Georgian terrace of honey Bath stone with natural slate roofs and chimney stacks

Roofers in Weston

Weston keeps a village core inside the city, a short 2.6 road miles north-west of Bath's centre by car, with a Georgian High Street, a church recorded before 1156 and houses of coursed Bath stone. Tall, closely packed roofs crowd the old village core and take their own rainwater, so gutters, valleys and stacks get as much attention as the covering when they are repaired.

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Local roofs

An old village with a High Street and a buried brook

Weston is older than most of what surrounds it. The Domesday Book of 1086 records two manors here with 41 households, and the parish church, All Saints, was founded no later than 1156. The present church dates from 1832, designed by the local architect John Pinch the younger, though its 15th century tower survives from an earlier building.

The settlement that grew around the church still gives the area its character. In the council's character appraisal, most of the historic core is dated to the 18th century, and Georgian houses of three storeys are named among its clear examples. The vernacular buildings, the plainer houses and cottages, are built of coursed Bath stone, which is laid in rows of differing height, while the grander Bath-influenced houses are faced in ashlar, stone dressed to a smooth face with hairline joints.

Water is part of the story as well. The West Brook now runs underground below Weston High Street, but it floods periodically, and a catchment scheme to reduce that risk was announced in 2013. When the Crown Road was built in the 1960s to relieve the High Street, the tall retaining wall on its south side went up with it.

For a roofer, a village like this means tall houses and narrow frontages, stone that needs lime, listed and protected buildings and a rainwater system that has to work. Each roof gets its own survey, a written account of the findings with photographs, and a price that does not move.

Council: Bath and North East Somerset Council
From central Bath: 2.6 road miles, north-west
Domesday Book: 1086: two manors, 41 households
Parish church: All Saints, founded no later than 1156; rebuilt 1832 except the 15th century tower
Historic core: Majority 18th century, including Georgian three-storey houses

What we find

Tall Georgian roofs along Weston High Street

Three storeys up: Georgian houses on the High Street

A tall house puts its roof out of reach and its chimneys in the wind, which changes how a repair is planned.

The historic core of Weston is largely 18th century, with Georgian three-storey houses standing out among the older village buildings. A house of three storeys has an eaves line a long way above the ground. A ladder will not reach it safely, and the slopes behind the front wall are invisible from the street. The shape is often simple: a pitched roof on a timber frame, with chimney stacks on the party walls and perhaps a dormer or a rear wing.

Height shapes the work in three ways. First, the survey: we cannot judge the state of the slates, the valleys or the lead from the pavement, so we look from the roof itself or from a tower, and take photographs of anything that needs attention. Second, access: a scaffold up to a third floor weighs heavily in the cost, and it makes sense to do every job that needs it while it is in place. Third, weather: a roof at that height takes wind harder than a low one, and slates and ridge tiles are loaded more.

The chimneys are the other feature. On a terrace they sit on the party walls, so each stack serves the houses on both sides, and a stack that is leaning or open at the joints is a shared concern. We check the pointing, the flaunching around the pots and the lead where the stack leaves the slope, and tell you what repair, if any, is needed. Our chimney repairs page describes the options from repointing to a rebuild in matching stone.

A repair on a tall house is best planned once and done thoroughly. We combine the slate repairs, the lead, the gutters and the stack in one visit if we can, so one set of scaffold serves every item, and you are not paying to erect it again next year.

Coursed stone and ashlar at the roof edge

Weston's plainer houses and grander ones use different kinds of stone, and the roof edge has to respect each.

Not all Bath stone is cut or laid in the same way. In Weston's historic core, the vernacular buildings are built of coursed Bath stone, in rows of varying height, which gives a more irregular look. The grander houses influenced by Bath itself are built of ashlar, with fine joints and a smooth face. The two look different, and they behave differently at the roof edge.

Water finds its way in where stone and roof meet. On a gable wall the top of the wall is finished with coping stones, which cap the masonry, and the roof covering meets it at the verge. If the joints between copings open, water runs down inside the wall. If the flashing at the foot of a chimney lifts, the same happens at the stack. On a parapet, the coping and the gutter behind it do the equivalent job.

The mortar must suit the stone. Bath stone is a soft limestone. A lime mortar, weaker than the stone, lets damp escape by way of the joint. Cement is stronger than the stone and sends the damp out through the face instead, which then flakes. We rake out failed joints and repoint in lime, matching the colour and the profile of the original. Casework by the Bath Preservation Trust on a listed stack elsewhere in the city came to the same view, and we apply it on any stone building of this age.

Where stone has decayed beyond repair, replacement is done in new stone cut to the profile of the old. Slate roofs on stone houses are covered under slate roofing, and the same principles of matching apply: the roof should look from the street as it always has, and the repair should not be noticeable once it has weathered.

