St Dunstan's Grade I church
The nave and chancel have wagon roofs, and the chancel roof was extensively repaired in 1846.
Roofers in Baltonsborough
Brue valley flats, a Grade I church and old clay tile roofs
Baltonsborough lies in the broad, flat Brue valley, 5 km south-east of Glastonbury, and its church is listed Grade I. A survey comes before any price.
St Dunstan's wagon roofs and the old farmhouses
Bridge Farmhouse and Gatehouse
Both were built with roofs of two tiers of raised crucks, remains of late medieval open hall houses.
Greyhound Inn and Martin Street
The Greyhound Inn and Martin Street Farmhouse are listed Grade II, so their roofs share the same consent rules.
Street map of Baltonsborough with Butleigh, Keinton Mandeville, Compton Dundon, Glastonbury marked around it, and Taunton.
Butleigh to the south-west, Glastonbury to the north-west
Butleigh lies south-west of Baltonsborough and Keinton Mandeville to the south. Compton Dundon, Street and Walton are to the west, Glastonbury north-west and Pilton north-east.
About 21 miles east of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Help for Baltonsborough roofs
Valley village, four checks
Reading a Baltonsborough roof, from clay tile to cruck frame
Four checks for a stone house in the village, taking you from listing and tile to old timbers and scaffold.
Check 1 of 4Listing and the nearby Butleigh conservation area
Check the list, then the boundary
The nearest conservation area in the national dataset is Butleigh, within about 2.5 km of Baltonsborough. Plenty of addresses sit nearer a boundary than they appear to, and Somerset Council's planning team can settle which protections apply to yours; we check the planning map before pricing. The National Heritage List holds 10 entries within 500 metres of the centre, so the listing question deserves an answer early too, ideally before any estimate is discussed. Ask the previous owner, your solicitor or the planning team whether the house has been listed, and whether consent was ever granted for earlier roof work; those papers can save weeks. On a visit we note the covering on each slope, the ridge, the valleys and the chimneys, so any application starts from facts and not memory.
What is listed in Baltonsborough?
St Dunstan's church is Grade I, first listed on 22 November 1966. The Greyhound Inn and Martin Street Farmhouse are Grade II, and the village war memorial became Grade II on 23 September 2014. A listed pub or farmhouse carries the same consent rules as any listed house, and its roof is part of what is listed.
Who clears roof work at St Dunstan's?
Anglican worship continues at the church, so the Church of England's faculty system governs its roof, and the parish makes the application. Our part is to inspect and report in plain terms, which feeds into whoever writes the specification. The Victoria County History records that the nave and chancel have wagon roofs, arched timber ceilings, and that the chancel roof has a decorated wall plate carrying angels holding open books. The same roof was extensively repaired in 1846, so any new work is set against a long history of repair. Our page on planning permission for roof work explains how the routes differ for houses.
Look for
- Mismatched tiles from different batches
- A ridge restyled in new materials
- Skylights on a visible slope
- Cement pointing on old stonework
Check 2 of 4Clay tile where thatch used to be
Matching the old roof honestly
- Sound: tiles seated, courses straight
- Needs work: cracked tiles, sagging courses
In 2006 the Victoria County History recorded that all but one house in Baltonsborough was stone built, and that houses dating from before 1800 had generally had their thatched roofs replaced by clay tiles in the 18th or early 19th century, with very few still thatched. Clay tile is therefore part of the village's story, and matching it needs more thought than ordering whatever a merchant has to hand. We can show you a tile in your hand against the originals before an order is placed, because colour and texture read differently on a roof than in a yard.
What decides the price
- Reclaimed or new matching tile
- Area of the slope to re-cover
- Condition of battens beneath
- Height, access and scaffold
Can old clay tiles be replaced with new ones?
A like-for-like re-cover in clay normally keeps the look, but tiles differ in size, camber and colour, and a roof laid from mixed batches shows. Where a few have failed, we look for sound reclaimed tiles that match. Where a whole slope has gone, we propose a new clay tile that sits well beside the old and explain what the difference will look like. Pitch decides which tile can be used: Marley lists 40 degrees as the minimum for its Canterbury clay tile, 35 for Ashdowne, and 30 for both Hawkins and Acme Single Camber.
How long does a clay roof last?
Marley cites a BRE minimum life expectancy of 60 years, and that figure belongs to clay tiles alone. For old handmade peg tile, a buildingconservation.com article calls the 60-year figure clearly not a reliable guide, since the quality of individual tiles varies. So a roof's age tells you less than its fixings and its battens. We pick tiles apart at the survey, check the nail holes and the battens beneath, and give you a straight answer on repair or re-cover. Our pitched roofing page explains how each case is handled.
