Batcombe is almost entirely period stone, gathered around the tower of St Mary's church, with the hamlets of Westcombe and Spargrove close by. In houses like these, the electrical question is rarely what to install. It is how to get it in without spoiling what is already there. This page explains how we approach that, and what each kind of job involves.
Batcombe is one of Bruton's neighbouring villages, in the BA4 postcode. Its own hamlets are Westcombe and Spargrove, and Milton Clevedon and Upton Noble are close by. What sets it apart for an electrician is how little newer housing there is. Almost every house is period stone, which means solid walls, older plaster, timber floors and, in many cases, electrics that have been altered piece by piece over a long time.
That does not make the work difficult, but it does change the order of things. In a newer house we can usually price from a quick look. In Batcombe we would rather understand the house first: where the board is, how the existing circuits run, which floors can be lifted and which finishes the owners want left alone.
Before deciding on a new board or a rewire, it pays to know the condition of what is there. An electrical installation condition report (EICR) tests every circuit, dead and live: continuity of the protective conductors, insulation resistance, polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD operation, with every reading recorded on the schedule. Each problem is coded:
Any C1, C2 or FI makes the report unsatisfactory. A standard domestic inspection is priced on the number of circuits. For listed and heritage houses we price after a walk-round, because access, the number of boards and the care needed vary so much. The report often shows that a partial rewire of a few circuits is enough, rather than the whole house. See EICR in Bruton or EICR in Shepton Mallet; both cover Batcombe.
When a rewire is needed, the plan is about routes. Our order of preference in a period stone house is:
We work circuit by circuit so most people can stay living in the house. A larger or period property typically takes two to three weeks. A full rewire is always priced per property after a survey. You get a new RCBO consumer unit, interlinked mains smoke and heat alarms, an Electrical Installation Certificate and Part P notification. Our heritage rewires page for Bruton goes into more detail, as does the general heritage rewires page; the standard Bruton rewires page covers full and partial rewires.
Fitting interlinked alarms in an old house used to mean running cable between every alarm position. For a house that is not being rewired, we now fit Aico mains alarms linked wirelessly by RadioLINK. Each alarm needs a permanent mains supply, but the link between them is radio, so floors stay down. Each one has a sealed ten-year lithium back-up battery, and every device is tested before we leave. You get a written list of each alarm's position and manufacture date, so the replacement in ten years can be planned.
In the kitchen we fit a heat alarm, not a smoke alarm. If the house has a wood burner or other fixed combustion appliance, a CO alarm in that room is sensible, and for a landlord it is a legal requirement. More on our smoke alarms page for Shepton Mallet.
If the wiring is sound but the board is old, a board replacement on its own may be enough. Every board we fit is a metal enclosure with a main switch and a Type A RCBO on each circuit, plus Type 2 surge protection and AFDDs on bedroom socket circuits, fed by 25mm² flexible meter tails. The work takes most of the day, and every circuit is tested and labelled before we leave. See the Bruton fuse board page for what happens on the day.
Outside the house, the period character continues. Wall lanterns on stone fronts, supplies to stables, stores and garden studios, and occasionally a charge point. Outbuilding supplies run in armoured cable with their own protection at the board. For a charge point, the price depends on the charger you choose and the cable run, and the written quote includes the charger. We need a safe, legal cable route on your own property to the parking space, and we check the earthing at survey. The Bruton EV charger page covers the chargers we fit. For small jobs, from a faulty light to an extra socket, see our Bruton domestic electrician page.
Evercreech lies about 3.2 miles north-west of Bruton and 3.5 miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, with St Peter's church tower at its centre. We replaced an older board there this year with a metal RCBO board and surge protection, upgraded the earthing and bonding, and corrected a cross-polarity fault on the garage supply. Its parish includes Stoney Stratton, where we replaced a failed kitchen spur. See our Evercreech page.
Cranmore lies about 3.0 miles north-east of Evercreech and about 3.1 miles east of Shepton Mallet. It is home to the East Somerset Railway heritage line, and Cranmore Tower stands on the ridge. Homes there range from older stone houses to later ones, and the jobs follow suit: from careful work in period rooms to extra circuits, outdoor sockets and charge points in later homes. Every job is priced in writing after a survey or a phone consult with photos.
We have not listed a job in Batcombe itself this year. These are the closest, named by village or town only.
Leave your details and a line about the job. We will ring you back to talk it through and arrange a survey or a written price.
Usually most of the cable can go through floor and ceiling voids, reached by lifting boards, or along existing routes. Chases are kept to the minimum, agreed with you first and made good afterwards. Where a wall should not be cut at all, a neat surface route is an option. The survey is where we work out which routes are possible in your house.
Yes. A standard domestic inspection is priced on the size of the installation and the number of circuits, but listed and heritage houses are priced after a walk-round. Access, the number of boards, outbuildings and the care needed around original finishes vary too much to price any other way. You still get a written fixed price before we start.
Yes. Each Aico alarm we fit is mains powered with a sealed ten-year lithium back-up battery. Only the link between alarms is wireless, which is what saves lifting floors to run interlink cable. Each alarm needs a permanent, unswitched supply, which we provide as part of the job. On a full rewire we hardwire the interlink instead.
Yes. Batcombe's hamlets, and nearby Milton Clevedon and Upton Noble, are covered on the same terms as the village itself. We work from our Mid Somerset base and give a written fixed price, with VAT shown separately, before any work starts.
It depends on the condition of the cables. If an inspection shows the wiring is sound but the board lacks RCD protection or is worn out, a new RCBO board may be all you need. If the cable insulation is failing or circuits have no earth, a partial or full rewire is the right answer. The report tells you which.
Priced by the job, not by the hour. A written, fixed price after a survey, NAPIT certification on every notifiable job.
07889 334849