A Mendip village of grey limestone cottages with clay tile roofs

Roofers in Mells

Mells lies 15.1 road miles south of Bath. Its village hall began as a tithe barn in the 14th century and the church tower stands 104 feet high. Roofs of that size and age call for a measured approach: the right access, the right material and the council's view on anything listed.

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Local roofs

A village of big roofs: barn, church, manor and Lutyens

Mells packs a great deal of scale into a small place. The village hall was built in the 14th century as a tithe barn for Glastonbury Abbey and now serves as the village hall, so it carries the long roof of a barn. St Andrew's Church is Grade I listed and mostly late 15th century, with a mid 16th century tower that reaches 104 feet, or 32 metres. The Manor House, a Grade I listed building from the 16th century, stands close to the church.

The 20th century left its mark through Sir Edwin Lutyens. He designed Mells War Memorial, unveiled in 1921 and Grade II* listed, and he largely rebuilt Park House in Mells Park in 1923 after a fire in 1917 destroyed the original 18th century house. Pevsner notes the new house's ashlar masonry, Doric pilasters and hipped roof.

Other listed buildings stand nearby. The Talbot Inn, a former coaching inn from the 15th century, is Grade II* listed, and the stone village lock-up dates from the 17th century. The mixture matters to anyone with a roof of their own here: you are likely to be working near a listed building, and the roofs around you set a standard.

Planning and building control for Mells fall to Somerset Council. The village is in the Mendip Central and East ward, and every job we survey starts with one question: does it need agreement before work starts?

Council: Somerset Council
From central Bath: 15.1 road miles, south
Village hall: 14th century tithe barn for Glastonbury Abbey
St Andrew's Church: Grade I; tower 104 feet (32 m)
Park House: Rebuilt by Lutyens, 1923, with a hipped roof

What we find

Big hips, barn timbers and awkward elevations

A tithe barn's roof and what large spans ask for

Built in the 14th century for Glastonbury Abbey, the village hall shows what a big old roof carries.

A tithe barn was built to store a share of the parish's harvest, and its roof had to span a wide, tall space without internal walls. Mells village hall began life that way in the 14th century, and the same logic holds for any barn-type building in the area: the roof is the building. If it fails, there is little left to protect.

The heavy lifting is done by timber. Principal rafters, purlins and tie beams spread the load of a large covering down into the walls. Over centuries, the pegged joints can open, the bearing ends can rot where water has crept in, and the whole frame can settle. We look first for evidence of movement: ridges that have dipped, rows of tiles or slates running out of true, and cracks in the walls near the eaves.

The covering itself can be anything from stone tile to clay, slate or a later replacement. We do not assume it from the age of the building. A large roof can weigh a surprising amount, and swapping one material for another can change that load. Where the new material is 15% or more heavier than what it replaces, Building Regulations approval is needed, along with a structural check. Matching the material usually avoids the question.

If the building is in community use, the usual considerations apply: safety of people below, a written scope that a committee can approve, and access that does not close the building for longer than it must. Our pitched roofing hub describes how we handle large tiled and slated slopes, from stripping to relaying.

Gutters on a big building are worth a sentence. A long eaves line collects a lot of water, so the gutter must be sized to carry it and fixed to a fascia or stone corbel that will not move. A single failed bracket can send water down a wall for years before anyone notices the stain.

Lutyens, Park House and the hipped roof

A house rebuilt in 1923 with a hipped roof shows how many joints one tidy shape can contain.

Park House in Mells Park was largely rebuilt by Lutyens in 1923 after a fire destroyed the earlier 18th century house in 1917. Pevsner describes its ashlar masonry, its Doric pilasters and its hipped roof. A hipped roof slopes on all sides, with no gable, and that tidy outline hides a lot of joints. Every hip is a line along which two slopes meet and shed water in different directions.

Hips are covered by hip tiles or by lead rolls, depending on the roof. Under BS 5534, mortar alone is not relied on to hold hip tiles in place, so a mortar-bedded hip should also have mechanical fixings. The base of each hip, where it meets the eaves, is another weak spot, because the tile there has to be cut and fitted around the angle. The top, where all the hips and the ridge meet, needs a tidy, well-bedded junction. Our ridge, hip and verge repairs hub covers the methods.

Houses of this grandeur also tend to have valleys, parapet gutters and lead flashings around chimneys. The lead is where age shows. It stretches and splits along the lines where it was formed, and it can lift where fixings have corroded. When we repair it, we form new drips and laps properly. We do not smear sealant over a split and call it done.

Is your house a Lutyens building? Almost certainly not, but a village roof with grand pretensions faces the same decisions. Is it worth keeping the covering and renewing only the lead? Do the hips need rebedding or a dry-fix replacement? Does the underlay still work? These are survey questions, and the answers come from looking at the roof from the top as well as from the garden.

Where a building is listed, repairs that match the existing materials and methods may be straightforward. Changes to the covering, the profile or the chimney positions should be agreed in advance with Somerset Council.