Words you will hear

Coursed stone: Stone laid in horizontal rows, each row a different height from the next.
Ashlar: Stone cut square and laid in fine joints, giving a smooth wall face.
Coping: The capping stones along the top of a wall or gable.
Flaunching: The mortar bed, sloped to shed rain, that holds the pots on a stack.

Rainwater, the West Brook and keeping the drains working

Every roof sheds water, and in a village with a buried brook, where it goes is worth thought.

The West Brook runs underground beneath Weston High Street now, but it still floods from time to time, and a catchment scheme to reduce that was announced in 2013. We are roofers, not drainage engineers, and we say nothing about the brook itself. What we can say is that every roof in the village sheds its rain into a gutter, a downpipe and a drain, and that system works only if each part is clear and sound.

When a gutter is blocked, water overflows and runs down the wall, soaking solid masonry that has no cavity to stop it. When a downpipe is cracked, the water escapes at the crack and wets the stone beneath. When a joint is open, drips fall onto the face of the building and leave staining that can mark Bath stone for years. These faults are visible if you look, and they get worse with every storm.

We check each run from the top: the gutter's fall, its fixings, the joints between lengths and the outlet. Then we follow the downpipe to the bottom and check that it enters the drain, with a clear gully and an intact shoe. Cast iron, which is common on older stone houses, needs painting and joint repair, and it can be refurbished. Plastic gutters can be replaced in the same profile. On a listed building, any change to the material may need agreement, so we ask before we replace.

Any change to the drainage plan is for a drainage professional or the council to decide, and we would not alter it. Clearing, repairing and replacing the gutters themselves falls within gutters, soffits and fascias. A short visit after the leaves fall and another after a storm is the most useful maintenance a village roof can have.

Myth

Gutter problems are only a nuisance and do no harm to a stone house.

Fact

Water running down solid stone walls can soak into the masonry and stain the face, so a blocked gutter is a repair worth making early.

A listed church, an old core and what to ask the council

Weston's older buildings sit in a village with a long record, and some are protected.

All Saints and the older houses around it show how much of Weston's past is still on view. The church was founded no later than 1156, the current building dates from 1832 and the tower is 15th century. Around it, the historic core is largely 18th century. Some of these buildings will be listed, and some stand in conservation areas or are subject to other controls. The council's records, and its policy map, are the place to check, because we cannot tell from here which applies to your house.

Where a house is listed, its roof comes under the listing. A listed building has its own consent route, distinct from planning permission, and B&NES grants it. Owners are asked to approach the council beforehand, and it warns that work done without authority is a criminal offence. Mending a roof with the slate, lead and stone already on it may take little discussion. Altering the covering, cutting in a roof window or taking down a stack is likelier to need agreement before work starts. There is a useful summary on the B&NES listed buildings page.

World Heritage status covers the entire city, with the conservation area taking in roughly half of it, and a few streets carry Article 4 directions on top. Which of these touch your house is for the council to confirm. Our part is to describe the job clearly enough for the council to assess it, and to look after the Building Regulations paperwork where the work calls for it.

For roofs on old stone houses, the pitched roof work we do is described under pitched roofing, and the notes on listed pitched roofs explain how the rules apply to them. For a first step, ask for a survey, because it gives you the facts you will need for any conversation with the council.

1086

Year the Domesday Book records two manors at Weston

1156

Latest date by which All Saints church was founded

1832

Year the present All Saints church was built

Figures: Weston, Bath entry, Wikipedia, checked October 2026

Nearby

Roofers near Weston

Roofing services in Weston

Local questions

Asking about a roof in old Weston village

My Georgian house in Weston is three storeys. How do you survey a roof that high?

We go up to the roof wherever it is safe, using a tower or scaffold, or a roof ladder from a lower section. From there we photograph the slates, valleys, lead and chimneys, and look into the roof void from inside. A tall house cannot be judged from the pavement, and photographs give you the same view we have. If work is needed, the scaffold is planned so it serves every item at once.

Weston has a High Street brook that floods. Does that affect how you repair my gutters?

The brook is not our concern, but the gutter and downpipe system is. We make sure rain leaves the roof, runs down a sound pipe and enters the drain through a clear gully. We cannot alter drainage connections, which are for the council or a drainage professional. What we do is keep the roof's part of the system working, so your walls stay dry and you do not add to the water in the drains.

What mortar should be used on a coursed stone cottage chimney in Weston?

Lime mortar, weaker than the stone, so that damp has a way out through the joint. Cement is harder than the stone and drives damp out through its face, where it flakes. We rake out failed joints, repoint and renew the flaunching in lime that matches the colour of the original. If the stack is on a listed house, rebuilding or altering it needs agreement from B&NES first.

Where can I check if my Weston house has a listing before I book roof work?

Start with the council. Its listed buildings page and its planning team can tell you whether a building is listed, and the policy map shows conservation areas and Article 4 directions. If it is listed, consent is needed before alterations begin. We can describe the repair in writing, with photographs, so that your conversation with the conservation team has something precise to work from.

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
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