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

Roofers in Corsham

Corsham, 10.3 road miles from Bath towards the north-east, is a town that still takes Bath stone out of the ground. A listed High Street, a great house built on an Elizabethan manor and new housing on a former underground site all sit in the town, and each sets its own terms for the repair, so no single standard method covers the three.

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Local roofs

A stone town with a working quarry

Few places near Bath are as tied to the stone as Corsham. Underground extraction of Bath Stone continues here: Hanson operates Hartham Park Quarry in the Hudswell district and Monk's Park Quarry near Gastard. For a roofer, that matters in a practical way: when a chimney cap or coping has failed, Bath stone for its replacement is still being cut close to the town.

The High Street is the town's showpiece. Numbers 94 to 112 are Grade II* listed buildings known as the Flemish Weavers Houses, and there are more than 60 listed buildings along the street. Corsham Court, in the town centre, is based on an Elizabethan manor home from 1582 and has been part of the Methuen estate since 1745. The Church of St Bartholomew has 12th-century origins, was heavily restored by G.E. Street in 1875 to 1878 and was designated Grade I listed in 1960.

Not everything is old. Off the A4 Bath Road, the former Copenacre underground stores site closed completely in January 2011, and demolition began in 2016 so the brownfield land could be redeveloped for housing. At the western edge of town, at Hudswell, sits the eastern portal of Brunel's Box Tunnel.

Roofs in a town like this vary a great deal in age, use and ownership. A stone terrace, a shop with flats above, a large estate building and a new-build house each need a different eye. We give each the same thing: a written account of what is wrong, supported by photographs of your own roof.

Council
Wiltshire Council
From central Bath
10.3 road miles, north-east
Flemish Weavers Houses
Numbers 94 to 112 High Street, Grade II* listed
High Street
More than 60 listed buildings
Bath Stone
Still worked underground: Hartham Park and Monk's Park quarries

What we find

Loose stone details and roofs behind the frontage

Stone details that have lost their mortarChimney stacks, copings and parapet tops are where Corsham's stone meets the weather. We check whether the joints have opened, whether a cap has moved and whether the lead tucked beneath it is still holding.
Back roofs behind a busy frontageOn a High Street building, the street face is kept up while the rear roofs, valleys and gutters between buildings are easy to forget. We climb to the back and look at what the street never sees.
Quick-build roofs of the redeveloped sitesOn newer housing the faults are small: a displaced tile, a poorly dressed flashing, a lifted vent cowl. They are cheap to put right when found early and expensive to ignore once water has reached the insulation.

Roofing in a town that still cuts Bath stone

Where the quarries are working, matching a stone detail is a question to put to a supplier, not a reason to patch.

In many places a stone chimney that has lost its cap means a hunt for something close enough. Corsham is better placed than most, because the stone is still being cut underground a short way from the town. That does not make every repair simple, but it does mean a decayed cap or coping can be replaced in stone instead of filled with mortar, and that a supplier can advise on bed and colour.

The first question on any stone feature is how much of it is sound. We tap it, look at the face for flaking and sugaring, and check the joints with a pick. If the stone is good and the mortar has gone, the work is raking out and repointing in lime. If the stone has failed, we cut out and replace the individual block, and leave the neighbours alone.

We choose lime because it gives way before the stone does and breathes, so moisture can leave the wall by way of the joint instead of through the face. Cement does the reverse. It is harder than Bath stone and tends to trap water, and the stone beside it pays the price. Anyone repointing an old stack in cement is storing up a bigger bill.

Chimney work ties in with the roof around it. When a stack is repaired we look at the flashing (the lead dressed down over the join between stack and slope) and the flaunching, the mortar crown that seats the pots. A good stack with a failed flashing still leaks. The full range of work, from repointing to a rebuild, is on our chimney repairs page.

Beyond stacks, an older covering sits on timber that has been there a long time. We look at the battens and rafters wherever a covering is lifted, so the repair covers what is underneath and not only what shows.

Myth

Because Bath stone is being quarried at Corsham, any decayed stone can simply be swapped for a new block.

Fact

A new block may differ in colour and texture from weathered stone, so we first try to keep the old stone and repair its joints, and replace only what has truly failed.

Behind the High Street frontage

With more than 60 listed buildings on one street, the part of the roof nobody sees is the part that needs checking.

Corsham High Street holds more than 60 listed buildings, among them the Flemish Weavers Houses at numbers 94 to 112, which are Grade II*. Street terraces of this kind usually stand tight to the pavement and tight to each other, which gives them a particular pattern of roofing problems.

Look first at what is between two buildings. Where two roofs meet along a party wall, there may be a lead-lined gutter or a valley taking water from both. Nobody gets to them often, and they are easily neglected, and a blocked outlet can send water over the edge and into the wall below. We open them up, clear them, check the lead for splits at the folds and for thinning, and report on what we see.

Some High Street buildings combine a shop or office on the ground floor with homes above, and the roof may serve both. That brings a commercial element: a leak into a shop stock room costs trading time as well as repair money. We can work to a plan that keeps the premises open, with access arranged around opening hours, and our commercial roofing page covers how we scope larger and mixed-use buildings.

