Roofers in Coleford
Roof work in Coleford, the market town on the western Forest of Dean plateau, from the streets around the old clock tower to the council estates laid out between the wars.
Coleford at a glance
- Distance
- 29 road miles west of Stroud
- Council
- Forest of Dean District Council
- Conservation area
- Coleford Conservation Area
- Setting
- Western Forest of Dean plateau, near the Welsh border
Coleford's roofs, from the Market Place outwards
Coleford is a market town on the western side of the Forest of Dean, about two miles from the Welsh border, and it is the administrative centre for the district. We reach it from Stroud by about 29 road miles, heading west, which puts it among the furthest towns we cover. That distance is one reason we plan a Coleford job carefully before we set out: the survey, the photographs and the quote are all settled so that nobody makes a second trip to find out what was missed.
The town grew in stages, and its roofs tell the story. A market was started in 1642, and a new market house followed in 1679. By 1710 there were about 160 houses, and the streets filled out in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The twentieth century added council and private building piece by piece rather than in one sweep. So a single walk through Coleford crosses several ages of roof: the oldest buildings near the Market Place, terraces and houses from the Georgian and Victorian growth along the other streets, and estates that went up decades later.
Each age asks for a different eye. A roof near the centre may sit inside the Coleford Conservation Area, which brings the district council into the conversation. A roof on one of the later estates is more likely to be a straightforward covering job. Knowing which kind you have is where a sensible quote starts.
Flint and brick cottage with a clay tile roof beside a road 
Wooded hillside lined with rows of stone houses and slate roofs
Chapter 01
The clock tower and the streets around the Market Place
Roof work near the centre of Coleford is shaped by its age and by its conservation area.
Chapter 01In this chapter
Coleford's Market Place is the natural starting point. The octagonal church that stood there was rebuilt in 1820, then demolished in 1882, although its tower was kept and still serves as the town's clock tower. That is a good picture of how the centre has worked for two centuries: buildings come and go, and the parts that matter are kept and adapted. Roof work close to the Market Place has the same character. Much of it is repair and careful renewal rather than starting from nothing.
In this chapter
The centre lies inside the Coleford Conservation Area, which Forest of Dean District Council publishes among its conservation area maps and appraisals. Being inside a conservation area does not freeze a roof. A like-for-like re-roof, in the same material and the same pattern, leaves the outside of the building looking as it did, and that is why it is not usually treated as development. Swapping to another covering, adding something new to the roof, or meeting an Article 4 direction that withdraws permitted development rights is another matter. Raise it with the district's planners early, and ask us to price the roof in the material you already have.
Where a building is listed, the position is firmer. Alterations that touch its character need listed building consent, and that protection covers the whole building, back as well as front. If you are unsure whether your house or a shed beside it is listed, check with the council before work begins. We would rather you made that call than found out from a notice.
What we look at first near the centre
On older roofs around a market square, valleys, parapet gutters and chimney flashings usually deserve more attention than the main slopes. Water collects where two roofs meet, and where a stack rises through the slope it has a joint that must hold for years. We photograph those junctions from the roof or the scaffold, show you the pictures, and quote for any work on them. Our chimney repairs page sets out what a stack repair involves and what a rebuild changes.
Access in a centre like this is tighter than on an estate, and a delivery of tiles or slate has to be timed around the traffic of a market town. A skip or a loading bay on the street may need its own permission too, so we ask about parking and kerbside space at the survey. Where a lane is narrow, materials are staged in smaller loads and lifted by hand or by hoist. Frontages sit close to the pavement and to neighbours, so the scaffold is planned around the street, and any permission needed to put it there is sorted before the start date is fixed.
A conservation area asks you to repair the roof in keeping with its character.
Chapter 02
From Whitecliff Ironworks to the Broadwell and Coalway estates
Industry, then council building, gave Coleford its next layers of roofs.
Chapter 02In this chapter
Coleford's iron history is part of its building history. Whitecliff Ironworks was begun in 1798, and the metallurgist David Mushet lived in the town from 1810 to 1844. A working town with an ironworks drew people in, and houses followed the work. By the time the twentieth century arrived, the old core was no longer enough, and the town spread outwards.
In this chapter
The later estates are well recorded. West Dean rural district council built 44 houses at Broadwell Lane End between 1923 and 1934, and added 58 more there in 1968 to 1970. A smaller council estate of 12 houses went up at Coalway Lane End in 1955. These are modest numbers, but they show how the town's edges were filled: in small batches, over decades, with different builders and different tiles in each.
