Victorian brick terrace street with slate roofs and chimneys

Roofers in Sherston

Tiled and stone roofs, ridges, verges and chimneys in Sherston, from the listed houses along the High Street and Cliff Road to the village homes beside the infant River Avon, five miles west of Malmesbury.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

Sherston's roofs, from the High Street to the Avon

Old stone houses along a village high street — The High Street and Court Street

Sherston held a market from 1241 or earlier, and a fire in 1511 destroyed most of its buildings, so much of what stands along the High Street was built after that disaster. Old Swan House and numbers 19 and 21 High Street, the former Swan Inn of the late sixteenth century, are Grade II* listed, and so is Court House in Court Street. Buildings of this age have roofs that have been renewed several times over, usually on the original timbers. Their pitches, rooflines and chimneys are part of what makes the street recognisable, and a repair has to respect them. We work to keep the roof looking as the street has always known it.

Row of cottages with steep roofs and chimneys — Cliff Road and the older cottages

Numbers 1 and 3 Cliff Road were rebuilt around 1680 and are Grade II* listed. Seventeenth-century cottages tend to have steep roofs, thick walls and low eaves, with small windows and chimney stacks that stand proud of the ridge. The timbers inside may be original, and they will have moved. Leaks on cottages like these commonly start at a chimney, where lead has lifted, or at the lowest courses of a slope, where gutters have overflowed for years. Because the building is listed, we agree the approach with you first, photograph the roof, and keep every repair as small and as reversible as the fault allows.

Terraced homes with tiled roofs and a flat porch — Mill-era and later village homes

A silk mill opened in Sherston in 1872 and closed in 1922. Later houses, farm conversions, bungalows and garages now sit among the older streets, with a mix of coverings and ages. Roofs from the last century or so share a different set of faults: tiles that have slipped, ridges loosened as their bedding dried, and flat roofs on extensions and outbuildings that were never given enough fall. Many are quick to survey and sensible to repair, and the survey photographs show you which jobs are urgent and which can wait.

Sherston, on the Cotswold edge

Distance: 22 road miles west of central Swindon
Council: Wiltshire Council
Conservation area: Sherston, designated in 1973
National Landscape: Cotswolds National Landscape
Council: Wiltshire Council

Sherston roof questions

Is the whole of Sherston in the conservation area?

It was designated in 1973 and takes in most of the village. Whether your own address sits inside the line is a quick question for Wiltshire Council before you plan anything bigger than a repair.

Will a Grade II* cottage roof get repaired in matching materials?

Yes. Matching materials and fixings, and no more disturbance than the fault demands. Anything that changes how the building looks is discussed with you first, and the council is consulted before a tile is lifted.

Why do old Sherston roofs leak at the chimney?

Lead lifts and mortar flaunching cracks as a stack ages and shifts. Rain then runs behind the lead. Mending the junction itself usually cures it, and the slopes either side can stay as they are. A tall stack that stands exposed above the ridge takes weather from every side, so we look closely at the pointing and the flaunching at the same visit.

How are roofs on Sherston's listed buildings repaired?

Gloved hands fitting a weathered Cotswold stone slate

Roofer repointing a stone chimney stack above lead flashing

The short answer

Slowly and with photographs. We record the roof, repair with the same materials and fixings, and keep whatever original fabric is still sound. A change to what makes a listed building special calls for consent, so the approach is fixed with you before any work begins.

Sherston has a number of listed buildings, and the aim on every one is a roof that still reads as the one the building has always had, with nobody on the street able to point to the repair. Holy Cross, the village church, has Grade I listing and dates from the twelfth century, with a high tower rebuilt in 1733. Old Swan House, Court House, and numbers 1 and 3 Cliff Road are Grade II*. Listing does not freeze a building in time, but it does change how roof work is done.

What does listing change about a repair?

It raises the standard. Fitting like with like, fixed as before, is upkeep and normally raises no question. Replacing the covering, adding roof windows or reshaping a stack alters what the building is, and that is where listed building consent comes in. Holy Cross is the exception: the parish still worships there, so under the ecclesiastical exemption the diocese approves its roof work by faculty instead. We do not give legal advice, so put your question to Wiltshire Council's planning team early, well before anything bigger than a matching repair is agreed.

How is a repair kept small?

The best repair to a listed roof is the narrowest one that stops the fault. On an old roof that might mean refixing a handful of slipped tiles, renewing a tired lead flashing or replacing some softened battens. It rarely means stripping a whole slope. Opening up an old roof disturbs timbers and fixings that have held for centuries, so we only do it where the fault leaves no alternative.

What goes into the photographic record?

Before work starts we photograph every slope and every junction. Those survey photographs arrive with the written quote, and the same set lets you, or a conservation officer, see what changed once the job is finished. They also settle the occasional disagreement about what was there to begin with.

