A Wiltshire market town street with stone and brick houses and clay tile roofs

Roofers in Castle Combe

Castle Combe, 14.9 road miles from Bath on the north-east side, is a village of Cotswold stone cottages in which no new houses have been built in the historic centre since about 1600. Roofing here means repair rather than renewal, in the original materials, with permission asked first wherever a building is listed.

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Local roofs

A village that stopped building

Most villages grow. The historic centre of Castle Combe, by contrast, has seen no new houses built since about 1600. What stands is a cluster of Cotswold stone cottages, and the parish has 107 listed buildings, nearly all of them Grade II. A roofer starts from an odd position here: almost every building is old, almost every building is protected, and replacing is rarely the answer.

The village sits in two parts. One lies in the narrow valley of By Brook, where the lanes run down to water. The other, Upper Castle Combe, stands on higher land to the east on the B4039. The valley is sheltered and often shaded; the upper village is more open. A roof in one has a different life from a roof in the other.

The 14th-century market cross, where the three principal streets of the lower village converge, is a scheduled monument. Grade I listed St Andrew's, the parish church, was almost entirely taken down and reconstructed to the same plan in 1850 to 1851, except for its 15th-century tower. The Manor House was built in the 17th century and rebuilt in the 19th, and was listed Grade II in 1960 when it was already operating as a hotel.

Castle Combe falls inside our working radius. Because the village is so intact, we begin every visit by looking at what is already there, and we agree the repair with you in writing before any tile or stone is touched.

Council: Wiltshire Council
From central Bath: 14.9 road miles, north-east
Listed buildings: 107 in the parish, nearly all Grade II
Market cross: 14th century, scheduled monument
Village layout: By Brook valley below; Upper Castle Combe above, on the B4039

What we find

Valley shade, unmatched repairs and upper village wind

Two villages in one: the valley and the heights

A roof beside By Brook and a roof on the B4039 do not face the same weather, and the repairs differ accordingly.

Castle Combe is really two places. Down in the narrow valley of By Brook, houses lean towards each other across small lanes, and the valley sides can keep the sun off for part of the day. Up on the B4039, Upper Castle Combe has more open sky. A roofer reading the village learns to ask, before anything else, which of the two a house belongs to.

In the valley, damp is the persistent enemy. A shaded roof dries slowly, so moss and algae settle and hold water against the covering. Gutters collect leaves. Water that does not leave the roof quickly finds a way into the timber beneath, usually at the eaves where rafter feet meet the wall. We pay particular attention to those, checking with a probe for softness and looking for dark staining from the loft.

In the upper village, the picture changes. Wind and driven rain are more of a concern, so the quality of fixing and the state of the edges decide how long a roof lasts. Chimney stacks stand exposed, and their pointing and flashings take the brunt.

Whichever part of the village you live in, the approach is the same. We inspect from a ladder where safe, from the loft, and where needed from a platform, and we record each fault with a photograph. A small repair can often be done from a ladder. Larger work needs a scaffold, planned around the lanes. How we decide between repairing and replacing is explained under pitched roofing.

Where gutters and downpipes are to blame, see gutters, soffits and fascias. Clearing a blocked gutter in the valley before winter can prevent a good deal of later trouble.

Myth

A bit of moss on a shaded cottage roof never matters.

Fact

Moss that keeps the covering wet or sheds into gutters does harm, so the job is to tell cosmetic growth from damaging growth.

Nothing new since about 1600

In a village where the historic centre has not grown for four centuries, matching the old is the whole of the job.

The cluster of Cotswold stone cottages at the heart of Castle Combe is unusual in having seen no new houses in the historic centre since about 1600. For a roofer, that means every roof is a repair of something old. The question is rarely what to build, but how to keep what exists, using the right material and the right method.

Matching is the principle. If a roof is covered in stone, it stays stone. If it is clay, it stays clay. The same applies to details: the size of the courses, the way the ridge is finished, the shape of the verge. Sometimes the original material can be reclaimed from the same roof, sorted and relaid, with new pieces only where the old have failed. Where new material is needed, we choose the closest match in colour, size and texture, and show you a sample before we order.

Beneath the covering, many cottage roofs have timbers that have carried the load for centuries. Rafters bow, purlins sag a little, and ceilings below them show it. That is not always a fault. A roof that has found its shape and stopped moving can be left alone, and a good repair respects it. We look for fresh movement, damp, rot and insect attack, and distinguish those from simple age.

Lead appears at chimneys, valleys and abutments. It tends to be the first detail to fail, because it is thin and exposed. Lifting and relaying it, or replacing a split piece, can stop a leak without disturbing the covering around it. Lead details are explained on our lead roofing page.

With 107 listed buildings in the parish, nearly all of them Grade II, consent is a routine question. Listed building consent comes from Wiltshire Council, and a repair that follows the existing pattern is usually the simplest to put forward. We write down the materials and methods so the council reads exact wording.

