Skylights & rooflights in Winscombe Under the Mendip slopes, one roof at a time

Winscombe spreads along the foot of the Mendip hills, with old stone houses, Edwardian villas and a great many bungalows. We fit rooflights, skylights and roof windows that open, and the written quote shows what each one would do for the room beneath it.

Get a free quote WhatsApp us

A blackout blind half drawn on a roof window

Below the Mendip ridge: Winscombe lies south-west of Bristol, 16.8 road miles by car, which means a drive out through the Mendip foothills before we reach your door.
Stone houses near the old school: Older homes in grey Mendip stone around Sidcot, with thick walls and tiled roofs that suit slim, flush rooflights.
Villas on the main road: Edwardian and later houses with generous landings and loft rooms that were built tall but are often short of fresh air.
The cycle path at the back gate: Some gardens back on to the Strawberry Line, and the quiet rear slopes there are the best place for glass.

A remote control on a bedside table under a roof window

Winscombe rooms that want opening glass

The villa landing with a dark middle
A long upstairs passage, tall but windowless, where one opening roof window can pull warm air out of the whole top floor.
The bungalow roof room
A loft bedroom or hobby room under the slope whose only light is a gable, brightened by a hinged window on the garden side.
The sunroom added to the garden side
A glass-heavy extension that warms quickly and cools slowly, so the roof panel that opens matters more than the rest.

Units for Mendip stone, villas and bungalows

Roof windows, including VELUX, for lofts and landings, conservation rooflights for the stone cottages, and flat rooflights or lanterns with electric openers for extensions.

From Winscombe to the villages along the hills

Our visits take in Winscombe and Sandford, plus Banwell, Axbridge and Churchill, and the other settlements strung along the foot of the Mendips.

Every town we cover

Bristol Winscombe

A village at the foot of the hills

Opening a Winscombe roof to the breeze

Winscombe is a long village rather than a tight one, and its houses come in distinct layers: stone cottages and Edwardian villas near the centre, then bungalows and newer homes spreading outwards. Each layer asks for a different rooflight.

Stone cottages and villas near the centre

The older end of Winscombe holds the buildings that give the village its character: cottages in grey Mendip stone, solid Edwardian villas with tall rooms, and a few large houses behind walls. Their roofs differ from one another but share a problem. The upper floors were designed to be lived in, yet heat rises through the high stairwells and collects exactly where people sleep.

For a villa, the roof window belongs over the landing or the top flight, where it serves the whole upper floor. On a stone cottage the aim is subtler: a small rooflight on the rear slope above a bedroom, cut between the old rafters. Where the front of the cottage has to carry one, the conservation rooflight is the neat option, a thin metal frame set flush with a single glazing bar. Many open on a stay, so even a period roof can have air in summer.

Reading a Winscombe villa roof from the landing

The ceiling hatch, which shows where the rafters run
The stair void, where warm air gathers
The chimney breast, which can limit the window width
The slope that faces the garden

The weather up against the hills is changeable, so we also think about how a new window behaves in a downpour. A well-fitted flashing sheds water around the frame, the glass sheds it down the slope, while the closed sash presses on a weather seal. A good installation should simply disappear into the roof and leave you with a room that is easier to live in.

Planning, council and conservation

Winscombe sits within North Somerset Council, which looks after planning and conservation matters here. Certain buildings in the parish are listed, so confirm with North Somerset Council whether yours is one and whether any conservation controls apply. Our guide to rooflight planning permission lays out what usually needs an application. Listed buildings require listed building consent, whichever slope the glass is on.

Where a villa has a box room above the porch, or a shower room under the eaves, a small opening window often does more than a big fixed one. Steam drifts out through the roof, mirrors stay clearer, and the door can stay shut. We look at each room by its use, not by the size of the hole.

Ask, too, what you want to see from the window. In a Winscombe bungalow a roof window on the right slope frames the hills, and a sloping ceiling lets you sit upstairs and watch the weather change over the Mendips.

Choosing between fixed and opening

Not every rooflight needs to move. A stairwell or a stone scullery with no ventilation problem can happily take a fixed unit, which is slimmer and costs less. We recommend opening where heat, steam or stale air collect, and fixed where you simply want daylight. The detail sits on the quote, line by line, so you can see what each choice adds.

Across the older houses we also find extensions from the last century: a pantry, a utility room or a small bathroom on the north side. A sun tunnel can give those rooms daylight through a thick roof without a wide opening, and one with a vent kit shifts steam out of the bathroom.

A full swap of rooflight or roof window, frame together with glass, is building work, so Building Control must be notified, and we send that notice. Swapping only the sealed glass unit in a good frame generally does not need it. The building regulations guide sets out the difference, and our costs page shows which parts of a job move the price.

