Bridgwater Roofing Company

Local expertise

Roofing in Bridgwater: a local guide

Bridgwater’s roofs were made in Bridgwater

Few towns can say this. The Victoria County History records brickmaking in Bridgwater from 1655, kilns at Hamp by 1708–9, around sixteen works within two miles of the town bridge by about 1850, and thirteen sites still at work in the mid-1930s. Bridgwater Town Council’s history of the trade names the main products as red bricks and double Roman roof tiles, made by firms including Colthurst Symons, John Browne, Barham Brothers and H.J. & C. Major. The last yard closed in 1970, and the Barham Brothers kiln at East Quay, last fired in 1965, survives as a scheduled monument and the Somerset Brick & Tile Museum.

The tiles are still overhead. Historic England’s entry for Grade I 5 Castle Street describes a hipped double Roman tile roof with brick stacks, and the entry for St Mary’s church records double Roman tile on the chancel and tower. The Admiral Blake Museum has a pantile roof.

Why matching the tile matters

A double Roman tile has two rolls and a pan, and it laps its neighbours in a particular way. Patch one with a different profile, or with a concrete interlocking tile that looks similar from the pavement, and the laps stop sealing. Since the local yards closed, original Bridgwater tiles only come from reclamation, so a good repair means sourcing reclaimed or compatible new clay and saying honestly when a match is not possible.

A town on a tidal river

The Parrett is tidal through Bridgwater, and the town sits at the edge of the Somerset Levels and Moors. Government figures put 18% of Somerset below average tide level, and the 2013–14 floods left around 100 million cubic metres of water across 65 square kilometres of the Levels. The Environment Agency’s Bridgwater Tidal Barrier, with gates across the Parrett downstream of the town, is designed to protect around 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses.

On flat, low ground, rainwater has nowhere to go in a hurry. Gutters, downpipes and the hidden gutters behind parapets are the first line, and a blocked outlet shows up indoors faster than on a hillside house. Our guttering and leadwork pages cover what we do about it.

Weather off the Bristol Channel

The Met Office’s long-term averages for Cannington, the nearest station, record about 787 millimetres of rain a year over roughly 130 days with at least a millimetre, and around 28 days of air frost. Its south-west England climate summary gives a predominantly south-westerly wind, with the strongest winds coming from between south and north-west, which for Bridgwater means straight across open, flat land.

That is why fixings matter more than coverings. BS 5534 has required every single-lap tile to be mechanically fixed since 2014, with ridges and hips mechanically fixed rather than bedded in mortar alone. We fix to it on every job. Frost matters too: older clay and soft mortar that take in water can spall and crumble after repeated freezing.

The housing stock, area by area

• Castle Street and the town centre: a planned Georgian street laid out in the 1720s, with three-storey brick houses and ashlar dressings. Hipped clay roofs, parapets and big brick stacks.
• East of the river: the town grew after the railway arrived in 1841, with Victorian terraces on Devonshire Street, Edward Street and Rosebery Avenue. The Victoria County History notes ornamental bricks and tiles made in the town, and the Town Council notes ornamental gable ends still visible on St John Street.
• Interwar and post-war estates: 1920s and 1930s council estates around New Town and the Bristol, Bath and Taunton Roads, Sydenham in the 1950s and Hamp from the 1960s. Concrete tiles, felt flat roofs and timber fascias are the usual jobs.
• Wembdon and Durleigh: Wembdon grew from a ridge-top village into a suburb with Victorian villas and 20th-century semis; Durleigh’s corner of Bridgwater, along Enmore Road, was built up from the later 19th century and increasingly from the 1930s.
• Villages around the town: Westonzoyland has cob, brick and slate with Victorian villas; Woolavington has older stone and cob cottages beside 1960s council housing; Cannington is mostly late 18th and 19th century brick and local stone.

Planning: what to check before a re-roof

Bridgwater has three conservation areas on the national register: Bridgwater Central Area and Dock, Bridgwater St John’s, and Bridgwater Northfield. Cannington and Burnham-on-Sea have their own. In a conservation area, like-for-like is the sensible default, and listed buildings need listed building consent for most roof work, whatever the material.

The St John’s conservation area, east of the river, was extended in December 2019 with an Article 4(2) direction (London Gazette notice). The notice does not list what the direction covers, and Somerset Council publishes its Sedgemoor Article 4 declarations as one document, so if your house is in St John’s, Church Street, Eastover or Monmouth Street, check with Somerset Council before changing roof materials, rooflights or chimneys.

Repair or replace?

Most of the time the honest answer is repair. A handful of slipped tiles, a failed flashing or a tired valley is a repair job. A re-roof earns its place when the fixings have gone across the whole covering, when the battens or underlay have failed, or when repeated repairs cost more than they save. Our roofing cost guide sets out what drives the price.

Everything we complete carries our 20 year full written guarantee on workmanship and materials. There is more about how we work on the about page, and common questions are answered in the roofing FAQs.

Getting a quote

Ring 0800 494 7291, or send us a few details through the quote form and we will tell you what we think before we come out. Free site visit, written quote, no pressure.

Sources for the local detail on this page: Victoria County History: Bridgwater, VCH: Bridgwater economic history, Bridgwater Town Council on the brick and tile trade, Historic England: 5 Castle Street, Historic England: St Mary’s Church, Historic England: Admiral Blake Museum, Historic England: Barham Brothers kiln, Somerset Brick & Tile Museum, gov.uk: Somerset Levels and Moors flood risk, Environment Agency: Bridgwater Tidal Barrier, Met Office averages for Cannington, Met Office south-west England climate, planning.data.gov.uk conservation area register, Somerset Council Article 4 directions, Marley on BS 5534.