A Somerset village street of stone cottages with clay pantile roofs

Roofers in Clutton

Clutton lies 10.6 road miles south-west of Bath, in a parish that takes in the wooded ridge of Highbury Hill. Our work here is matched to each building: the planned row of Maynard Terrace, the listed farmhouses, the church and chapel, and the houses close to woodland.

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Local roofs

A coalfield village and a wooded ridge

One landowner left a clear mark on Clutton. In the nineteenth century the mines around the village belonged to the Earl of Warwick, who also owned sawmills, quarries and brickworks. He and his wife Daisy Greville built Maynard Terrace, a row of terrace houses at the edge of the village that is described as unique. A planned row like that was designed to be read as a whole, which matters when one roof in it needs work.

The older core is listed. The parish church of St Augustine of Hippo goes back to around 1190, is listed at Grade II*, and has a red sandstone tower that probably dates from 1726. On the Grade II list are Church Farmhouse, Cambrook House, Cloud Hill Farmhouse, the Railway Inn and the Methodist Church. Farmhouses and chapels have bigger, plainer roofs than cottages, with long rafters and large slopes.

Highbury Hill, in the parish, is a narrow wooded ridge with steep slopes, carrying the earthwork remains of an Iron Age hillfort, a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The hill matters to a roofer for a plainer reason: trees. A house close under woodland collects leaves in its gutters, holds damp on its shaded slopes and grows moss faster than an open site.

So a Clutton job rarely looks like the last one. A terrace asks for a matched repair, a farmhouse asks for its timbers to be read, and a house close to woodland asks for its gutters and shaded slopes to be cleared and checked. We survey first and quote for what the roof needs.

Council: Bath and North East Somerset Council
From central Bath: 10.6 road miles, south-west
Parish church: St Augustine of Hippo, c.1190, Grade II*
Planned terrace: Maynard Terrace, built by the Earl of Warwick and Daisy Greville
Wooded ridge: Highbury Hill, with a Scheduled Ancient Monument

What we find

Planned rows, farmhouse slopes and wooded shade

Maynard Terrace and keeping a planned row intact

When a terrace is built as one design, a repair is judged by how well it matches the houses either side.

Maynard Terrace is the sort of building a landowner commissions to put a stamp on a village. The Earl of Warwick and Daisy Greville built it as a single row, and a single row has a single logic: the same roof line, the same chimney spacing, the same covering from end to end. When one house has a bad roof, the repair is seen against all the others.

The first task is to find out what is on the row. We look at the slope from the lane and from the back, record the size and colour of the covering, and check the ridge and the chimney stacks. If a few houses have been re-covered in something different, we say which, because that may affect what we can match. Where the original covering survives, natural slate stays natural slate and clay stays clay, taken from reclaimed stock or new material chosen to suit.

Chimney stacks come next. On a row, the stacks are usually paired across a party wall, and each carries lead flashings where it meets the roof. If the flashings have lifted, water runs down the stack into both houses. Soakers, the small pieces of lead that sit under each slate or tile course along the side of a stack, are the hidden part, and when they have corroded the flashing above them is only hiding the fault. We lift a few courses to see.

Neighbours matter on a terrace. A shared gutter, a shared stack and a shared party wall abutment cannot be mended in isolation. We are happy to price your own roof on its own, with the shared junctions marked, and to quote a combined scaffold when several owners want to work together. That keeps the cost down for each house and the finish consistent.

For tiled and slated roofs, pitched roofing explains the re-covering and repair routes, down to the battens and underlay beneath.

Listed farmhouses: long rafters and careful consent

Church Farmhouse, Cambrook House and Cloud Hill Farmhouse are Grade II listed, which shapes how any roof work begins.

Grade II listed farmhouses are some of the largest roofs in a village. Church Farmhouse, Cambrook House and Cloud Hill Farmhouse are all on Clutton's list, and a farmhouse roof is typically a broad slope with a long run of rafters, a tall chimney or two and sometimes an older range of outbuildings attached. The weight of the roof and its covering sits on timbers that may be centuries old.

Reading those timbers is the heart of the survey. Rafters bow when the covering above them lets in water year after year, the feet of the rafters rot where they meet the wall, and old purlins can sag between their supports. We look for those faults from inside the loft with a lamp and a damp meter, before we say anything about the slates or tiles. A sound frame can take a new covering; a failing one needs its own repairs first, and on a listed house those repairs are the part to agree with the council.

Listed building consent is the legal route for altering a listed building, and it is distinct from planning permission. The council in charge is B&NES, and its conservation team should hear about the job before it begins. Repair that keeps what is there is the safest ground. Changing the covering, adding an opening or altering a stack calls for agreement in advance. We describe the work in specific terms, with photographs, so that the conversation with the council is about the actual roof.

Outbuildings need care of a different kind. A barn, loft or eaves left undisturbed for years may shelter bats or nesting birds, which the law protects, so we look before we open anything up.

If the survey shows the covering is beyond repair, the next stage is described under roof replacement, which sets out what a re-roof involves, including the Building Regulations that can apply to larger jobs.

