Two traditional crafts have been brought together in Somerset.

Master thatchers from Dunbar & Bunce, based in south Somerset, have been at work over the last two weeks for master cidermakers at Thatchers Cider in Sandford.

A new meeting room currently being built at Thatchers Cider has been designed to showcase sustainable construction techniques. With that in mind, the Sandford cider maker asked Somerset company Dunbar & Bunce to install a traditional thatched roof.

Martin Thatcher, Managing Director says, “Our new meeting room is being built in the heart of a beautiful part of one of our orchards, in a thicket, overlooking a pond. It is an opportunity for us to show how we embrace nature. Being able to employ traditional crafts such as thatching makes perfect sense for us, since we’ve been practising our own craft for over a hundred years.”

It is being built with a solid oak framework and natural stone walls. A feature wood burning stove will be powered using timber sourced on site and background underfloor heating linked via a pump into ground sourced heat.

Dunbar & Bunce partners, Tom Dunbar and Nigel Bunce have worked together since 1996 and with over 44 years of thatching experience between them have earned the reputation as being among the finest thatchers in the region. In 2008 they were presented with the two awards by the Somerset Building Preservation Trust for their outstanding work carried out on restoration projects in the region.

Passionate about conservation, both Tom and Nigel – together with their team of highly skilled thatchers, provide an extremely knowledgeable and sympathetic approach to both historic buildings as well as modern applications, such as new houses and extensions.

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