A protected landscape village
Thorncombe lies inside the Dorset National Landscape, an AONB before the 2023 rename.
Roofers in Thorncombe
A National Landscape village: St Mary's church and listed cottages
Thorncombe sits inside the Dorset National Landscape, with a Grade II parish church and listed cottages such as 1 Holway Cottage. We survey first and price second.
Inside the Dorset National Landscape
St Mary's parish church
Listed Grade II since April 1983, so the consent route for any roof repair has to be settled first.
1 Holway Cottage
Listed Grade II in July 2009, a cottage where matching repairs and consent need thinking through together.
Street map of Thorncombe with Winsham, South Chard, Tatworth, Broadwindsor marked around it, and Taunton.
Between Winsham and Broadwindsor
Winsham lies just north, with Tatworth and Chard to the north-west and South Chard to the west, while Broadwindsor and Mosterton sit to the east.
About 16 miles south-east of Taunton, Dorset Council (unitary).
Slate, flat roofs and gutters in Thorncombe
Four checks across the Dorset border
Reading a Thorncombe roof, from the designation to the downpipe
Four things worth knowing before a roof here is priced, and how each of them can move the work or the cost.
Check 1 of 4What the National Landscape changes
Dormers and windows need care here
Thorncombe lies inside the Dorset National Landscape, which was an AONB until the nationwide rename in November 2023. GOV.UK notes the rename has no statutory force, and the older legal name still appears in planning legislation. A protected landscape can change what needs an application, which is why any plan to add to a roof here starts with a question to Dorset Council.
Can I fit roof windows or a dormer in Thorncombe?
Put that question to Dorset Council's planning team before any design work, and read our guide to planning permission for roof work for the national picture. A dormer is a small window box built out of a roof slope; a roof window sits in the plane of the slope. The answer for your house depends on the designation, on any condition or direction affecting the property, and on whether it is listed, so the planners are the people who can speak for your address. On our side, a roof window is a carpentry and weathering job: the opening is trimmed between the rafters, and a flashing kit sealed into the surrounding slates or tiles keeps rain out at the frame.
Does a roof window have to meet an energy standard?
Yes. Under Approved Document L, a new window in a roof of an existing home is expected to reach a U-value of 1.4, or meet Window Energy Rating Band B, while rooflights, a different product, carry a figure of 2.2. Our roof window page covers the fitting.
Can a loft roof window be the way out in a fire?
Only for a storey within 4.5 m of the ground. The opening must give 0.33 m2 or more, be 450 mm high and 450 mm wide at least, and sit with its lower edge 1100 mm or less above the floor.
Look for
- A flat-topped box on a slope
- Windows set into the roof plane
- Old plastic rooflights
- Mismatched covering on one side
Check 2 of 4A listed cottage, slate and a match
Repair like for like, or ask first?
- Sound: slates tight, edges square
- Needs work: broken slate, nail rust showing
Two Thorncombe buildings on the National Heritage List are worth knowing about before a roof is touched: the parish church of St Mary and 1 Holway Cottage, both listed Grade II. On a listed house, works touching its character need listed building consent from the council. The hard part is deciding where a repair stops and a change begins, and the safe way to find out is to describe the work to Dorset Council before it starts.
What decides the price
- How many slates are broken or rusting
- State of the battens under them
- Supply of matching slate
- Whether listed building consent applies
If my cottage is slated, can I patch it?
Usually. Slates are hung on timber battens with nails or hooks, and it is the fixings that go, not the stone. A cracked or slipped slate can be replaced with a matching one, or held with a clip, without stripping the roof. A run of failures along one course tells a different story, because ageing nails keep dropping slates one after another. Slate with regular care is credited with 100+ years by the Confederation of Roofing Contractors, so a sound slope earns its keep, and laying it afresh on new battens costs less than a new covering.
How do you match slate on a listed roof?
Reclaimed slates, lifted carefully and sorted by size, can be reused on the most visible slope, with any new ones going on a less prominent face. Size, colour and texture all have to agree. Before they go back up we lay the sorted slates out for you, so the plan for each slope is plain.
Is the church treated the same way?
No. Should St Mary's be in Anglican use, its repairs are authorised by faculty, the Church of England's own process, and council consent plays no part. Our slate roofing page explains repair and renewal for slate in more detail. On any listed roof, keep the council's written reply with your records, because the next owner will ask for it.