Check 3 of 4Cruck frames, wall plates and spray foam
Keep the water off old timber
Three late medieval open hall houses survive in Baltonsborough, the Victoria County History says, and the roofs of Bridge Farmhouse and Gatehouse were built with two tiers of raised crucks. A cruck is a pair of curved timbers rising from the walls to carry the roof, and raised crucks start higher up the wall. Frames like these are the oldest carpentry in the village, and what matters most about them is keeping water away. Damp does its slow work where timber meets masonry, which is why wall plates, the timbers laid along the tops of the walls to carry the rafters, deserve a close look. Gutters and downpipes that overflow onto a wall can keep a wall plate wet for years without anyone noticing from inside.
An old timber roof can carry on for centuries if the water stays out of it.
From the ground
- Sagging along the ridge line
- Dark stains on loft timbers
- Daylight at the eaves
- Foam sprayed under the slope
Leave to a roofer
- Probing timbers for softness
- Cutting back spray foam
- Replacing a rotten wall plate
What should I look for in old roof timbers?
Dark staining on the wood, soft patches that give under a screwdriver, daylight through the covering and a sag along the ridge. Old timbers should not be cut, notched or loaded without advice from someone who has read the frame. At the survey we photograph the wall plates, the ends of the rafters and any joints in the frame. Where timbers have decayed, the repair is to cut out what has failed and splice in sound wood, not to renew a frame that has stood for centuries.
What about spray foam in the roof?
Spray foam applied under an old roof can hide the timbers from inspection. The RICS consumer guide suggests asking your mortgage provider whether its lender policy permits the installation of such products, and the Energy Saving Trust advises against spraying foam onto a leaking roof. Where foam is already on, our spray foam insulation removal page explains what taking it off involves, and the roof inspections page shows what a survey records.
Check 4 of 4Valley flooding maps, scaffold and the survey
Licence, survey, one written price
The Environment Agency's planning data places a Flood Zone 3 area within about 250 metres of the centre of Baltonsborough. A flood zone describes land, not a roof, and GOV.UK offers a free postcode check of long-term flood risk for the answer that matters to you. A roof's part in a wet village is to keep rain out of the house and send it quickly to the drains, which means clear gutters and sound downpipes. Rainwater that overflows beside a wall can keep the stonework wet, so we check the fall of each gutter run and the downpipe outlets and describe what we find.
What decides the price
- Scaffold on the highway or not
- Weeks of access hire
- Area of roof the survey marks worn
- Whether building control needs to hear of it
Who licenses scaffold in Baltonsborough?
Somerset Council, the highway authority here, licenses scaffold on the road or pavement under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, accepting applications from accredited contractors alone; the contractor appointed for your job makes the application. The charge is £124.60 per 28-day period (April 2026), and 10 working days' notice is the minimum. Somerset Building Control, on 0300 303 7790, covers a village that sat in the former Mendip district.
Does re-covering a Baltonsborough roof involve building control?
The Planning Portal says less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof affected needs no application, and that a covering 15 per cent or more heavier brings Building Regulations approval. Birds matter too: under section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to intentionally destroy a nest that is in use. Nests found at the survey move the start date, never the other way round, and you hear about it in plain terms before anything is booked.
The survey gives you photographs of your own roof and a single written price for the whole job. Pass us the Baltonsborough address with a description of the fault, and we can fix a visit.
Walked the roof?
- 1 read
- 2 not read yet
- 3 not read yet
- 4 not read yet
When you have read the checks, we walk the roof and show you the photos.
Baltonsborough roofs, from St Dunstan's to the clay tiles
Who approves roof repairs to the wagon roofs of St Dunstan's church in Baltonsborough?
St Dunstan's is listed Grade I and Anglican worship continues there, so repairs to its roofs go through a faculty applied for by the parish, not through listed building consent from Somerset Council. The roofer works to the scheme it sanctions. We photograph the existing roof covering, the lead and the drainage at survey, so the application starts from facts.
Can a clay tile roof on a pre-1800 Baltonsborough house be re-covered in new tile?
Often, yes, but check the listing first. Listed building consent is required on a listed house where the work alters its character, and a re-cover in tiles that look different could do that. Matching size, camber and colour helps, and reclaimed tiles can fill gaps where individual tiles have failed. Somerset Council's planners can settle it for your address.
Is spray foam under an old Baltonsborough roof a problem for a mortgage?
It can be. The RICS consumer guide says to ask your mortgage provider whether the lender's own policy permits spray foam to be fitted at all. The Energy Saving Trust also advises against foam on a roof that leaks. If the foam is already on the roof, ask us to survey it first, because removal depends on what is underneath.
How do I find out whether my Baltonsborough house is in a flood risk area?
The Environment Agency's planning data puts a Flood Zone 3 area within about 250 metres of the village centre, but zones describe land and say nothing about a particular house. Try GOV.UK's postcode tools for long-term risk and for live warnings, then keep gutters clear. Where the answer is yes for your address, the gutters and downpipes are put right first.
Villages around Butleigh and Pilton
A roof survey for Baltonsborough
Tell us about the clay tile, timber or gutter problem on your Baltonsborough roof and we will arrange a visit.