Listed building
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A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. It is a widely used status, applied to around half a million buildings.
A listed building may not be demolished, extended or altered without special permission from the local planning authority (who typically consult the relevant central government agency, particularly for significant alterations to the more notable listed buildings). Owners of listed buildings are, in some circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them and can face criminal prosecution if they fail to do so or if they perform unauthorised alterations. Because of this, and because listing can limit the options available for significant expansion or improvement, the law allows for owners of listed buildings to object to the listing.
Although most structures appearing on the lists are buildings, other structures such as bridges, monuments, sculptures, war memorials, and even milestones and mileposts may also be listed. Ancient, military and uninhabited structures (such as Stonehenge) are sometimes instead classified as Scheduled Ancient Monuments and protected by much older legislation whilst cultural landscapes such as parks and gardens are currently "listed" on a non-statutory basis. In England, this complex system may be rationalised under the Heritage Protection Review, see below.
Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947.
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[edit] England and Wales
In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and is presently administered by English Heritage, an agency of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, and Cadw in Wales (where it is a devolved issue). Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on English Heritage's Buildings At Risk Register.
There are three types of listed status (in descending order of "importance" and difficulty to obtain planning permission):
- Grade I: buildings of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest.
- Grade II*: particularly significant buildings of more than local interest.
- Grade II: buildings of special architectural or historic interest.
There was formerly a non-statutory Grade III, which was abolished in 1970.[1] Additionally, Grades A, B and C were used in pre-1977 lists, for Anglican churches in use – these correspond to Grades I, II* and II.
The government is currently proposing to abolish Grade II*. Despite 91% of respondents to the Heritage Protection Review voicing their opposition, English Heritage says it expects the proposal to become law, which would see many Grade II* buildings downgraded to Grade II.[2]
As of May 2003 there are approximately 442,000 listings in place, of which 418,000 (94.5%) are Grade II, 18,000 (4.1%) are Grade II*, and 6,000 (1.4%) are Grade I. Forty five per cent of Grade I buildings are Church of England parish churches.[3] There are estimated to be about 500,000 actual buildings listed, as listing entries can apply to more than one building. The criteria for listing include architectural interest, historic interest and close historical associations with significant people or events. Buildings which are not individually noteworthy may still be listed if they form part of a group that is – for example, all the buildings in a square. Sometimes large areas comprising many buildings may not warrant listing but are given the looser protection of designation as a conservation area.
Government general policy is to list all buildings erected before 1700 "which survive in anything like their original condition" and most buildings of 1700–1840. More selection is exercised among buildings of the Victorian period and the 20th century. Buildings less than 30 years old are rarely listed, and buildings less than 10 years old never.
Although the decision to list may be made on the basis of the architectural or historic interest of one small part of the building, the listing protection nevertheless applies to the whole building.
De-listing is possible but rare in practice. One example being the November 30, 2001 de-listing of North Corporation Primary School, Liverpool.
[edit] Heritage Protection Review
In March 2007 The Department for Culture, Media & Sport proposed in a government White Paper major reforms to the system in England and Wales. This was the culmination of a 4 year review process. If approved, the term Listed Building will be replaced by Designated Structure.[citation needed] This was a result of a wide-ranging review to rationalise designations in which Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Listed Landscapes on the non-statutory parks and gardens register, monuments and maritime heritage sites would all also become Designated Structures or Sites. It is proposed that the three Grades I, II* and II then apply to all Designated Buildings and Sites.
If approved by Parliament managing these new proposals will be the sole responsibility of English Heritage instead of the Department of Culture Media and Sport, as at present.