Words you will hear

Hip: The sloping line on the outside corner of a roof, where two faces join.
Ashlar: Finely cut, squared stone laid in regular courses.
Pilaster: A flat column set into a wall for show rather than support.
Hipped roof: A roof that slopes down on every side and has no gable end.

The Talbot Inn and other buildings with public faces

A Grade II* coaching inn and a stone lock-up share a village green's worth of history and a lot of eyes.

The Talbot Inn is a former coaching inn from the 15th century and is listed Grade II*. The stone lock-up in the village dates from the 17th century. Buildings like these have two things in common: they are on public view, and a roof repair on either one is a public act.

That changes how we plan. Hours matter, because a pub needs to open. Access matters, because customers and walkers should not pass under a scaffold without protection. Noise and dust matter, and so does the neighbours' good will. Where a business is trading below, we fix working times beforehand and keep the site clean.

An old inn's roof is typically a mixture of eras, with extensions, outshots and lean-tos added as trade grew. At each seam between an old roof and a newer one there is a flashing, and a flat section wedged between pitched ones brings a gutter or a membrane into the mix. We survey each separately and say which are still good. Flat-roof sections are often the quickest to fail; the flat roofing hub describes how we deal with them.

Listed status brings extra care. A Grade II* building is in the upper tier of listing, and Somerset Council expects owners to consult before altering anything of significance. Like-for-like repairs, using the same covering and the same techniques, are different from replacing a covering with something new. If you are unsure which your work is, ask the council with our written description of the job in your hand.

Small structures such as a lock-up have little roof but a lot of significance. The roof is usually stone or tile on a small frame, and each unit matters. For a structure of that size we do not rush. We take down what must be taken down, set aside what can be reused and relay it carefully.

Public buildings

Agree working hours, access and consent first, because a roof job on a building everyone passes is never private.

Church-side houses and the work around a 104-foot tower

Living near a tall Grade I tower means long ladders, long sightlines and a council that watches closely.

St Andrew's Church has a mid 16th century tower reaching 104 feet, and the Grade I listed Manor House stands near the church. Houses within sight of buildings of that rank are not automatically listed, yet they sit in a setting that planners take seriously. If your roof is visible from the churchyard or the lane, expect the council to take an interest in what you propose.

The practical side starts with access. A tall house in a tight lane may have no space for a tower scaffold, and a churchyard is no place to stand a platform. Neighbours, trees and boundary walls all affect the choice. We walk the site with you, work out where each pole, ladder and bin can stand and agree it before the job begins.

The next question is the material. Roofs near the church are a visible record of what the village used. Whatever you have, we recommend keeping it in kind where the roof allows: slate for slate, stone tile for stone tile, clay for clay. If you are tempted to change to something cheaper or lighter, check the consent position first and ask whether the roof structure can take it. A cheaper tile may be fine on a new house, but it can look wrong and weigh differently on an old one.

Chimneys on old houses deserve their own check. A stack standing clear of the ridge is hit by weather from all four sides, and the chimney repairs hub explains how we repoint in lime, renew flaunching and replace failed flashings. Cement is the wrong choice on soft stone, and that is stated before any work starts.

Finally, the ecology: a church tower and old roofs are exactly where bats and nesting birds settle, and both are protected. Any signs we meet during a survey mean we stop and take advice, because disturbance is not something to risk. That can affect timing, and it is better to know in advance.

Typical access costs that shape a Mells job

Item	Typical UK figure
Scaffold added to a roof replacement	About £1,125
Scaffold added to a chimney patch	£550 to £650 against £250 without
Roofer's day rate	£250 to £300

National figures from MyBuilder cost guides, 2026; for a Mells job the price comes once we have inspected the roof ourselves.

Nearby

Roofers near Mells

Roofing services in Mells

Local questions

Tithe barn to Lutyens, Mells owners ask

Can a heavy tithe-barn style roof in Mells be repaired without taking the whole covering off?

Often, yes. The frame decides. If the principal timbers and purlins are sound, we replace failed units, renew local battens and underlay, and fix the problem areas. If the frame has moved or rotted at the bearings, the covering has to come off so the timber can be repaired first. We say which applies after looking at the roof from inside as well as out.

Does living near Mells church or the Manor House mean my roof work needs consent?

Not automatically. Consent applies to the listed building itself. Houses nearby may still sit where planners watch what changes, so it is sensible to ask Somerset Council before deciding on materials. A written account of the job from us gives you something to hand over.

My Mells house has a hipped roof. Where do the leaks usually start?

At the joints: where hip tiles meet the ridge, at the foot of each hip, and in any lead valley or chimney flashing. We follow each hip from eaves to ridge and test the junctions. Cracked mortar is a sign the tile may be loose, and BS 5534 does not rely on mortar alone, so we add mechanical fixings when re-fixing.

Will the roof work on a village pub or hall disturb trading or events?

We plan around it. Working hours, protected walkways, noise and the removal of waste are agreed before the job starts. For community buildings, we also write the scope so that a committee can approve it. Wherever possible, the building stays open.

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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