One last point on old houses: thick stone and deep reveals mean that light inside is often poor even on a bright day. A roof window or rooflight helps, but so does the paint colour and the position of the glass relative to the walls. We suggest putting the unit where light will bounce off a pale wall or sloped ceiling, and we show you that in the survey with a tape and a pencil.

Roof window over the landing Warm air rising out Tall stairwell void Cooler hall air drawn upward

A roof window above a Winscombe villa stairwell lets heat rise out of the top floor and draws cooler air up from the hall below.

A bungalow with a new rooflight on its extension

Bungalows, newer homes and the back-garden extension

Away from the centre the housing is mostly twentieth-century: bungalows and chalet bungalows set in wide plots, with newer family homes along the quieter roads. The long roofs of the bungalows suggest a conversion, and the usual stumbling block is natural light. A loft room with one small gable window feels shut in, and in July it feels hot too.

The answer is a roof window on the side facing the garden, hinged at the top for ventilation. In a bungalow or chalet bungalow, that window may be the escape route for the room, so we take the width, the height and the sill level seriously. Before ordering, read how a roof window works as a fire exit. If the house is two-storey, a converted loft follows different rules, with a protected stair doing the safety job.

Winscombe home	Common problem	Opening answer
Stone cottage	Low, warm bedroom	Small hinged roof window
Edwardian villa	Hot, tall landing	Roof window over stairs
Bungalow	Dim loft room	Pair of hinged windows
Rear sunroom	Overheating glass	Opening flat rooflight

Plan the loft stair before the window. In a bungalow the stair eats floor below, so its position, the headroom at the top and the slope of the ceiling all decide where the glass can go. It is much cheaper to sort this on paper than after the roof is open. We sketch the options at the survey and include the stair landing in the notes.

Hinged, pivot or electric

Roof windows come in two main types. A top-hung window opens outward like a flap, leaving the lower half in place. A centre-pivot window turns on a central axis so you can clean the outer glass from inside. Our page on the two roof window types, top-hung or centre-pivot explains each, and for rooms where the glass is out of reach, VELUX INTEGRA adds electric or solar control.

A south-facing garden slope means a roof window will bake the room.

Sun does warm the room, but a sash that swings open sends the heat outside, and a blind on the glass cuts the strongest light. We talk through both at the survey.

The extension that heats up

Many Winscombe gardens have a conservatory or a glazed extension on the back, taking in the view of the hills. Those rooms collect sun all afternoon. Putting an opening panel in place of a fixed one gives that warm air an exit through the roof. Our flat roof rooflight hub covers the choices, from fixed to electric, and roof lanterns with opening vents work where the ceiling is tall.

Because the village is stretched along the hill foot, our trips often link Winscombe to Banwell, Axbridge or Churchill, so house types and roofs will be familiar from one visit to the next. We measure on the day, photograph the roof from the garden and the loft side, send an itemised written quote, and show opening options on it, so deciding takes an evening rather than a month.

Think also about how a room will be used through the seasons. A bungalow bedroom that is cosy in February can be oppressive in August. Hinged glass on one slope and a vent bar for night-time air gives you both. If a room is likely to be a home office, consider a blind that cuts glare from a screen, and talk to us about glass that handles the strongest sun.

A word on wind. The hills shelter Winscombe on some sides and funnel gusts on others, and a window that opens should be latched firmly when closed, with a sensible stay when open. Electric units carry a rain sensor, and it shuts the sash when the first shower falls. A vent bar, which is a small gap you can leave overnight, lets stale air move without letting the weather in.

Questions from the foot of the Mendips

Can a rooflight be fitted to a stone cottage near Sidcot?

Usually. We work between the existing rafters then pick a slender unit to match the stone and tile. Should the house be listed or in a conservation area, North Somerset Council needs to be asked first.

Is one roof window enough to ventilate a tall Winscombe landing?

Often it makes a real difference, because warm air leaves from the top of the stairwell. We look at the landing height and the doors below at the survey, and the quote says whether one or two units suit.

What should I know before converting a Winscombe bungalow loft?

Think about daylight, headroom and the way to get out during a fire. A roof window on the garden slope covers the first and the last, and the survey checks the structure for the second.

Can I open a sunroom roof panel without climbing up?

Yes. Electric and solar openers run at the push of a wall button, and a rain sensor drops the sash if showers start. See the electric opening rooflights hub for the options.

Pastel-painted Georgian terraced houses with iron railings on a Bristol street

Tell us about the room

A few details is all we need. We'll come out, advise and give you a written quote.

No pressure, no obligation.