Consent is the other layer. On a listed building the roof forms part of the listing, so Wiltshire Council has to grant consent for works. Restoring a roof to how it was is simpler to put to a conservation officer than altering it, and we write down materials, sizes and lead details in terms a conservation officer can read. Should your building be unlisted yet inside a conservation area, ask the council before changing anything visible from the street.

The rear of these buildings often carries later additions: lean-tos, flat-roofed extensions and storerooms. Those are often the first to fail, and for them we look at flat roofing options matched to the structure beneath.

60+

Listed buildings along Corsham High Street

1582

Date of the Elizabethan manor that Corsham Court is based on

1745

Year Corsham Court became part of the Methuen estate

Figures: Corsham entry, Wikipedia, checked October 2026

Corsham Court, St Bartholomew's and large old roofs

The biggest buildings in town carry their own weight of lead, timber and gutter, and they are not repaired in a day.

Corsham Court rests on an Elizabethan manor of 1582 and has belonged to the Methuen estate since 1745. The Church of St Bartholomew has 12th-century origins and was heavily restored by G.E. Street between 1875 and 1878. Buildings on this scale tend to have roofs of many planes, hidden gutters, tall stacks and lead in quantity, and every one of those parts has a service life.

The work on large old buildings is mostly a matter of planning. Access means scaffolding that may stay up for weeks, with edge protection, and a lead gutter or parapet may need to be lifted, relaid and tested in sections so that the building stays dry overnight. Parapet gutters are channels lined with lead that run behind the upstand of a wall, and it carries water to an outlet that is often a single, vulnerable point. A blocked outlet in a gutter like that can put water into the masonry for months before a stain shows indoors.

Lead itself needs thought. It moves with temperature, and the details around it, such as rolls, drips and laps, are designed to let it. A badly laid sheet cracks where it cannot move. We do not state a thickness without seeing the roof; the right weight depends on span, exposure and the existing detail, and we agree it in the written scope. Our lead roofing page explains the options.

For churches, schools and estate properties, the paperwork is likely to be more extensive. Listed building consent is needed from Wiltshire Council for works that affect the character of a listed building. We can supply a written specification and a photographic record of the existing roof to support those applications.

Nothing here needs to be rushed. A leak into a historic interior is made safe quickly, but the permanent repair is planned with the owner, the council and the building's own pattern of use.

Copenacre, Hudswell and the newer ground

Housing on a former underground site brings roofs with no history of repair, and different things to look for.

The Copenacre site off the A4 Bath Road began as an underground stone quarry and later held naval stores. It closed completely in January 2011, and demolition began in 2016 so the brownfield land could be redeveloped for housing. Homes built since then have young roofs, and a young roof raises a different set of questions from an old one.

The usual causes of early trouble are workmanship rather than age. A flashing that was dressed too shortly, a tile cut badly at a hip, a ridge fixing missed, a vent pipe sealed with a collar that has since cracked: these show up in the first few winters. We look at them with a plain eye, taking pictures of what we find, because the owner may want to take it further with the builder or a warranty provider. We will not tell you whose responsibility it is.

Extensions and garages are the next common problem, and flat roofs on these are worth a regular look. Where a membrane has been laid over a deck with poor falls, water ponds and ages the surface. Edge trims and upstands come away if the glue has failed. The simplest check is after rain: if puddles sit on the roof a day later, the fall is not working. Our flat roofing page sets out repair and renewal.

At Hudswell, on the western edge of the town where the eastern portal of Brunel's Box Tunnel sits, the same method applies as anywhere else: we look at the covering, the junctions and the loft, and we report in plain language.

Whatever the age, a roof does best when it is looked at before the first leak. A one-off survey with photographs gives you a baseline, so the next inspection has something to compare against.

New-build faults

Small workmanship faults on a young roof are worth fixing at once, because water finds them long before anyone sees a stain.

Map showing the location of Corsham.

Nearby

Roofers near Corsham

Roofing services in Corsham

Local questions

Corsham owners ask, from the High Street to Copenacre

Corsham's Bath stone is still quarried. Can you replace a decayed chimney cap in new stone?

Often we can, because stone is still cut underground near the town. We would first see whether the existing cap can be saved by repointing in lime. If it cannot, we agree a replacement with you, looking at colour and texture against the old, and set it on a lime bed. If the house is listed, Wiltshire Council must agree the stone first.

My shop is on the High Street with flats above. Can the roof be repaired without closing the shop?

In many cases yes. Most of the work happens at roof level and on the rear elevation, so the shop can stay open, but access needs planning. We agree where the scaffold goes, when deliveries arrive and what must be protected. For a leak that reaches stock or counters, we make the roof safe first.

Who decides the lead details on a Grade II* terrace like the Flemish Weavers Houses?

The owner proposes and Wiltshire Council's conservation officers respond when listed building consent is needed. They look at what lead is used, where the joints fall and how the roof reads from the street. Our job is to describe the existing details precisely and to propose like-for-like work, so that the application has a clear basis.

My new home near the former Copenacre site has a damp patch in the bedroom. Is that a roof fault?

It might be, but not always. Condensation, a failed vent or a leak from the roof could each cause it. We look at the loft for staining, check flashings and vents, and trace water back to its source. If the cause is a workmanship fault, we document it with photographs so you can take it up with the original builder.

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  • 10-year workmanship guarantee
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