That has a practical meaning for anyone comparing quotes. A street built in one run tends to share its roof design, so when one house shows a fault, it is worth looking at the same detail on the houses beside it, from the eaves detail to the way the verges were finished. A house from the 1920s and 30s and a house from the late 1960s at the same lane end will not have the same structure under the covering. Rafters, battens, underlay and fixings all differ by period, so a fix that suits one house can be wrong for the other.
Matching the street
A single house re-tiled in a new colour stands out along a lane of identical neighbours. Ahead of suggesting any covering we note what the rest of the row is wearing, and if the original tile is no longer produced we hunt for the nearest colour and profile instead of using whatever is easiest to buy. Weight needs the same thought. A new covering around 15 per cent heavier than the old, or more, brings in building control approval and a structural check, so the first question is what the existing rafters carry.
- 1798year Whitecliff Ironworks was begun
- 44council houses built at Broadwell Lane End from 1923 to 1934
- 12houses on the council estate at Coalway Lane End, 1955
A full strip can also trigger a thermal upgrade under the Building Regulations. What sets it off is how much of the roof, and of the outer shell of the house, the work involves, and we set that out with the quote so it never arrives as a surprise. Our roof replacement page covers when a re-roof is the better choice than a repair.
Chapter 03
A town on the plateau, 29 road miles from Stroud
Distance and a hilltop town both change how a Coleford job is planned.
Chapter 03In this chapter
Coleford sits on the western Forest of Dean plateau, and the journey from Stroud runs 29 road miles, west across the Severn. For a roofing firm, that distance sets the rhythm of the job. A long journey is a fixed cost in time, so we pack the visit: the survey, close-up pictures taken on the roof, the access check and the measurements are all done in one go, and the written quote is written afterwards from what we saw.
In this chapter
For you, it means a few simple habits help. Before we come, send a picture of the roof from the street and one of any ceiling stain, and say whether the house is listed or inside the conservation area. If a leak is active, say so. We put leaks and storm damage ahead of routine work. The first aim is to make a leaking roof safe, then plan the full repair once the survey and the weather allow.
Planning a long job
A full re-roof in Coleford is a multi-day job, and the sequence matters more when the team travels. The scaffold goes up first and is checked. The old covering comes off a section at a time, and whatever is open gets sheeted over before the team leaves for the night. Battens and underlay go on, then the new covering, then the ridge, verges and flashings. Ridge and verge tiles are clipped or screwed down as well as bedded, since BS 5534:2014 no longer relies on mortar alone to hold them. The last day is clearing up, with the old covering and offcuts carted off.
Smaller jobs, such as a few slipped tiles or a failed flashing, can often be combined. If neighbours on a street all have loose ridges or similar faults, a shared visit can keep the travel cost down. Tell us when you ask, and we will say what can sensibly be done in one trip.
What the quote will show
After the survey you receive a written quote covering scaffold, the strip, materials, labour, waste and making good. Our pitched roofing page gives typical national ranges for a full re-roof, taken from published cost guides, so you can see roughly where a job might land before anyone visits. Your own quote, written from your own roof, is what counts.
Map showing Coleford and the Stroud service radius, with nearby towns we also cover.
Near Coleford
Roof work we do here
Clock tower streets and Broadwell Lane End estates
My Coleford house is near the clock tower. What should I check before re-roofing?
Start by asking whether the house sits inside the Coleford Conservation Area or is listed. A matching re-roof does not normally need planning permission, but a new material might. Anything other than a matching covering is a question for the Forest of Dean planners, and we would ask them before quoting.
Do the older council-estate houses at Broadwell Lane End need a different kind of roof job?
They can. Houses built in different decades, from the 1920s and 30s through to 1968 to 1970, have different structures under the covering. We check the timbers, the fixings and the underlay on survey, and tell you what each layer needs rather than assuming the whole row is alike.
Will the distance from Stroud add to a small repair at Coleford?
We plan the visit so that the survey, photographs and access check happen together, and the quote covers the access. If a small repair is better combined with another job nearby, we will say so when you get in touch.
Which authority handles building control for a roof in Coleford?
Coleford is in Forest of Dean District, which runs its own building control service, and a registered building control approver is the private alternative. We explain whether your re-roof is notifiable and look after the notification when it is.