Coldharbour Mill, built 1799
Thomas Fox of Wellington built the brick and stone factory in 1799, and Fox Bros spun yarn there until 1981.
Roofers in Uffculme
Coldharbour Mill, Ayshford House and a Culm Valley conservation area
Uffculme is a Culm Valley village of 3,087 residents with a woollen-mill past, a Grade II* church and 19 listed buildings within 500 metres. A survey comes first.
From Coldharbour Mill to Chapel Street
Ayshford House, 1701
Built as a school in 1701, the council describes it as the earliest brick building in Devon.
St Mary's, Grade II*
The parish church was listed on 5 April 1966, and work to its roof goes through the faculty system.
Street map of Uffculme with Culmstock, Willand, Sampford Peverell, Burlescombe marked around it, and Taunton.
Culmstock, Willand and Sampford Peverell close by
Culmstock lies east of Uffculme, with Sampford Peverell to the north-west, Willand to the south-west, Burlescombe to the north and Kentisbeare to the south.
About 12 miles south-west of Taunton, Mid Devon District Council and Devon County Council.
Uffculme roof repairs and more
Four checks for a Culm Valley mill village
Reading an Uffculme roof, from the mill to the gutter
Four stops in a Mid Devon village: the appraisal, the slate, the water and the licence, and how each bears on the quote.
Check 1 of 4A mill village's conservation area
Which Uffculme roofs need consent
Uffculme grew on the back of wool. The council's conservation area appraisal says the woollen industry, at its height in the middle of the 18th century, let the settlement survive and grow from the medieval period. Coldharbour Mill is first recorded in 1707 as a paper mill, was rebuilt as a grist mill after a flood in 1753, and in 1799 Thomas Fox of Wellington put up a brick and stone factory there. Mid Devon District Council has published an appraisal of the village's conservation area, and it is worth reading before a plan is drawn, and any change beyond a plain like-for-like repair should be measured against it.
Where does the planning line fall on an older house?
Laying the same slate or tile back as it was counts as repair, not new development, on a house, and our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out the rules. Anything that alters how an Uffculme roof looks from the street is worth putting to the planning team early in Uffculme, and for planning in Uffculme the authority is Mid Devon District Council. A listed building also needs listed building consent for anything that changes its character. The village has 19 listed buildings within 500 metres of the centre, among them 1 Chapel Street (Grade II, 1987) and 3 and 5 High Street (Grade II). The appraisal also singles out Ayshford House, built in 1701 as a school.
Who agrees work on St Mary's?
St Mary's, the parish church, is listed Grade II*, entered on the list on 5 April 1966. The church is in regular parish use, so any roof repair needs a faculty from the Church of England, not council listed building consent. The roofer's part is to build to the specification the faculty approves.
Our survey photographs each slope, ridge and valley, giving any application a factual starting point.
Look for
- A new material on one slope
- Dormer or street-side roof window
- Render patched over old stone
- Chimney pots out of line
Check 2 of 4Slate on stone cottages
Repair by the slate, or re-lay?
- Sound: flat slates, tight even gaps
- Needs work: flaking edges, rust streaks
The appraisal pictures a village of vernacular building, with stone a prominent material, modest cottages under slate roofs, casement windows and some rendered walls. Natural slate is stone split into thin sheets, and a good one is long-lived: CORC, the Confederation of Roofing Contractors, gives 100+ years for natural slate that is well maintained. The weak point can be the fixing, a nail or hook, and the batten it grips, more than the slate itself. Render on a stone wall is a separate matter, yet cracked render beside a roof edge can let water in behind the slates, so we look at that join too.
What decides the price
- Area and steepness of the roof
- How much old slate can be re-used
- Condition of battens and fixings
- Scaffold, tower or ladder access
Can a slate roof be repaired slate by slate?
Where the rest of the slope is sound, yes. A broken slate is lifted out, a replacement is hung on a clip or nailed, and the course reads straight again. BS 5534 indicates a minimum pitch of 20 degrees for natural slate, and hooks are ruled out below 25 degrees (Cupa), so a shallow roof may have to be nailed. A slope of flaking or slipped slates is a different job. Taking the slope back to the rafters and slating it afresh on new battens, perhaps with the sound slates re-used, can cost less over time than a run of call-outs. Our slate roofing page covers the options.
What does a slate roof cost?
MyJobQuote (Oct 2026) gives an average of around £7,800 for a new slate roof, a typical UK figure for the whole job. The price at an Uffculme cottage will turn on the area of the roof, how steep it is, how much of the old slate can be re-used and how the scaffold or tower has to go up. A repair is priced on its own scale, and the survey photos show which of the two you need. Slate repairs on a cottage are short jobs, so access is kept as light as the work allows, and the waste is taken away.