Our Cotswold stone roofing page describes the traditional methods behind roofs on this edge of the Cotswolds, for anyone whose house carries stone.

Our view

The narrowest repair that stops the fault, in the building's own materials, is the right one.

Why do ridges and verges fail on exposed Sherston roofs?

The answer

They take the weather first. The ridge crowns the roof and the verge finishes it at a gable, and both depend on mortar and fixings that wear over time. Mortar cracks, tiles lift, and wind-driven rain gets in behind them, which is why they are among the first parts we check.

Sherston lies within the Cotswolds National Landscape. The Fosse Way forms the south-eastern edge of the parish, the parish is bounded to the north by Gloucestershire, and the infant River Avon passes the village. Open country near a settlement's edge exposes the highest parts of a roof, the ridge and the gable verges, to wind and driven rain.

What is a verge and why does it matter?

The verge is the sloping line where the roof meets the side of a gable, the edge you notice from the street. On Sherston's older roofs it is often the part with the most history of patching, because every gale since the last repair has tested it. The last tiles or slates there are held by mortar or by a mechanical verge system. Mortar-only verges crack, then crumble, and the edge units lift, which lets wind get beneath the end of the roof. Mending a verge is a short job; ignoring one can cost you a run of tiles in a gale.

Why is mortar not enough for a ridge?

Since BS 5534:2014, ridge and hip tiles are not left to rely on mortar alone. They are also fixed mechanically, and BS 8612:2018 covers dry-fix systems. On an older roof we rebed the ridge and add fixings, or put in a tested dry-fix system if the building suits one. Our ridge, verge and dry-fix page sets out what each choice involves.

Does the choice of system change the look?

It can. Dry-fix ridges suit modern tiled roofs well. On a historic roof within the conservation area, a mortar-bedded ridge with hidden fixings usually looks right. We tell you which we would choose and why, and the council can advise if the building is listed.

Birds and bats use ridges and eaves, so if we find either we stop and take advice, because both are protected.

What does Sherston's conservation area mean for roof work?

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

Rolled lead roof covering over a bay above white windows

The short answer

A conservation area was designated here in 1973, and the village sits within the Cotswolds National Landscape. Neither stops sensible repairs. Repairs in kind seldom need an application, though a different covering, roof windows or a reworked chimney are worth raising with Wiltshire Council first.

The County of Wilts (Sherston) Conservation Area Designation, 1973 was announced in a county council notice dated 9 April 1973 and printed in the London Gazette that month. The village also lies in the Cotswolds National Landscape, the name that replaced Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty from 22 November 2023, although the legal designation has not changed.

Who decides what is allowed?

Wiltshire Council decides planning applications. The National Landscape body may offer advice but cannot grant or refuse permission. Whether the conservation area also has an Article 4 direction, which takes away some permitted development rights, is a separate point the council can answer for your address.

Do roof windows change the answer?

They can. Our page on skylights and roof windows covers the planning position, because the rules differ in conservation areas and National Landscapes. As a rule, ask before you fix a design and before anything is ordered.

Does a re-roof need building control?

Not for most repairs. Building Regulations apply to larger re-roofs, and Wiltshire Council's building control team or a registered building control approver handles them. We explain where your job falls and deal with the Building Regulations notification whenever work needs one. A covering that is noticeably heavier than the old one also calls for a check on the roof structure before it goes on.

If you cannot tell whether your address lies inside the boundary, the council's mapping will show it, and we will happily read it with you before any price is agreed. That small step has saved owners from designing work the council would not support, and it costs nothing.

MythA conservation area means every roof job needs planning permission.

FactA matching repair rarely does; the council's attention goes to changes in how a roof looks.

Roofing services in Sherston

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from around Holy Cross

Why were so many Sherston buildings rebuilt after 1511?

A fire in 1511 destroyed most of the village's buildings, so much of the old village was rebuilt after that date, and its roofs carry centuries of patching on timbers that have moved, which is why we study each roof before choosing the repair.

Can you reach the lead and chimney work on a tall village house?

Yes. Access is planned during the survey, using ladders, towers or scaffold depending on the building. Chimney flashings, flaunching and pointing are among the first things we look at on a house like this, and the written quote follows.

Do you work around Malmesbury and the villages near Sherston?

Yes. Malmesbury, Tetbury and the other places inside 30 road miles of Swindon are covered, and the areas page names each of them. Ring 01793 626096, use the enquiry form or WhatsApp, and give your postcode so we can confirm.

My Sherston flat roof sits over a back extension. Can it be patched?

Often, when the fault is at a seam, an upstand or an outlet and the boards under it are firm. If water lies in a dip or the boards have gone soft, a new covering is the better answer. The photographs that come with the survey show which of the two you have, and we explain the difference in plain terms before you decide.

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