A Mendip village of grey limestone cottages with clay tile roofs

Roofers in Norton St Philip

Norton St Philip is a village 7.2 road miles south of Bath, built around its common on the eastern slopes of the Mendips. A medieval wool store with timber-framed upper floors, a Grade II* church and a development of about 57 newer homes stand around the common, and all of them are a short drive from Bath for our roofers.

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Local roofs

A crossroads village around The Mead

Norton St Philip lies on the eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills and is built around a village common known as Churchmead, or The Mead. The village sits around the crossroads of the A366 and the B3110, and after a series of traffic incidents a 7.5 t weight limit was introduced for vehicles driving through it.

The oldest building most people name is the George Inn. It was built in the 14th or 15th century as a wool store for the priory at Hinton Charterhouse, and its timber-framed upper floors were added in the 15th century. Close by, the church of St Philip and St James dates from the 14th century. Sir George Gilbert Scott restored it in 1847, and it is listed Grade II*.

The village also has a modern chapter. The former Faccenda poultry plant site was redeveloped between 2012 and 2014 with approximately 57 dwellings, using materials and a style sympathetic to the local vernacular. From the medieval centre to the newest street, the village holds roofs of very different ages.

Norton St Philip is close enough to Bath for a morning visit. Planning and consent here sit with Somerset Council. We climb the roof, read what is there and report in pictures, followed by a written price.

Council: Somerset Council
From central Bath: 7.2 road miles, south
Medieval inn: The George Inn, 14th or 15th century, timber-framed upper floors
Parish church: St Philip and St James, Grade II*, restored 1847
Newer homes: About 57 dwellings on the former Faccenda site, 2012 to 2014

What we find

Timber-frame edges, church gutters and young roofs

The George Inn and roofs on old timber frames

A wool store with timber-framed upper floors shows why a roof and its wall belong to one structure.

The George Inn began as a wool store for the priory at Hinton Charterhouse, and its timber-framed upper floors were added in the 15th century. We do not know the condition of its roof and are not suggesting anything about it. We use it to make a general point: when a building has a timber frame, the roof is not an independent lid. It sits on the same frame, moves with it and sheds its water onto it.

That has consequences for how leaks behave. Water that gets in at the roof edge does not always fall straight down. It can follow a timber, travel along a beam and show itself as damp in a place well away from the real fault. A mark on an upstairs ceiling can start at a gutter joint on the opposite side of the house. Tracing it requires patience and, usually, a look from inside the loft with a torch as well as from outside.

The common weak points on a framed building are the eaves and the verge. At the eaves, the lowest course of covering should overhang the gutter so that water drops into it and not behind it. At the verge (where the roof edge runs up a gable), the covering should be bedded and pointed so that wind cannot get beneath it. Timber framing also tends to move seasonally, so a rigid sealant that crack-fills a gap often reopens it, whereas a flexible lead dressing follows the movement.

Old timber needs to dry. A repair that traps moisture, such as a hard render, a plastic membrane laid in the wrong place or a tight lining behind a gutter, can cause rot in the oak or elm behind it. Our repairs are chosen to let the building dry out. A building of this age is also quite likely to be listed, and the listing covers the roof; Historic England's online list will tell you, and the planning team at Somerset Council can confirm it.

For the covering and timbers of an older pitched roof, see pitched roofing.

A 7.5 tonne limit and how a roofing job reaches the village

A village built round a crossroads has to plan for deliveries, scaffold and skips.

Norton St Philip is situated around the crossroads of the A366 and the B3110. A weight limit of 7.5 t was introduced for vehicles driving through the village, so heavy lorries cannot simply drive in. For a roofer, a limit of this kind is a planning point and not an obstacle, but it is one that has to be handled at the start.

A roofing job moves a surprising amount of material. A re-cover needs a scaffold delivered and erected, then tiles or slates, battens, underlay, lead and fixings. Waste then has to be taken away. A skip lorry is normally heavy. So is a delivery of stone tile or natural slate on a pallet. We find out the exact rules before an order is placed, ask the supplier to use smaller vehicles where that makes sense and divide loads so that each delivery is manageable. Where a vehicle is heavy, the route and any exemption are for the driver and the supplier to check with the council.

Access in the village streets brings its own questions. A narrow lane may not take a scaffold lorry without a short road closure, and a house on a corner may need a licence from the highway authority before scaffolding is put on the pavement. We tell you in the written price who arranges these, and what they cost. A MyBuilder guide from 2026 puts typical UK scaffolding for a roof replacement at about £1,125, and awkward access adds to that.

None of this makes the village hard to work in. It means the survey includes a walk of the approach, a note of parking and a conversation about timing. When the work is done, the scaffold comes down, the waste goes and the site is left tidy.

A smaller job, such as refixing a ridge or renewing a flashing, can usually be done from a ladder or tower with a single van. The ridge and verge repairs page describes what those involve.

7.5 t

Weight limit for vehicles driving through the village

7.2

Road miles south of central Bath

Approximate number of dwellings on the former Faccenda site

Figures: Wikipedia, Norton St Philip; route distance from our own mapping

St Philip and St James: a Scott-restored church roof

A Grade II* church shows what a big historic roof asks of its owners, and how to plan the work.

