All Saints, Grade I
Lias with Ham stone dressings, listed on 17 April 1959. Fire destroyed the nave roof in 1845.
Roofers in Langport
Ham stone, lias and Georgian frontages on a hill above the Parrett
Langport sits on the river Parrett below its hill, with the Grade I All Saints church, the Hanging Chapel and 74 listed buildings within 900 metres. Photos come first.
From the Hanging Chapel to the town hall bellcot
The town hall's pyramidal roof
A Ham stone arcade carries a brick storey, a pyramidal roof, a bellcot and a weather vane dated 1733.
Georgian-style Bow Street
By the 18th century's end the Hill and the east end of Bow Street were lined with Georgian-style buildings.
Street map of Langport with Huish Episcopi, Curry Rivel, Wiltown, High Ham marked around it, and Taunton.
Huish Episcopi, Curry Rivel and High Ham around the town
Huish Episcopi adjoins Langport to the east, with Curry Rivel to the south-west, High Ham to the north and Long Sutton further east, and, further south, Kingsbury Episcopi.
About 12 miles east of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Pitched, flat and roofline work in Langport
Four checks for a town on a hill
Reading a Langport roof, from the Hill down to the Parrett
Consent, lead, drainage and access taken in turn, and what each one adds to or takes from the quote.
Check 1 of 4Seventy-four listings around the Hill
Check the status before the scaffold
The National Heritage List has 74 entries within 900 metres of the centre, and they range from the Hanging Chapel and All Saints church, both Grade I and both listed on 17 April 1959, to Hurds Hill House and the Langport Arms Hotel at Grade II*. Somerset Council records a Langport and Huish Episcopi conservation area as well. A listed or conservation address does not rule out a repair; it settles the order of the steps. Dormers there face extra planning limits, so raise any dormer idea with the planning team early. Before pricing, we check if your address is on the list, inside that boundary, or both, because either answer changes the route a roof job must take.
Can I put the same covering back without an application?
On a house, laying like for like is usually a repair rather than new development, so no application follows. Trouble starts when something visible changes: a different slate or tile, a new roof light, a dormer, a swap from lead to another metal. In a conservation area those changes should be put to Somerset Council's planning team first. A listed house adds listed building consent, which our answer on listed building roof consent explains step by step.
What about the church?
All Saints is still a working parish church, and its nave roof, destroyed by fire in 1845, has long since been replaced. Any roof work on it follows the faculty system that governs Church of England buildings, not council consent. Buildings of other denominations follow different routes, so ask who owns the building before you ask who consents.
Our survey photographs every slope and gutter, and it notes whether any past repair used a different material, because those details decide how closely a new covering must follow the old. An application then starts from a record.
Look for
- Lead replaced with another metal
- New roof lights on front slopes
- Ridge style differing from neighbours
- Tiles that do not match
Check 2 of 4Lead gutters behind Georgian parapets
Seams, folds and valley gutters
Where a front wall rises above the roof as a parapet, the gutter behind it is built into the roof itself, lined with lead or a membrane. A hipped roof sheds rain down sloping edges, and the town hall's pyramidal roof, with all its slopes meeting at a point, is the extreme case: with no gable end there is no verge, and every angle is a hip. A valley is the trough where two slopes meet at an inward corner. Each of these sends water through a lined channel that has to stay watertight for decades, and that is the lead worker's job.
Sound or needs work
- Sound: flat lead, tight folded seams
- Needs work: a crack along a seam
What decides the price
- How long and wide the gutter runs
- Which lead code the gutter takes
- Number of seams or folds to rework
- Parapet height and access
How long does lead last, and which thickness is used?
MyJobQuote says lead can last for over 80 years, a lower bound, not a promise. Lead sheet is sold by code, and Royston Lead's brochure lists codes 4 to 6 for flashings, codes 4 to 8 for pitched valley gutters, and codes 5 to 8 for parapet and box gutters. Code 5 weighs 25.40 kg per square metre and is 2.24 mm thick. We settle the code with you at the survey, and the weight and the fixings go into the single written price.
Can a split in lead be patched?
A small split at a fold can sometimes be repaired in place, and a lead worker can dress back lifted edges. A gutter with cracks along several seams is telling you the lead has fatigued, and a patch will be followed by another. Stripping and relaying it in new sheet gives a gutter that works for decades. A parapet gutter also needs its outlet kept clear: a leaf-blocked outlet turns the gutter into a pond, and the water then looks for the nearest seam. At the survey we check the outlets and the wall beneath for stains. Our lead work page sets out what that involves.
