The Yarn Market
An octagon with a slate roof carrying a timber lantern, listed Grade I; its weathervane dates repairs to 1647.
Roofers in Dunster
Slate, double Roman tile and thatch inside Exmoor National Park
Dunster lies inside Exmoor National Park, where the Park Authority decides planning, with its own conservation area and 109 listed buildings within 500 metres.
The Yarn Market, the Nunnery and the castle
Cruck-framed houses and the Nunnery
Jointed cruck framing is relatively widespread in 17th-century or earlier houses, and the jettied Nunnery has notable slate hanging.
Castle, Gatehouse and Priory Church
Dunster Castle and Gatehouse, and the Priory Church of St George, are each listed Grade I.
Street map of Dunster with Carhampton, Minehead, Old Cleeve, Washford marked around it, and Taunton.
Between Minehead, Carhampton and Watchet
Carhampton lies just south-east of Dunster, Minehead north-west and Old Cleeve east. Washford is south-east, Watchet and Williton east, and Porlock further west.
About 19 miles north-west of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Dunster homes: our roof services
Four checks inside the Park
Dunster roofs, from the Park Authority down to the sandstone
Who decides on planning and consent, how slate and double Roman tiles differ, what lead does beside rendered sandstone, and how Somerset's licence fits in.
Check 1 of 4Exmoor decides, not the council
Planning and consent go to Exmoor
Dunster stands inside Exmoor National Park, and that changes who you ask. Under section 4A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Park authority alone acts as local planning authority for the Park. So planning permission and listed building consent for a Dunster roof go to Exmoor National Park Authority, not to Somerset Council. The Authority also investigates potential breaches of planning and listed building control. Dunster also has its own conservation area, the subject of a Park Authority appraisal, so the boundary question comes up on many addresses near the centre.
Does a National Park change a like-for-like repair?
Not much. Repeating the covering already on the roof is the gentle end of the scale, and the survey records what is up there before anything is priced. A change of covering, roof windows or new ridge details deserve a call to the Park's planners first. Dormers always need a planning application inside a National Park or a conservation area. Our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out the national picture.
Which of Dunster's big listings matter to a roof?
Historic England lists Dunster Castle and Gatehouse, the Yarn Market and the Priory Church of St George at Grade I, and 109 listed buildings stand within 500 metres of the village centre. For any listed building that is not a church in use, listed building consent applies to changes that affect its character. The Priory Church of St George still holds Church of England services as the parish church, so work on its roof goes through the faculty system instead. In practice that gives you two doors to knock on: Exmoor for how the roof looks, and Somerset Building Control for how it is built. Dunster Castle and Gatehouse was first listed on 22 May 1969 (entry 1057643).
Look for
- Cement over old lime pointing
- Different tile beside old clay
- Roof windows on a street slope
- A new ridge style
Check 2 of 4Slate, double Roman and plain clay
Matching what Dunster already has
- Sound: courses straight, no slipped slates
- Needs work: tile cracked, slates gapping
Exmoor National Park Authority's appraisal describes Dunster's roofs as generally quite steeply pitched, with slate, some Bridgwater double Roman and plain clay tiles, and thatch surviving in pockets, notably in Park Street and St George's Street. The Yarn Market shows the town's slate at its most visible: a slate roof carrying a timber lantern and a weathervane marked GL and 1647, the date of post-Civil War repairs. Many buildings would have been thatched until the mid 19th century.
What decides the price
- Number of slates or tiles broken
- Whether a matching tile survives
- Steepness of the slope to be reached
- Scaffold or tower for access
What is a Bridgwater double Roman tile?
It is a tile made in Bridgwater, where the South West Heritage Trust says brick and tile works shaped how many Somerset towns look, and a local heritage leaflet lists the Double Roman among the town's products. Marley's modern concrete Double Roman has a minimum pitch of 22.5 degrees (smooth). A Bridgwater-made tile and a modern concrete one are different products, so matching starts with finding out which you have. Reclaimed tiles are often the answer, and photographs of any tile you find in the garden or the gutter help us pin down what the roof carries before we visit. A pair of binoculars from the street shows a slipped slate or a cracked tile faster than a conversation does.
Can a thatched neighbour be a problem for slate repairs?
Thatch is a thatcher's craft, and a fault inside it is the thatcher's to fix, and we will point out any we spot. A slate roof beside thatch needs its junction dressed so water sheds away. Slate that is looked after can pass 100+ years, a Confederation of Roofing Contractors figure, and the BRE's 60-year minimum belongs to clay tile alone. Neither is a promise. For a few tiles, MyJobQuote's typical UK figures run from £150 to £200 for five and £200 to £275 for ten to twenty (Oct 2026), while a full re-tile of 80 square metres is £3,000 to £8,000. Our slate roofing page covers repairs in more detail.
