Edwardian brick villas with clay tile roofs and decorative ridges

Roofers in South Marston

Roof repairs, re-roofing, chimneys and commercial roofs in South Marston, from the older houses around St Mary Magdalene to the cul-de-sacs of the 1980s and the industrial sites by the old airfield.

Get a quote Call 01793 626096

South Marston's roofs, from the church to the airfield

Old village houses beside a church tower — Around St Mary Magdalene

St Mary Magdalene is the oldest building in South Marston and is Grade I listed. Its plain north and south doorways survive from the Norman church, the chancel is 13th century, and the nave and west tower were rebuilt in the 15th century. The name Marston comes from the Old English for marsh farm, and the village has largely kept its rural aspect, with fields and farm buildings never far from the lanes. Some older houses and farm buildings near the church may be listed, and some may carry traditional coverings laid on old timbers. We identify the material, check the roof structure from the loft and recommend repair before replacement, keeping what is sound and matching what is not.

Close of brick houses under tiled roofs — The mid-1980s cul-de-sacs

Housing development began in the mid-1980s with cul-de-sac developments at Manor Park, Rawlings Close, Yew Tree Gardens and Bell Gardens. Those roofs are now around forty years old, and the jobs that follow are the ones that come with that age: felt underlay hardening, ridge mortar loosening, wall fillets cracking and gutters sagging. Houses at the end of a close, facing open land, give the wind more to work on at the verge, and that is where a loose tile or a failed strip of bedding shows first. Our survey separates the parts that need attention from the ones that do not, so you pay for the former only.

Large industrial roof with rooflights — The airfield and industrial edge

A wartime shadow factory and airfield were built here, first turning out Miles Master trainers; Supermarine later built aircraft on the site, the Spitfire among them, until 1961, and Honda bought it in 1985. The former Honda works and the old airfield now shape the village's edge, and the large industrial and storage roofs that come with such land need different skills from a house roof: big spans of profiled sheet, rooflights, long gutters and, on older buildings, the chance of asbestos cement. We survey those roofs for repair, overlay or replacement, and give a written quote for each option.

From Swindon out to the old marsh village

Distance: 3 road miles north-east of central Swindon
Council: Swindon Borough Council
Council: Swindon Borough Council, for planning and building control
Church: St Mary Magdalene, Grade I, with a 13th-century chancel
Conservation area: None: South Marston is not among the 27 the council lists

What South Marston owners ask before a roof job

Is my house near St Mary Magdalene listed?

Only the council or the national list can confirm it. If it is, any change to its look needs listed building consent. Ask Swindon Borough Council before any roof is priced.

Do Manor Park and Bell Gardens roofs need replacing yet?

Not necessarily. At about forty years the underlay, ridge and flashings usually need attention before the tiles do. The survey shows which, with photographs.

Can you re-roof a unit on the old airfield land?

Yes. We survey commercial and industrial roofs, check for asbestos cement on older buildings, and advise on repair, overlay or replacement before quoting.

How should an old roof near St Mary Magdalene be repaired?

Brick and limestone cottages around a small village green

Torch showing a water-stained rafter beneath slates in a loft

The short answer

Carefully, and with the least intervention that works. An older village roof is repaired in matching materials and methods, keeping sound original covering and renewing only what has failed. Check first whether the building is listed, because that decides whether consent is needed for anything that changes its character.

A village whose church keeps Norman doorways and a 13th-century chancel has buildings of many ages around it. We cannot tell from a lane what a roof is made of or how it was laid, so the survey starts with that question before any price is discussed.

Why identify the roof before repairing it?

Old roofs vary in covering, in the timber beneath and in the mortar used. The wrong replacement is often worse than the original fault: a hard cement mortar on soft old masonry, a tile heavier than the rafters were built to carry, or a modern membrane that traps moisture. We check the structure from the loft, photograph what is there, and record it in the quote, so every later decision rests on evidence.

When is listed building consent needed?

Like-for-like repair is ordinary maintenance in planning law. A listed building is different: any change touching its special interest, new roofing material included, needs listed building consent first. Swindon Borough Council can confirm a house's listed status, and South Marston is not among the 27 conservation areas on the council's list. A church follows its own route. The ecclesiastical exemption is narrow. It applies to churches in use by five named bodies, among them the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, and it falls away when worship at a building ceases, so a parish should confirm where it stands before commissioning anything.

Is an old roof a failed roof?

Where a roof has many faults, replacement may be right, but an old roof is not automatically a failed one. Our roof repairs page explains how a repair is chosen over a re-cover. Not certain whether your house has any protection? Ask before the scaffold goes up, not after, and we will help you read the council's answer.

Our view

Identify the roof, check its status, then repair what has failed and keep the rest.

What do 1980s roofs in South Marston's closes need?

The answer

Usually a repair to the ridge, verges, flashings and gutters before the tiles themselves. A roof that is forty years old often has life left in the covering. Replacement is for when the failure is widespread, and the survey photographs show which case you have, so the decision rests on evidence.