Check 3 of 4Flat roofs at the river's edge
Falls, outlets and the covering
Langport stands on low land beside the Parrett, rising to the hill. Environment Agency data puts Flood Zone 3 land within about 250 metres of the centre. That describes ground, not roofs, so check your own address with GOV.UK's long-term flood risk service. A roof's job is simpler: to shed water quickly. On the gutter side, Brett Martin's fitting guide asks for a fall of 1mm for every 600mm, and a single dropped bracket can undo it. An extension or garage with a flat roof is where that goes wrong first.
Ponding water is a slow warning: the roof is telling you its fall has gone.
From the ground
- Note puddles that stay for days
- See blistering or bare patches on felt
- Check downpipes empty into clear gullies
Leave to a roofer
- Testing the deck for soft spots
- Lifting edge trims to check laps
- Unblocking and resetting outlets
What makes rain linger on a flat roof?
BS 6229:2025 sets a finished fall of 1:80, and IKO advises designing for 1:40 so that the built roof still drains. Puddles that outlast the rain have three usual causes: the deck has settled, the outlet is clogged, or the fall was never enough. The covering matters as well. Less puts a well-laid torch-on felt roof at about 20 years but warns that a poor one can fail within 10. It gives GRP, glass-reinforced plastic, 25 to 40 years. EPDM, a rubber membrane, is given 20 to 30 years by GreenSpec and 30 to 50 by Less.
What does a flat roof cost?
MyJobQuote (Oct 2026) gives a typical UK range of £1,500 to £6,000 to replace a flat roof, averaging £2,400, and £750 to £3,500 for a garage roof. A garage roof of corrugated sheet built before 2000 should be treated as possible asbestos cement until a survey says otherwise (HSE), and breaking such sheets up makes the work notifiable. Your own figure depends on the area, the deck beneath, the covering chosen and access. Our flat roofing page explains how the coverings compare, and gutters, soffits and fascias covers the water that leaves the roof afterwards.
Check 4 of 4Scaffold on a hill town's streets
Level bases, licences and one price
Langport rises from the flood plain up its hill, and on a slope a scaffold needs level bases and careful tying-in, which is part of why access shapes a price here. A ladder or tower reaches many smaller repairs, and we use the lightest safe access. Ask any firm how many weeks the scaffold is hired for, because delay on a hired frame costs extra. Scaffold that has to stand on a street or footway needs the highway authority's licence under the Highways Act 1980, section 169. For Langport that authority is Somerset Council, so a licence goes to an accredited contractor and the contractor files the paperwork. Allow £124.60 per 28-day period (April 2026) and 10 working days' notice.
What decides the price
- Slope and ground under the scaffold
- Whether a street licence is needed
- Days the access stays in place
Might a shared chimney stack bring in a neighbour?
On a terrace the stack often sits on a wall you share. Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, removing chimneys from a party wall is notifiable work and gives the neighbour two months' warning. A party wall surveyor deals with disagreement, not building control.
What belongs on a written quote?
Look for the named covering, the VAT position at 20% (GOV.UK), whether the scaffold is included, and dates for start and finish. For a re-roof, Somerset Building Control, on 0300 303 7790, is the contact when the Planning Portal's thresholds are crossed, meaning 25 per cent of the building envelope or 50 per cent of the roof. A covering 15 per cent or more heavier also needs approval.
Tell us if the street is narrow or has parked cars, so we can plan where materials are unloaded. Waste goes away with us, the access is cleared when we finish and each day's plan is explained. Tell us your Langport address, how old the roof is if you know, and share a photograph of the worry; we will line up the survey.
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.
Langport roofs, from the Hill to the Parrett
Can a lead gutter on a Georgian house in Langport be patched, or must it be relaid?
A single small split at a fold can be repaired in place. Cracks along several seams mean the lead has fatigued, and relaying the gutter in new sheet is the better buy, because a patch will be followed by another. On a listed house, ask Somerset Council whether the work needs listed building consent before the lead comes off.
What consent covers roof work on All Saints' church?
All Saints is Grade I and holds Church of England services, so the faculty system applies and council listed building consent does not. If a church has shut, or a chapel is now a home, listed building consent is the route instead. Use decides it, and the parish can confirm the current position before any scaffold is booked.
Is a flat roof on a Langport extension worth repairing, or is it time to replace?
Look at the fall and the covering together. If water sits for days and the felt is blistering, a patch is only buying time. A sound deck with a failed edge or outlet is a repair. Less puts a good felt job at around 20 years, so a roof beyond that age leans towards replacement.
What should be in writing before a Langport re-roof starts?
The covering by name, the start and finish, who applies for any scaffold licence, and whether the price includes VAT and scaffold. Citizens Advice recommends written quotes from at least 3 traders, and its consumer helpline is 0808 223 1133. Contracts agreed at home after a survey carry a 14-day cancellation right.
Huish Episcopi, Curry Rivel and the villages around
Have a Langport roof read properly
Send your Langport address with a photo of the roof or gutter that concerns you, and a survey will follow.