107

Listed buildings in Castle Combe parish, nearly all Grade II

1600

About when new building in the historic centre stopped

1960

Year the Manor House was listed Grade II

Figures: Castle Combe entry, Wikipedia, checked October 2026

Narrow lanes, a market cross and getting the work done

In a village laid out for carts, the logistics of a roof job need as much thought as the repair.

The lower village was laid out long before lorries. Three principal streets converge at the market cross, which is 14th century and a scheduled monument, and the lanes that run off are narrow. For a roofing job, that raises practical questions that a modern estate never does: where does the delivery stop, how long can it block the lane, and can scaffolding be erected without touching anything protected?

We deal with these before work starts. At the survey we look at how a vehicle could approach, where materials could be stored, and whether a small hoist or a hand carry from the nearest wide point is the more realistic option. We note any wall, step or garden feature that scaffold feet must avoid, and we ask whether neighbours need warning. In a village this tightly built, a scaffold on one cottage may touch the boundaries of three others.

Timing matters too. A stripped roof is exposed, so we sequence the stripping to finish each day with the roof sealed, covering open areas with sheeting until the covering goes back. In a valley, where the roof dries slowly, we prefer to work in a spell of dry weather where the programme allows.

The same planning applies to waste. Old tiles, slates, battens and lead have to leave the site, and in a lane that cannot hold a skip for long, they may go down in sacks. At the end, the site is cleared and the lane left as we found it.

Each of these items appears in the written scope and the fixed price, so you know what is included. A repair job runs from first survey to completion as described under roof repairs.

A leak that cannot wait is dealt with first: we make the roof safe, and the permanent repair follows once access and consent are settled.

The church, the Manor House and buildings in daily use

A church rebuilt to its old plan and a manor that operates as a hotel both need roof work arranged around people.

St Andrew's, the Grade I listed parish church, was almost entirely taken down and reconstructed to the same plan in 1850 to 1851, except for its 15th-century tower. The Manor House dates from the 17th century, was rebuilt in the 19th and was listed Grade II in 1960 when it was already operating as a hotel. Both are in daily use, and both show how roof work in Castle Combe often has to fit around the life of the building.

A building in use cannot simply be vacated. A hotel has guests, a church has services, and a school or village hall has timetables. The usual answer is to divide the roof into sections and work through them in turn, making each watertight before moving on. Scaffolding is erected with walkways kept clear, and noisy work is scheduled for times that disturb least. We agree the sequence with the owner or manager in advance.

Large buildings of this age have roofs with several parts. A tower roof, a nave, a porch and a vestry may each have a different covering and a different problem. Lead gutters between sections are among the likeliest places for failure, because they carry the water of several roofs and are hard to reach. We open them up to look, test the outlets and report on the lead.

Where a building is a business, its roof is part of how it trades. Our commercial roofing page describes how we scope work on buildings in use.

For buildings such as these, the consent route is longer. Listed building consent from Wiltshire Council is needed for works affecting a listed building's character. We provide the specification and the survey photographs to support whichever application is needed.

The aim throughout is to repair, match and keep. In a village that has changed so little in four centuries, that is the right ambition for a roof as well.

Working in occupied buildings

Divide the roof into sections, make each watertight before the next begins, and agree the sequence with whoever runs the building.

Nearby

Roofers near Castle Combe

Roofing services in Castle Combe

Local questions

Questions from a village that stopped building

Almost every house in Castle Combe seems to be listed. Do I need consent to put back a few damaged tiles?

That turns on whether your own house is listed and how much you are changing. Matching tiles in the same pattern is a small like-for-like repair, but a listed roof is part of the listing, so ask Wiltshire Council first. We can write up the repair so that conversation is brief. If the house is unlisted, the same care with materials still pays.

Is a cottage in the By Brook valley more prone to roof damp than one in Upper Castle Combe?

It can be. The valley is narrow and shaded, so roofs dry slowly and moss and leaf fall collect. Upper Castle Combe is more open to wind, which dries a roof faster but tests fixings and chimney stacks harder. Neither is better or worse overall; each has its own weak points, and we check for the ones that fit your location.

How would materials reach a cottage on a lane near the market cross?

We plan it at the survey. We look at the approach, the nearest place a vehicle can stop and whether materials can be carried or hoisted from there. We also note anything protected that scaffold must avoid. The agreed method goes into the written price, so access arrangements are settled before work begins and not on the day.

Can an old Castle Combe roof be mended with reclaimed material?

Often, and it is the approach we prefer. Sound slates or tiles are taken off, sorted by size and condition, and put back, with matched pieces added only where needed. We show you a sample of any new material beside the old before ordering. The roof keeps its look, and sound material stays out of the skip.

Get your free survey

Get your free roof survey

Tell us what's happening and we'll call you back to arrange a visit. Prefer to talk? Call 01225 285181.

Photos of your own roof
A fixed price in writing
10-year workmanship guarantee