Check 3 of 4Sandstone, render and lead flashing
Where roofs meet rendered stone
Building stone in Dunster came from local quarries at the foot of Grabbist Hill and in Conygar Wood, in two kinds: a soft orange to reddish-purple New Red Sandstone, and a harder dark red, grey or greenish Devonian sandstone. Brick is relatively rare in the town, though an estate brickworks ran from about 1750 until about 1919. Sandstone walls on street frontages are often rendered, which matters to a roofer because every join between roof and wall depends on lead, and lead depends on a sound wall.
Where a roof meets a rendered wall, the lead and the render fail together or not at all.
From the ground
- Look for stains below gutters
- Check render for cracks beside the roof
- Spot lifting lead at wall joins
- Note green growth on a flashing
Leave to a roofer
- Lifting lead at the abutment
- Repairing render around the join
- Refixing a gutter run
- Replacing a soaker
What does lead flashing do at a wall?
Flashing is a lead strip pushed into a joint in the wall and folded down over the covering to shed water. Soakers are smaller folded pieces worked into each course beside a wall or chimney. Royston's brochure sets lead sheet codes by job, with code 3 for soakers only and thicker lead for gutters. Slate hanging, as on the Nunnery, is slate fixed to the face of a wall; it is a wall covering, but its top edge meets the roof, so we check where it ends and how the two are sealed. MyJobQuote credits lead flashing with over 80 years of life (Sep 2026). When it fails early, the cause is usually a movement in the wall or a fixing, not the age of the lead.
Where do the gutters come in?
The Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning puts Dunster within about 250 metres of Flood Zone 3, a fact about land that GOV.UK lets you check by postcode. A roof can do its part by sending water away quickly. Gutter spill onto a rendered wall stains and softens it, and then flashing at the wall below the gutter fails sooner. We check gutters and flashings together. Replacing guttering costs about £1,000 to £1,600 on MyJobQuote's typical UK range (Oct 2026), and capping fascias and soffits averages around £800 (Sep 2026). See gutters, soffits and fascias.
Check 4 of 4A Somerset licence and one price
The paperwork that runs alongside the roof
Dunster belongs to Somerset Council for highways, and scaffold over a pavement or road needs its licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. Somerset Council says permits go only to accredited contractors, and only the appointed contractor may complete the application. The fee is £124.60 for each 28-day period (April 2026), and the council wants at least 10 working days of lead time before poles are erected. A scaffold that fails inspection draws a £40 fee for another visit, and an overrunning job needs a permit extension. A nest that is active under the eaves is protected too: the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes intentional damage to one an offence, so work near it waits.
What decides the price
- Whether poles stand on the highway
- Weeks until the roof is finished
- Cost of matching clay or slate
- Whether the covering is heavier
Which body handles building control in the Park?
Exmoor National Park Authority does planning and not building control. For Somerset addresses, even inside the Park, building control stays with Somerset Building Control. When a re-roof is notifiable, the fee calculator at Somerset Building Control lists it as renovation of a thermal element to a single dwelling. If a re-roof is large, ask them about the Planning Portal's test of 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, and bear in mind that a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs Building Regulations approval.
What do I get after the survey?
Photographs of your own roof, then one written sum for everything, with waste cleared at the end. Citizens Advice advises collecting at least 3 written quotes from different traders before choosing. Compare what each covers: if VAT and scaffolding are inside each total, which covering is named and whether the waste is cleared. GOV.UK lists the standard 20% VAT rate for repairs and re-roofing of existing homes. Give us your Dunster address and a note about the problem, and a survey slot will be offered.
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.
Dunster roofs, from the castle to the Yarn Market
Can a Dunster roof with Bridgwater double Roman tiles be re-covered in a different tile?
It is possible, but the look changes, and inside the conservation area and the National Park the Authority is the body to ask. Marley gives a minimum pitch of 22.5 degrees for its concrete Double Roman. Repairing in the tile already on the roof is the gentler route, using reclaimed pieces where new ones cannot be matched.
Who decides roof work on Dunster Castle's gatehouse or the Yarn Market?
Both are listed Grade I, and the Yarn Market carries a slate roof and a timber lantern. Neither is a church in use, so listed building consent from Exmoor National Park Authority applies. If either is also a scheduled monument, scheduled monument consent is a separate step from the Secretary of State.
Which council handles building control for a re-roof in Dunster?
Planning goes to Exmoor National Park Authority, but building control for a Somerset address in the Park stays with Somerset Building Control. Ask it when a job touches 25 per cent or more of the building envelope, 50 per cent or more of the roof, or adds 15 per cent or more in weight.
Does a Dunster house need an application for a dormer?
Yes. Dormers always need an application inside a National Park or a conservation area, and Dunster is both. Apply to Exmoor National Park Authority before any dormer or roof alteration, and have photographs of the existing roof from every side ready for its planning officers, with a sketch of what you propose.
Villages and towns near Dunster
Fix a survey for your Dunster roof
Name the Dunster street and the fault, and a survey date will be offered.