St Mary's tower and nave
A very tall Ham stone tower, and a tie-beam nave roof ranked most elaborate in the county.
Roofers in Westonzoyland
A Ham stone tower, brick villas and King's Sedgemoor to the north
Westonzoyland is the western settlement on the Sowy island above the moors, with a Grade I church and 13 listed entries near its centre. Each roof is read first.
From the Ham stone tower to Lodes Lane
Villas on the Bridgwater road
Several three- and five-bayed red brick villas of the 19th century stand along the road in from Bridgwater.
Cob house in Lodes Lane
In at least one case in Lodes Lane, brick-casing, render and slate were applied to a cob-walled building.
Street map of Westonzoyland with Middlezoy, Huntworth, Bridgwater, Lyng marked around it, and Taunton.
Between Bridgwater and Middlezoy
Bridgwater lies to the north-west and Middlezoy to the south-east, with Huntworth and North Petherton to the west, North Newton to the south-west and Lyng to the south.
About 10 miles north-east of Taunton, Somerset Council (unitary).
Getting a Westonzoyland roof sorted
Four checks on the Sowy island
Reading a Westonzoyland roof, from the church timbers to the villa slates
A Grade I church roof, long slate slopes on brick villas, loft ventilation and moss: four checks for a village of old walls and low ground.
Check 1 of 4A Grade I church and its timbers
Carved roof timbers set the standard
On the National Heritage List, entry 1174351 gives St Mary the Virgin its Grade I rating, dated 29 March 1963. The Victoria County History singles out two features: an exceptionally tall Perpendicular west tower, richly decorated in Ham stone, and a nave roof it calls the most elaborate of its tie-beam type in the county. The initials of Abbot Richard Bere, in office from 1493 to 1524, appear on that roof. In a tie-beam roof, horizontal beams cross the nave from wall to wall and hold the sides together under the weight of the rafters above.
Who approves repairs to a church like this?
Sunday services still fill St Mary's, an Anglican parish church whose rector also looks after Chedzoy. A church in use for worship sits under the faculty system, so a new nave lead or a mended tie-beam is approved that way and not by Somerset Council's listed building consent. The parish prepares the paperwork before a roofer is chosen, and whoever wins the job keeps to the approved scheme. Outside development can still need planning permission, which is a separate question. Lead, timber and the tower each raise their own access problems, so the specification is settled before dates are promised, and the whole thing usually takes longer than a house repair nearby.
Does a church like this matter to my house?
Not directly: a Grade I neighbour does not list your house. It does show the standard to which old timber and stone are cared for in the village, and Somerset Council expects any visible change near old buildings to have been thought through. At the survey we photograph the covering slope by slope, so you keep a dated set of pictures taken before anything changes. They are handy for a repair, for a sale or for an application.
Check 2 of 4Brick villas and long slate slopes
Long slopes, hips and valleys all count
The Victoria County History found few obviously old houses in Westonzoyland. Its greatest cluster of 19th-century houses stands along the Bridgwater road, where several three- and five-bayed red brick villas line the way in. A bay here means one window opening along the front, so a five-bayed villa has a long frontage and a long roof above it. Long slopes bring long ridges, hips and valleys, and every metre of those is another place for a fixing to fail. Hips are the slanting ridges at the outside corners of a hipped roof, capped like the main ridge but cut to an angle.
Look for
- Slates sliding out of line
- Hips with open mortar joints
- Lead valley edges lifting
- Cracks above bay windows
What decides the price
- Length of ridges, hips and valleys
- Slate colour and size to match
- Fixings that need replacing
- Scaffold along a long frontage
Can one slate be mended without stripping the slope?
Often. A slipped slate can frequently be fixed back with a small clip, or exchanged for one that matches, with the neighbouring courses left alone. Before agreeing to that we look over the whole course, because one loose slate and a row of them tell different stories, and the second needs a different answer. Slipped slates also let wind-driven rain onto the battens, which is how a minor fault becomes a rotten one. CORC gives natural slate a 100+ year life when it is looked after, so the stone is often fine while the nails behind it have rusted. Cupa's floor for natural slate is a 20 degree pitch, with hook fixings ruled out below 25 degrees. Before a quote is written we measure each slope with those numbers in mind, and note any slope too shallow for the covering it carries.
What about the Lodes Lane house with slate over cob?
In at least one case there, the Victoria County History records brick-casing, render and slate applied to a cob-walled building. A house covered over in layers deserves a careful read, because what looks like one wall may be several. Our slate roofing page explains how we match the covering, and pitched roofing covers the structure underneath it.
Check 3 of 4Ventilation under old slate
A damp loft is a roof problem too
Environment Agency data places the mapped centre point of Westonzoyland in Flood Zone 3. In Somerset, 18% of the county sits below average tide level, says GOV.UK, and flood records on the Levels and Moors run back to the 1600s. Those are facts about land and water. They tell you nothing about one roof. Damp inside a loft is a separate matter, and a roofer can help with it.
