets beyond the village core are ordinary ground for planning, and most routine repairs there are simply maintenance. Building Regulations still apply once re-covering passes the limits, which the Planning Portal gives as 25 per cent of the building envelope or 50 per cent of the roof. The building control team at Swindon Borough Council deals with the application.

We can read the appraisal map with you and tell you whether your address is inside, so you know the position before a quote is accepted.

MythThe whole of Rodbourne is a conservation area.

FactThe designation covers only the old village core around the church and manor.

Roofing services in Rodbourne

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the River Ray and the railway streets

Can the stone roofs by St Mary's be repaired without stripping them?

Sometimes. A handful of loose stones can simply be put back on their pegs. When pegs and battens have given way over a whole slope, the sounder route is to lift the area, renew the timber, and set the stones back in order, topping up with matching stone. The narrowest repair that works is the one we propose.

Is a red brick and slate terrace in Rodbourne worth re-slating?

Often, if the timbers are sound. New fixings and battens under good slate can give a terrace another long life, and reusing the sound slates keeps the match. We look at how many have failed before recommending a patch or a full re-slate.

Do you work near the River Ray where the ground is lower and damper?

Yes. Damp ground affects walls and drainage more than roofs, but a leaking roof or gutter can add to it, so we check gutters, downpipes and the lower courses of slate or tile, and report anything that is sending water down the wall.

Do the 1930s semis off Harvey Grove usually need a full re-roof?

Not as a rule. Many only need hips re-bedded, flashings renewed or a few tiles replaced. A full strip is for roofs where the underlay has perished or the battens have failed across a slope, and the survey photographs show which case yours is.

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