Roofing Specialists for Clare's Historic Homes

Clare is often described as Suffolk's smallest town, a compact and ancient former wool town on the north bank of the River Stour. With well over 130 listed buildings packed into its conservation area, it has one of the densest concentrations of historic property anywhere in the Stour valley, and that shapes almost every roofing job we carry out here. The roofs above Market Hill, High Street and Nethergate Street sit on centuries-old timber frames, and many of the facades carry the decorative exterior plasterwork, or pargeting, for which Clare is known, most famously on the Grade I listed Ancient House on Church Street.

These buildings ask for a different approach from a standard modern home. The roofs are typically finished in handmade clay peg tiles or plain tiles, bedded and pointed with lime rather than hard cement, laid over softwood or oak structures that have moved and settled over hundreds of years. We work to match the colour, camber and weathering of existing tiles so repairs read as part of the original roof, and we use lime mortars and breathable detailing that let old timber and masonry dry out rather than trapping moisture against them.

Clare's setting brings its own demands. The wool church of St Peter and St Paul, the restored Augustinian Clare Priory, and the cottages overlooking Clare Castle Country Park all stand in an exposed river-valley position where driving rain, valley winds and damp work steadily at slipped tiles, tired flashings and worn verges. We carry out careful inspections, sympathetic repairs and full re-roofs on these period properties, always mindful that work in a conservation area and on listed buildings has to respect both the rules and the character of the building.

Clare is far from only a heritage town, though. Around the historic core and along its edges are twentieth-century houses, bungalows, farm buildings on the surrounding arable land, and newer homes and extensions, all of which need ordinary, reliable roofing. We re-felt and re-tile pitched roofs, replace flat roofs over extensions and outbuildings, sort out leaks and storm damage, and renew fascias, soffits and guttering on these more modern properties just as readily as we restore an old peg-tile roof.

We are a Haverhill-based firm and regularly working across Clare and the surrounding Stour-valley villages, so local homeowners get experienced roofers who understand both the demands of period buildings and the practical needs of everyday homes. Whether you own a timber-framed cottage in the conservation area or a 1970s house on the outskirts, we are happy to take a look, explain the options plainly, and put together a clear written quote.