Check 3 of 4Gutters and outbuildings in the Culm Valley
Where the rain goes next
Uffculme sits on rising land north-west of the River Culm. Environment Agency data puts Flood Zone 3 within about 250 metres of the village centre. That is a statement about ground, not any single roof, so check your own address with the official long-term flood risk checker. As for the roof, an Uffculme roof has one task in a storm: get the rain off and into the drains. Downpipes matter as much as the gutter runs: water that cannot escape at the foot backs up the pipe and soaks the wall, and a gully clogged with leaves does that quietly.
The flood map describes the field; the downpipe decides whether your own roof drains.
From the ground
- Note where gutters drip or spill
- Spot green streaks under joints
- Spot water pooling on flat roofs
Leave to a roofer
- Re-setting gutters to their fall
- Replacing a rotted fascia board
- Freeing a clogged flat roof outlet
Which gutter faults are quick to cure?
A blocked outlet, an opened joint and a bracket that has dropped are all quick to put right, and each leaves water standing and spilling over the edge. A gutter should drop 1mm for every 600mm of run, according to Brett Martin. The fascia behind a spilling gutter soaks up water, and the soffit under it closes the eaves gap, and both get a firm press for softness before we quote. If either is soft, the price changes, and you will have seen the photograph that shows why. We photograph the underside of the gutter joints as well, since that is where a slow drip first shows. See gutters, soffits and fascias for the choices.
Does a flat-roofed outbuilding need the same care?
It needs more attention to falls. BS 6229:2025 keeps a finished fall of 1:80 and IKO advises designing for 1:40, so the built roof still drains. EPDM, a rubber membrane laid as one sheet, is given 20 to 30 years by GreenSpec and 30 to 50 by Less. Less quotes 25 to 40 years for GRP, glass-reinforced plastic, and 10 to 20 for torch-on felt. MyJobQuote (Oct 2026) puts EPDM near £60 a square metre. Our flat roofing page compares the three for an Uffculme garage or barn.
Check 4 of 4A Devon licence for scaffold
Devon rules, then one price
Plenty of Uffculme jobs need no scaffold, because a ladder or a tower reaches the slipped slate or the loose ridge. A full re-roof is another matter. A scaffold that takes up the verge or footway needs a licence, and the highway authority for Uffculme is Devon County Council. Under Devon County Council's rules an Uffculme scaffold licence is sought by the scaffolding company for its customer, so the form never lands with the householder. The licence costs £158 and needs at least 10 working days' notice. It lasts for the works dates, up to 12 weeks, and an extension costs £100. A small job such as a ridge tile or a few slates can go ahead from a ladder without any licence.
What decides the price
- Where the scaffold has to stand
- Weeks of hire
- Share of roof the survey finds worn
Which building control team looks at a re-roof?
In Mid Devon that is NMD Building Control, the district council's joint service with North Devon. Whether an Uffculme re-roof needs it follows the Planning Portal's test: the Planning Portal says no application is normally required when under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is involved. A covering 15 per cent or more heavier is a separate trigger that needs Building Regulations approval, and the same site recommends a structural opinion before work begins.
What should I ask before signing?
The standard VAT rate is 20% (GOV.UK), so get each firm to state that VAT and scaffolding are included in its figure. Ask when the licence will be applied for, because the start date depends on it. Your 14-day cancellation right also covers a contract agreed at your house after the survey, and the terms should be in writing.
On site, access is set up before work begins and cleared afterwards, waste goes in our vehicle and you are told each day what is planned. Send us your Uffculme address and what has been worrying you, and a survey day will follow.
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.
Uffculme roofs, from mill yard to church
Can I re-slate a stone cottage in Uffculme without planning permission?
A like-for-like re-slate on a house normally needs none, and the same applies to a repair. The question changes if the slate, its colour or the roof line is different, because Mid Devon District Council's conservation area appraisal treats the look of the village as worth protecting. Ask the planning team first if the covering will change.
Which council deals with scaffold on an Uffculme road?
Devon County Council, as the highway authority. Under its rules the scaffolding firm makes the application, so ask your roofer who is applying. The licence costs £158 with at least 10 working days' notice, or £238 if it is an emergency application. Mid Devon District Council deals with planning, not the road.
What should I do about old sheeting on a garage or barn near Uffculme?
HSE says to assume asbestos is there in any building from before 2000, whether built or refurbished then. If asbestos cement sheeting comes off whole, with care, the work is non-licensed. Once it is broken up substantially it becomes notifiable non-licensed work. The waste travels on a consignment note, never in a skip. Leave the sheets alone and ask for an inspection.
Does St Mary's church need council consent for a new roof covering?
Not while it is in use. As a Grade II* parish church, St Mary's comes under the Church of England's faculty system, in place of listed building consent from Mid Devon. The parish applies for it. Methodist, Catholic or URC buildings in use keep their own route; listed building consent covers a closed Uffculme church, a chapel turned house or a Quaker meeting house.
Culmstock, Willand and Burlescombe around the village
Have an Uffculme roof surveyed
Tell us what you have spotted on your Uffculme roof, and we will line up a visit.