A town that roofed itself
The mud of the River Parrett made Bridgwater. Brickmaking had begun by the end of the seventeenth century, by 1850 there were many works north and south of the town, and in the 1840s brick, tile and Bath brick works employed about 1,300 men in the summer season. The clay pits even shaped the town's layout, pushing growth east and west. The last brickyard closed in 1970, and the Somerset Brick and Tile Museum on East Quay keeps the last surviving pinnacle kiln from the Barham Brothers yard.
Look up in the old town and the legacy is clear. Read the listing descriptions for Friarn Street, King Square and West Quay and the same pattern keeps appearing: Flemish-bond brick walls under clay roofs. Some have pantiles, some double Roman tiles, a few plain tiles, and the odd one slate. On Castle Street, laid out in the 1720s for the Duke of Chandos, No. 10 has a plain tiled, double-pitched roof with a flat section between the ridges. St Mary's church, with its 52-metre spire, has double Roman tiles on its chancel and tower roofs.
Looking after old clay tile roofs
Hand-made clay tiles can last a very long time, but a roof is only as good as its weakest part. On Bridgwater's older houses the trouble usually starts with corroded nails, rotten battens, perished torching (the lime mortar on the underside of tiles), or a cracked tile nobody has noticed. Pantiles and double Romans overlap side to side as well as top to bottom, so one slipped tile lets wind-driven rain straight in.
Where the covering is still worth keeping, we carefully strip the tiles, set aside the sound ones, renew battens and underlay, and relay them, topping up with matching reclaimed or new clay tiles. That keeps the colour and texture of the street. Our roof restoration work covers this kind of careful overhaul. On mid-nineteenth-century houses with crested slate roofs, such as a listed stucco pair on Taunton Road, the same principle applies: reuse what is sound and match what is not.
Post-war estates and newer homes
Bridgwater's first council estate went up at Kendale Road in the 1930s, and the 1950s brought a big rise in house building, with council estates at Sydenham and Rhode Lane and a former cooperative estate near Durleigh. Newer housing has since pushed out into the parishes of Wembdon and North Petherton. Estates from these decades were largely roofed with concrete interlocking tiles, and the oldest are now reaching the point where the tiles are porous and the felt underneath has failed. Around the same age, the timber fascias, soffits and gutters usually need attention too. If repairs keep coming back, we will say so and quote for a full replacement roof alongside the repair so you can compare.
Many homes also have flat-roofed extensions, garages and porches. Felt from the 1970s and 1980s often blisters and splits, and our flat roofing service replaces it with modern systems that last far longer.
Flat land, tides and the weather
Bridgwater sits on low ground on the edge of the Levels, about 10 miles up the Parrett from its mouth. Above the town the river stays tidal for roughly another 9 miles, as far as Oath Lock, and floods threaten when heavy rain meets high tides in the Bristol Channel. A tidal barrier now being built across the river is designed to protect around 11,300 homes. For roofs, the more everyday issue is the open, flat country around the town, which gives wind a clear run at exposed estates and isolated properties. Rainfall is moderate at about 700 mm a year, but driving rain against old chimney stacks and flashings causes many of the leaks we are called to. Our chimney stack repairs deal with failed flaunching, flashings and pointing.
Conservation and listed buildings in Bridgwater
Listed buildings cluster thickly in the old centre: almost every house on Castle Street, much of King Square, and houses on West Quay and Friarn Street, with plenty at Grade I or II*. Castle House on Queen Street, built in 1851 and one of the first buildings to make extensive use of pre-cast concrete, is Grade II*. Owners of listed or conservation area properties should run any roof change past Somerset Council's planners first. Mending clay with matching clay is generally far less complicated than switching material, and on these streets it usually looks right as well. Bats are protected too, and if signs of them turn up in an old roof space, a survey may be needed before work continues, in line with Natural England guidance.
Getting a Bridgwater roof fixed
Our number is 07933 861 087. Emails go to hello@somersetroofing.co.uk, and it helps if you mention your Bridgwater street. We never charge for the call-out itself. Up on the roof we photograph each problem, and those pictures arrive with a free written quote, so you see what you are paying for before saying yes. Old tiles, battens and felt are all loaded up and taken off site, and we sweep up before we leave. Prefer filling in a form? Get a free Bridgwater roofing quote through our website.
In town that means Eastover, Hamp, Sydenham, Bower, Victoria, Quantock, Wembdon and Durleigh, plus nearby villages and towns including North Petherton.
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