Old House Trades: Heritage and listed-building trades in Wiltshire and Somerset

Old house address check

Listed buildings, conservation areas and Building Preservation Notices recorded near a postcode or where you're standing, each linked to its official record. It shows what the records say nearby, never whether a particular house is listed.

Why this check never gives a yes or no, and where the data comes from

Lime, damp and breathable walls

Short guides for owners of old solid-walled houses. Every point links to the SPAB, Historic England or government page it comes from.

Damp in an old solid-walled house
The usual causes of damp in pre-1919 homes, why rising damp is often misdiagnosed, and why a retrofit damp-proof course is rarely the answer.
Lime or cement on old walls?
Why old buildings are usually repaired with lime, what can go wrong with cement render and pointing, and when listed building consent is needed.
Lime render, lime plaster and limewash
How to tell lime render from cement, whether to strip cement render, and why lime plaster and limewash suit old solid walls inside and out.
Repointing old brick and stone walls with lime
When an old wall really needs repointing, why the mortar should be softer than the brick or stone, and what good lime pointing looks like.

Craftspeople we've checked so far

9 craftspeople so far. This is not a complete list of everyone who does this work in Wiltshire and Somerset: it is the firms whose details we have checked against their own pages or the bodies that list them. No firm pays for its place.

By craft

Each craft lists the firms that say they do it, where they are, and the materials they name. Details link to their sources on each firm's page.

Lime plastering

Plaster and render made with lime rather than cement or gypsum, applied inside and out.

FE Stacey & Co LtdDevizes, Wiltshire
Materials named: Lime mortar and plaster, sand, chalk, clay, casein and other distempers
Membership: Building Limes Forum
Lime Repair LtdShepton Mallet, Somerset
Materials named: Lime plasters, renders, pointing and limewash, limecrete floors; works on stone, brick, cob and straw bale
Limeway WiltshireChiseldon, Swindon
Materials named: Lime mortar, plaster, render and limecrete; brick, chalk and flint
The Wessex Conservation CompanyWellington, Somerset
Materials named: Horse-haired lime mortars and skims, lime renders, oak, slate, lead and stone
Listed-building experience: Grade I and Grade II
Membership: Guild of Master Craftsmen

Lime pointing

Raking out the joints between stones or bricks and refilling them with lime mortar.

Lime Repair LtdShepton Mallet, Somerset
Materials named: Lime plasters, renders, pointing and limewash, limecrete floors; works on stone, brick, cob and straw bale
Limeway WiltshireChiseldon, Swindon
Materials named: Lime mortar, plaster, render and limecrete; brick, chalk and flint
Minerva Stone Conservation (Frome Stonemasons)Frome, Somerset
Materials named: Building limes, local and historic stone; Doulting stone for replacement
The Wessex Conservation CompanyWellington, Somerset
Materials named: Horse-haired lime mortars and skims, lime renders, oak, slate, lead and stone
Listed-building experience: Grade I and Grade II
Membership: Guild of Master Craftsmen

Thatching

Roofs laid in straw or reed, and their repair and recoating.

Adam Nash Master ThatcherCrockerton, Wiltshire
Materials named: Combed wheat, long straw and water reed
Membership: National Society of Master Thatchers
Bartlett and SonsDownton, Wiltshire

Stonemasonry

Cutting, dressing, repairing and replacing building stone.

BSM StonemasonsBath, Bath and North East Somerset
Materials named: Natural stone and lime mortars
Minerva Stone Conservation (Frome Stonemasons)Frome, Somerset
Materials named: Building limes, local and historic stone; Doulting stone for replacement

Leadwork

Lead on roofs: flashings, valleys, gutters and flat roofs.

Chris King Roofing LtdDevizes, Wiltshire
Materials named: Lead, plus single-ply flat roofing membranes and traditional heritage roofing materials
The Wessex Conservation CompanyWellington, Somerset
Materials named: Horse-haired lime mortars and skims, lime renders, oak, slate, lead and stone
Listed-building experience: Grade I and Grade II
Membership: Guild of Master Craftsmen

No firm listed yet for sash windows and timber framing.

Listed-building experience

Listed buildings in England are graded I, II* or II. For 1 of 9 craftspeople we have a source for the grades of listed building they have worked on. A firm missing from this list may still have the experience; we just haven't found it stated where we can source it.

The Wessex Conservation Company: Grade I and Grade IIsource for The Wessex Conservation Company's listed-building experience

Memberships

3 of 9 craftspeople list a craft body or trade association we could source.

Guild of Master Craftsmen: The Wessex Conservation Company
National Society of Master Thatchers: Adam Nash Master Thatcher
Building Limes Forum: FE Stacey & Co Ltd

Where they're based

Wiltshire 4 craftspeople
Swindon 1 craftsperson
Somerset 3 craftspeople
Bath and North East Somerset 1 craftsperson

All the craftspeople we've checked, A to Z

9 craftspeople so far, not a complete list. No firm pays for its place.

Adam Nash Master ThatcherCrockerton, Wiltshire
Thatching
Master thatcher near Warminster working in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset, using combed wheat, long straw and water reed.
Bartlett and SonsDownton, Wiltshire
Thatching
Thatching business at Downton, near Salisbury, that says it is governed by the National Society of Master Thatchers.
BSM StonemasonsBath, Bath and North East Somerset
Stonemasonry
Bath natural-stone specialist doing stone conservation and restoration, including lime mortars and poultice application; local authority approved contractor.
Chris King Roofing LtdDevizes, Wiltshire
Leadwork
Roofing contractor at Urchfont near Devizes with leadworkers registered with the Lead Sheet Training Academy and heritage-level City & Guilds training.
FE Stacey & Co LtdDevizes, Wiltshire
Lime plastering
Devizes lime plastering and traditional decorating firm working on historic buildings, including decorative plasterwork, lime mortar and distempers.
Lime Repair LtdShepton Mallet, Somerset
Lime plastering and lime pointing
Somerset lime specialist doing lime plastering, pointing, rendering and limewash on historic and listed buildings.
Limeway WiltshireChiseldon, Swindon
Lime pointing and lime plastering
Lime mortar specialists near Swindon doing repointing, rendering, plastering and limecrete floors, plus brick, chalk and flint replacement.
Minerva Stone Conservation (Frome Stonemasons)Frome, Somerset
Lime pointing and stonemasonry
Frome stonemasons specialising in repair and conservation of historic stone, with lime repair and repointing, working in Frome, Bath and across the South West.
The Wessex Conservation CompanyWellington, Somerset
Lime plastering, lime pointing and leadwork
South West building conservation firm offering lime rendering, pointing and plastering, leadwork, stone conservation and timber window repairs; accredited by the Guild of Master Craftsmen.

How this register is kept

Sources, not hearsay: Crafts and memberships link to the firm's own pages or the body that lists them.
Order you can't buy: No firm pays to be shown first or to stay in the directory.
Firms can put us right: If a detail is out of date, the firm can tell us and we check it again.

How we check

Lime, thatch and Bath stone, done properly.