Check 3 of 4Flat roofs and gutters after weather
Where the rain ends up
A flat roof turns up on plenty of village houses: over a kitchen extension, a porch or a garage. The weak points sit at the edges. An upstand is the short upturn of covering where it climbs a wall, and the edge trim is the strip that finishes the covering at the front. Both can lift in wind, and once water gets under them it travels a long way before it shows indoors. Gutters, downpipes and the fascia board behind them are the other half of the system.
A flat roof usually fails at its edges, long before the middle gives way.
From the ground
- Water spilling over at one point
- Green streaks below a gutter joint
- A lifted corner of covering at an edge
- Damp on the ceiling below a flat roof
Leave to a roofer
- Clearing and flushing the gutter run
- Re-fixing sagging brackets
- Checking the upstand and edge trim
- Replacing a rotten fascia board
How much is a new flat roof?
MyJobQuote (Oct 2026) gives a typical UK range of £1,500 to £6,000 for flat roof replacement, averaging around £2,400, and Less (Oct 2026) puts a 15 m² garage at £1,200 to £2,500. The spread comes from area, access, the covering chosen and how much of the deck must be renewed, and the survey sets out which of those applies to your roof. Our flat roofing page explains the main coverings.
Why do my gutters overflow only in one place?
Overspill at one spot points to a clog, a joint that has opened up or a length sitting out of fall, and each has its own cure. MyJobQuote's Oct 2026 guide says £1,000 to £1,600 is typical across the UK for new guttering, and the board behind has to be sound before it goes on. If that timber has been soaked through a few winters, it softens and the brackets loosen.
Could my garage roof contain asbestos?
HSE's working assumption for any pre-2000 build or refurbishment is that asbestos is present, and it calls asbestos cement roofing always fragile, so nobody should walk on it. Taking intact sheets off carefully is non-licensed work, whereas smashing them turns the job into notifiable work. The survey comes first, and a sample test confirms what the sheets are.
Check 4 of 4Roosts, scaffold and site duties
Who applies, who is responsible
Scaffold left on the carriageway or footway needs a licence, and section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 gives that power to the highway authority. For a Thorncombe job we arrange it with the scaffolder and confirm at the survey who applies. Put the same question to any firm that quotes you. Poles set in your own garden or yard stand on private ground, so that case needs no licence.
What decides the price
- Whether poles stand on the road
- Weeks the access needs to stay
- Size and pitch of the slopes
- Whether a roost survey is needed first
Who carries the safety duties when I hire a roofer?
Under CDM 2015, an owner who hires someone for work on their own home counts as a domestic client. Where a single contractor does the work, the owner's client duties move to that firm, which also drafts the construction phase plan. Several firms on site means a principal contractor must be appointed in writing. We say at the survey which case applies to you, so there is no confusion on the first morning.
Could bats be roosting under my roof?
Possibly, and the law is strict about it, so a short check beats a nasty surprise halfway through a strip. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 a bat disturbed in its shelter, intentionally or recklessly, makes the offender guilty, and under the Habitats Regulations 2017 damaging a roost is caught even when nobody meant it. Droppings and gaps are what we check for while surveying, and the plan changes if we find them. If weather has already opened the roof, ring your insurer before anything else, then get a stop-gap repair done and hold on to every receipt and picture. Making a leaking roof safe comes before everything.
You then receive one price, in writing, after the survey. Write to us with your Thorncombe address and details of the fault, and dates will come back to you.
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.
Thorncombe roof questions, from the lane to the church
Is a dormer possible on a Thorncombe house inside the National Landscape?
Ask Dorset Council's planning team before any design work. Thorncombe sits inside the Dorset National Landscape, which can change what needs an application, and our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out the national picture. The planners will confirm what applies to your house, and their written reply is worth keeping with the deeds.
Who gives consent for roof repairs to 1 Holway Cottage and similar listed houses?
Dorset Council gives listed building consent where work would affect a listed house's character. Matching repairs may need nothing more than a conversation, but ask before you order materials. Keep the council's reply in writing, because it shows the right route was followed if you sell the house later on.
Is a flat roof over a Thorncombe kitchen extension worth patching?
It can be, when the covering is sound and the fault is local, like a corner that has lifted or an outlet that has clogged. A covering blistering across its whole surface is a different case, and renewal wins there. We show you which of the two you have at the survey, with pictures of the roof.
What happens during a roof survey in Thorncombe?
We start at ground level, then go up a ladder or tower where it is safe, working slope by slope. Pictures of your own roof come with an explanation of every finding. A single price in writing follows, so you can decide in your own time. If the access turns out to be awkward, you hear about it at that point.
Other villages around Thorncombe
Get a Thorncombe roof checked
Tell us the lane you live on in Thorncombe and what has gone wrong, then pick a survey day.