The homes at Manor Park, Rawlings Close, Yew Tree Gardens and Bell Gardens went up in the mid-1980s, so they have reached an age where the first big maintenance question arrives. It need not be an expensive one, and it is rarely a sudden one. Roofs of this age give plenty of warning, and the skill lies in reading it: a ridge tile out of line, a stained soffit, a gutter that drips at a joint, a patch of moss at a valley.

What do forty years do to a roof?

Felt underlay hardens and splits. Battens dry out and crack near nail holes. Bedding at the ridge and verge weakens. Gutters sag and their joints open. All of these can be repaired without lifting the entire covering, and the tiles often have decades left. The exception is where tiles themselves are breaking across a slope, which points to a wider problem beneath them.

How should the ridge and verge be fixed?

Under BS 5534:2014 ridge and hip tiles cannot lean on mortar alone, which is why new bedding is paired with mechanical fixings. Our ridge, verge and dry-fix page explains how a dry system works, and why it suits a roof at the end of a close with nothing to shelter it from the wind. A tested dry-fix kit also needs no repointing later, which cuts down on future visits.

When is replacement the better call?

If the underlay has failed over the whole roof, or the battens are rotten, lifting the tiles to renew everything beneath is the sound answer. Our roof replacement page covers what the work includes, and the written quote covers it all, including scaffold, waste disposal and making good, in one total price.

The ranges below are national typical figures, not our own prices.

What it typically costs

Ridge tile re-bedding or renewal£300 to £600
Semi-detached re-roof, gable£5,000 to £8,000
Semi-detached re-roof, hipped£8,000 to £12,000
Guttering replacement£30 to £70 per m

Roof size, pitch, access and scaffold set where a job falls in each range. We take photographs on the roof, then set out the work in a written quote. MyBuilder price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

What should I check before roofing an old airfield unit?

Roofers fitting profiled metal sheets on a commercial unit roof

Industrial units with grey metal roofs beyond a roof under repair

The short answer

Check what the roof is made of, whether any of it is asbestos cement, how it drains, and who is responsible for it under the lease. Buildings from before 2000 should be treated as possibly containing asbestos until a survey says otherwise. That decides how the work is planned and priced.

Industrial roofs are not larger house roofs. They have different materials, different failures and different responsibilities, and mistakes cost more because the building is usually in use beneath the work.

What is the roof made of, and what state is it in?

Profiled metal sheets fail at fasteners, laps and rooflight surrounds. Older cement-based sheets become brittle and lose their surface. Built-up felt and single-ply membranes fail at seams and outlets. Each calls for a different repair, and each reaches a point where overlaying or replacing is better value than patching. We survey the whole roof, not only the part that is leaking, and photograph each area so the occupier and the owner see the same evidence.

What if the sheets contain asbestos?

For any building erected or refurbished before 2000 the HSE's advice is to assume asbestos is there. Taking out asbestos cement carefully, without breaking it up, is non-licensed work. Substantial breakage turns it into notifiable non-licensed work, so we settle the method before any sheet moves. Our commercial roofing page shows how we handle these roofs, and the quote says plainly what the survey found.

Who pays, and how is access agreed?

Whether a tenant or a landlord pays for a repair or a replacement is set by the lease, not by us, but we can write the survey so both sides read the same findings. Access, safe working at height and the hours of the business are agreed before work starts. We finish by clearing the site and removing the waste.

Roofs on big buildings are also the ones where small leaks become costly, because water travels a long way along steel purlins and rooflight upstands before it drips on stock or machinery. Surveying the lot, not only the stained corner, is how we avoid a return visit. For a unit on the old airfield land, tell us the roof type, the approximate age and who holds the lease, and we can plan the survey around those answers.

Roofing services in South Marston

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the village and the closes

Do old houses near St Mary Magdalene need specialist roofers?

They need care and the right materials, more than a special title. We identify the covering and the structure first, repair in matching materials where we can, and talk you through any step that changes the look. Listed status is checked with Swindon Borough Council before a quote is accepted, and our 10-year workmanship guarantee comes in writing.

Can you repair a roof at Rawlings Close or Yew Tree Gardens?

Yes. Homes from the mid-1980s are routine work for us. A survey looks at the underlay, ridge, verges, flashings and gutters, and the written quote, backed by photographs taken on your roof, sets out the smallest repair that will cure the problem.

Does South Marston have a conservation area that touches my roof?

No. Swindon Borough Council lists 27 conservation areas and South Marston is not one of them. A listed building is a separate question, and the council can tell you whether yours is, which is worth knowing before any change to the covering.

Do you cover the industrial sites near the old airfield?

We survey and quote for commercial and industrial roofs around South Marston and the rest of the borough, including older buildings that may need an asbestos check first. Tell us the unit, the roof type and who holds the lease when you ring 01793 626096, and the enquiry form or WhatsApp work equally well.

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