Damp in a loft is as often a ventilation fault as it is a hole in the covering.
From the ground
- Condensation on loft felt or timbers
- Black spotting on the ceiling
- Insulation pushed hard into eaves
- Drips at roof edges in cold snaps
Leave to a roofer
- Reading the underlay type
- Measuring the eaves gap
- Fitting tile or eaves ventilators
- Clearing blocked soffit gaps
Why does my loft feel damp?
Warm, moist air from the house drifts upwards, meets cold timber and condenses. An old roof with nowhere for that air to leave gives it a place to settle. The code that deals with managing moisture in buildings is BS 5250:2021. Under a non-breathable HR underlay on a cold roof, Marley wants an eaves gap of 25mm where the pitch is 15° or under, and 10mm where it is steeper. Over a well-sealed ceiling, a breather membrane can sometimes rely on the roughly 3mm that ordinary eaves construction gives, provided third-party certification supports that. Which case you have depends on what was laid in the past, so the loft inspection comes first.
Can I just fit a few vents myself?
Fitting one is the easy bit, and a vent in the wrong spot can do more harm than good by pulling damp air to a cold corner. Knowing where the air will go is harder, since stuffed insulation, a blocked eaves or a ceiling full of gaps changes the answer. We identify the underlay, measure the eaves and check the insulation depth before recommending anything, and the photographs show you the same view. Insulation laid right up into the eaves is a common culprit: it chokes the gap that air needs. If the covering is sound and the loft is wet, ventilation may be a smaller job than a new roof, and a lot easier on the household.
Check 4 of 4Reading a quote before you sign
What to check before you say yes
A new slate roof on a brick villa is the biggest roofing bill most owners will meet, and a quote is where the money is decided. Typical UK ranges are wide: MyJobQuote gives an average of around £7,800 for a slate roof (Oct 2026), while HomeBuilding gives £10,000 to £15,000 for a 65m² semi re-roofed in plain concrete tiles, all in with labour, scaffolding and insulation (HomeBuilding, Sep 2025). A long frontage, hips and bay windows push a villa towards the top of whatever range applies.
Is VAT counted in the figure?
Ask. Standard-rate VAT of 20% covers repairs and a new roof on an existing home, and it is easy for two quotes to differ simply because one counts it and the other does not. The same goes for scaffold. Check whether it is in the total, and who sorts any highway licence. The domestic reverse charge is a device between CIS-registered businesses, and a homeowner paying a roofer is outside it, so it should never appear on your bill.
How many quotes are enough?
Citizens Advice's tip is to compare at least 3 written quotes, from 3 separate firms, before you choose. Ours comes after a survey, in writing, as one total price with pictures of your slopes attached. Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires reasonable care and skill from whoever does the work.
Is there a time to withdraw?
A contract signed in your own house after the visit gives 14 days to cancel, counted from the day it was made, and the trader should tell you so in writing. If you asked specifically for a visit to do urgent work, that right does not apply. The Citizens Advice consumer helpline, on 0808 223 1133, gives advice.
For a Westonzoyland villa the next step is the survey, so give us the address and which slope worries you.
What decides the price
- Slate or tile and the pitch it needs
- Whether VAT and scaffold are counted
- Number of hips, valleys and bays
- Condition of the battens beneath
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.
Westonzoyland roofs, from the church to the villas
Can the slates on a Westonzoyland brick villa be repaired one at a time?
Usually. A single slipped slate can be fixed back with a clip or exchanged for one that matches. We check the whole slope first, since several loose slates side by side point to failing fixings. CORC puts well-maintained slate at 100+ years, so the covering often outlives its nails and clips.
Which approval does roof work on St Mary's, Westonzoyland's Grade I church, need?
A faculty. Worship continues at St Mary's under the Church of England, so the faculty system stands in place of the council's listed building consent for its roof. Parish officers make the application, and the chosen roofer keeps within what it permits. Planning permission for outside development, where it applies, is a separate matter. We photograph the lead and timbers at the survey.
Does the Flood Zone 3 map change how my Westonzoyland roof should be built?
No. The Environment Agency map deals with flood risk to land, not with how a roof is built. For the land, use GOV.UK's long-term flood risk checker with your address, and keep the result with your house papers. A roof's contribution is to get rain off quickly, using sound gutters, downpipes and a tight covering.
Should VAT and scaffold be inside a Westonzoyland roofing quote?
Ask, because two quotes can differ on nothing else. VAT is charged at the standard 20% on work to an existing home. Check whether scaffold is counted and who arranges any highway licence. Our quote is a single total, so those points are settled before you sign, and any VAT is shown as part of that total.
Villages around Westonzoyland and the moors
Get your Westonzoyland roof surveyed
Tell us the age of the house and which slope worries you, and a survey date will follow.