The church of St Philip and St James dates from the 14th century. It was restored in 1847 by Sir George Gilbert Scott and is Grade II* listed. Churches are a world of their own for roofing. The roofs are high and long, the lead is extensive and the people responsible are typically a parochial church council or a trust, with a limited budget and a duty to the building.

Planning is the foundation. We start with an inspection, from the ground with binoculars and from the roof where it is safe. The 2026 MyBuilder inspection guide gives UK prices spanning £150 to £500, the spread coming from method and report depth. A church needs a fuller version, with a written list of defects, their positions on a plan and a ranking by urgency. Our roof inspections page describes what the report contains.

Lead and gutters are usually the heart of the matter. Valleys between nave and aisle, parapet gutters along the tops of walls and flashings at the tower are the places where water gets in. A parapet gutter lies behind the short wall that finishes a roof edge, and a valley is where two slopes fold together. Overflows from either can run down the stone for years before anyone sees the stain inside. Lead that has split at a drip, or that has crept, needs to be renewed in lead, with the detail formed to move.

For a listed house, any repair that changes the character of the roof needs listed building consent from Somerset Council, and works without it are an offence. A Church of England church in use such as St Philip and St James is different: it sits under the ecclesiastical exemption, and the diocese authorises roof work through a faculty, which the parish will know how to apply for. We describe the work in the specific terms an approving body needs.

If bats or nesting birds use the building, both are protected. A survey by an ecologist is for the parish to commission, and we adjust the programme around what they advise.

Church roofs

Inspect first, rank the defects, then phase the repairs to match the money and the consents.

The former Faccenda site and roofs of 2012 to 2014

About 57 newer homes carry roofs that are young, but not free from small faults.

The roughly 57 homes on the old Faccenda poultry site went up between 2012 and 2014, in materials and a style chosen to sit with the local vernacular. For a homeowner there, the roof is young by any standard, and the sensible expectation is little trouble. The sensible practice is still a look every year or two.

Newer roofs fail in different ways from old ones. The covering is usually sound. The faults are in the details that were done fast or settle with use. Ridge tiles may be bedded in mortar that has cracked, and as BS 5534:2014 recognises, mortar alone is not a reliable fixing for ridge and hip pieces. A flashing may have been dressed too tight and lifted. A valley may have collected leaves. A gutter joint may have separated as the bracket moved. These are small faults and cheap to put right, provided they are found before water has spent a winter inside.

Underlay deserves a mention. It is the sheet under the battens that turns back wind-blown rain, and its performance depends on being laid with proper laps and kept clear of the eaves. If a loft shows damp patches, a musty smell or condensation, the underlay and the ventilation are the first places to look. We check the eaves vents too, because blocked ventilation causes damp that looks like a leak.

The slope matters. The village lies on the eastern slopes of the Mendips, so some streets take weather from open ground. A ridge or a verge that has lifted in a gale is a quick repair, and where a mortar bed keeps cracking, a clipped system tested to BS 8612:2018 can stand in for it. Choices are laid out under ridge and verge repairs.

On dry ridge, MyBuilder's 2026 guide reports typical UK prices of £40 to £60 a linear metre, or £500 to £1,000 for an installation. Your own price follows the survey.

Words you will hear

Verge: The edge of the roof that runs up beside a gable wall.
Dry-fix: Ridge, hip or verge pieces held by clips and caps with no mortar bed.
Underlay: Sheeting below the battens that handles any rain blown through the covering.
Eaves: The bottom edge of the slope, where run-off drops into the gutter.

Nearby

Roofers near Norton St Philip

Roofing services in Norton St Philip

Local questions

Around The Mead, Norton St Philip asks

Does the 7.5 tonne limit through Norton St Philip stop a scaffold or skip being delivered?

Not by itself, but it shapes the plan. We check the limit and any exemptions with the council before an order is placed, ask suppliers to use smaller vehicles where they can, and split loads when needed. The written price says who arranges access and any highway permit. Smaller repairs can often be done from a tower with one van.

My house near The Mead has timber framing at first-floor level. Why does the damp show up in a different place from the leak?

Water follows timber. It enters at the roof edge, runs along a beam or a plate and appears wherever it can drip or evaporate, which may be a metre or two from the fault. We trace it from the loft and the outside together, then repair the entry point, not the stain. Drying time is needed afterwards, and we tell you how long.

We look after the church. How can we plan roof repairs when funds arrive in stages?

Start with an inspection report that ranks each defect by urgency and position. We price each item separately so the church council can fund the urgent ones first and plan the rest. Because the church is Grade II* listed and still in use, works that change the roof's character need a diocesan faculty instead of listed building consent from Somerset Council, and we write the descriptions in terms that an approving body can assess.

Our house on the former Faccenda site is under fifteen years old. Is a roof check worth doing?

Yes, and the best time is after a wet winter. Young roofs show small defects: cracked ridge mortar, a lifted flashing, a gutter joint that has opened. These are quick repairs when caught early. A short inspection, with photographs of any defect, gives you a record and a short list of what to fix.

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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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