Myth

A listed farmhouse roof can only be repaired with the original materials, so anything newer is forbidden.

Fact

Listed building consent decides what is acceptable case by case, and like-for-like repair is the starting point; raise it with the B&NES conservation team before any booking.

Living near woodland: trees, shade and moss

Woodland keeps roofs damp and gutters full, and the remedy is regular, gentle attention.

Highbury Hill is a narrow wooded ridge with steep slopes, and woodland is part of the setting of many Clutton houses. Any house that sits close to trees lives with them overhead, and the effect on a roof is easy to describe. Leaves and needles drop into the gutters and settle in the valleys, shade keeps the north-facing slopes damp for longer, and moss takes hold on the damp surface.

Moss itself does little harm for a time. The trouble starts when it grows thick enough to hold water against the covering and push at the edges of tiles or slates. Water then travels sideways under the lap and into the batten, and a frost can lift a tile that moss has already loosened. The roof does not usually fail dramatically. It deteriorates slowly, which is why a regular look is worth having.

Gutters and valleys need the most attention. The valley, where two slopes meet in an angle, takes the run-off from both. If leaves block it, water backs up under the covering at its edges. We clear the valley, check the lining for splits, and look at the courses beside it for slipped or cracked pieces. The gutter and the downpipe get the same treatment, and a gutter guard can help where the trees are close.

Cleaning must suit the covering. A pressure washer can damage soft or old tiles, and a MyBuilder guide notes that the method may harm delicate tiles. A gentle brush and a treatment applied with care is slower, and it leaves the surface intact. We say which method fits your roof, and we tell you openly if a roof is too fragile to clean at all.

For regular upkeep, the roof cleaning page describes the options.

Clean or re-cover

Clean a mossy roof when the tiles are sound and the moss is only on the surface, and re-cover it when moss has been lifting the courses and wearing the fixings.

Church, chapel and inn: checking the roofs people share

St Augustine's, the Methodist Church and the Railway Inn are all roofs that someone looks after on behalf of others.

Some of Clutton's roofs belong to the community as much as to any one owner. St Augustine of Hippo has stood since about 1190 and has a red sandstone tower from around 1726; the Methodist Church and the Railway Inn are listed too. The people who look after a building like that are usually a committee, a parish council or a tenant, and they need clear information to decide what to spend.

An inspection is the right first step. It tells you what condition the roof is in without committing to repairs. On a church, we look at the nave roof, the junction with the tower, the gutters, the lead and the stonework at the wall head. On an inn, the pitched roof, the chimney stacks and any flat sections behind. Each finding is photographed and described in ordinary language, with a note on how soon it needs attention.

Access is often the largest part of the job. A tall tower cannot be inspected from a ladder, so we agree beforehand whether to use a tower, a hoist or a drone. A drone survey shows slopes that cannot be reached safely, though it does not replace a hands-on check of the lead and the flashings. We explain which method suits the building.

The report that comes back sets out each repair in order of importance, with a written price for the work. A committee can take that to a meeting and decide what to do now and what to plan for. On a listed building, the report also marks which items are likely to need consent from the council, so that nobody commits money before the permission is in place.

Costs for inspections vary with the method, as the typical UK figures below show. The detail of how we survey is on our roof inspections page.

£150 to £250

Standard visual inspection, as typically reported nationally

£200 to £400

Drone inspection, as typically reported nationally

£300 to £500

Thermal inspection, as typically reported nationally

Figures: MyBuilder's 2026 guide to inspection costs, national typical ranges and not our quote

Nearby

Roofers near Clutton

Roofing services in Clutton

Local questions

Clutton asks, from Maynard Terrace to Highbury Hill

How do you stop a repair standing out on a planned terrace like Maynard Terrace?

By matching before we start. We look at the covering on the houses either side, record its size, its colour and its coursing, and source reclaimed or new material to suit. Courses are kept straight and the ridge line is left as it was. A good match should not be noticeable from the lane, though it will not hide a repair that is clearly needed.

Do trees on the Highbury Hill side mean my Clutton roof needs cleaning more often?

They can. Shade holds damp, and leaves collect in gutters and valleys, so moss and blockages tend to build up sooner than on an open site. We check the gutters and valleys first, then the shaded slopes. Whether the roof needs cleaning depends on how thick the moss is, and on whether the covering can take a gentle treatment.

My house is next to a listed farmhouse in Clutton. Do I need consent for roof work?

Listing applies to the listed building itself, so a neighbouring house is not covered by that listing. What matters is whether your own house is listed or in a protected area, and B&NES can tell you. We cannot give a legal ruling, but we can describe the work for you to take to the council if you want to be sure.

How is a church roof beside a tall stone tower inspected safely?

We choose the access to suit the building. A tower or hoist gives a close view of the nave roof and the junction with the tower, and a drone can cover slopes that are unsafe to stand on. We still check the lead and the flashings by hand. The written report records every finding with photographs, in order of urgency.

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.

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