[edit] Examples of Grade I listed buildings
- See also: Category:Grade I listed buildings for a list of buildings across England and Wales
- Albert Dock, Liverpool
- Anglican Cathedral, Liverpool
- Ashridge House, Hertfordshire Neo Gothic House by James Wyatt, 1802
- Aston Hall, Birmingham
- Ashby Castle, Leicestershire
- Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash
- Birmingham Town Hall
- Blackpool Tower
- Bramall Hall
- British Museum Reading Room
- Buckingham Palace
- Cardiff Castle
- Chawton Cottage - Jane Austen's Home
- Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury
- Clevedon Pier
- Clifton Suspension Bridge
- Curzon Street railway station, Birmingham
- The Cutty Sark
- Dock Tower
- Downside Abbey
- Durham Cathedral
- The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London
- Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire
- Christ Church Spitalfields
- The Gatehouse and Wardrobe of Richmond Palace, Richmond, Surrey
- The Granada Cinema, Tooting
- Grimshaw Hall, Knowle, Solihull
- Grosvenor Bridge (Chester)
- Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
- Holland House, Holland Park, Kensington
- Icomb Place, Gloucestershire
- The Isokon (Lawn Road Flats), Hampstead, London
- Kirkstall Abbey (ancient monument) Leeds
- Leeds Town Hall
- Liverpool Town Hall
- Manchester Town Hall
- Margam Castle
- Newark Priory, Woking
- Newcastle Central Station
- Newport Transporter Bridge
- The Palace of Westminster
- The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
- Reading Abbey
- Royal Albert Hall
- Royal Festival Hall — first post-war building to be listed Grade I
- Royal Opera House
- Theatre Royal, Bristol (Bristol Old Vic)
- Sackville College, East Grinstead
- St Anne's Church, Haughton Green
- St. Catherine's College, Oxford
- St. Elisabeth's church, Reddish, Stockport
- St. George's Hall, Liverpool
- Ss Mary & Everilda, Everingham
- Stonyhurst College, Lancashire
- The Casbah Coffee Club
- The Theatre Royal Drury Lane
- The Theatre Royal Haymarket
- The Cenotaph, London
- University College London
- Victoria & Albert Museum
- The West Pier in Brighton
- Windsor Castle
- The Willis Building in Ipswich — the most recently constructed Grade I listed building
- York Minster
[edit] Examples of Grade II* listed buildings
- See also: Category:Grade II* listed buildings for a list of buildings across England and Wales
- Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
- Stoke-on-Trent railway station
- Broadcasting House
- Battersea Power Station, London
- Criterion Theatre, London
- Johnny Haynes stand at Craven Cottage, London
- Keeling House, Whitechapel, London
- The Cloisters (Letchworth)
- Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge
- The Old Crown, Birmingham
- Park Hill, Sheffield - largest listed building in Europe
- Senate House (University of London)
- Solar School, Wallasey
- St. Chad's Church, Headingley, Leeds
- Stockport town hall
- Sunderland Empire Theatre
- Theatre Royal, Bath
- Trellick Tower, London
- Victoria Baths, Manchester
- 84 Plymouth Grove, Manchester - The house of Elizabeth Gaskell
- William Brown Library, Liverpool
- Watts Warehouse, Manchester
- The Elephant House at London Zoo
- North Gate House in Dorchester-on-Thames
- Ye Olde White Harte public house in Kingston upon Hull - An important place in the history of the English civil war
[edit] Examples of Grade II listed buildings
- See also: :Category:Grade II listed buildings for a list of buildings across England and Wales
- BT Tower
- Centre Point
- 160 of the 200 coal tax posts have been listed
- The East Stand, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London
- Derby Grammar School
- The Elfin Oak
- 62 Castle St Hotel, Liverpool
- The University of Birmingham
- Whitechapel Bell Foundry
[edit] Mixed designations
- In 2002 there were 80 seaside piers in England that were listed, variously at Grades I, II* and II.
- Golden Lane Estate, Clerkenwell, London is an example of a site which includes buildings of different Grades, II & II*
- Cobham Park, Kent is a Listed Landscape (Humphry Repton and older landscape), contains Grade I structures (Cobham Hall and Darnley Mausoleum) Grade II structures (ornamental dairy etc), plus a Scheduled Ancient Monument (a buried Roman villa).
- West Norwood Cemetery is a Gothic Revival metropolitan cemetery and crematorium which contains 65 structures of Grade II or II*, mainly sepulchral monuments but also boundary structures and mausolea.
[edit] Locally listed buildings
Many councils, for example, Birmingham City Council, maintain a register of Locally listed buildings in addition to the statutory list. There is no statutory protection of a building or object on this list. Councils hope that owners will recognise the merits of their properties and keep them unaltered if at all possible.
These grades are used by Birmingham:
- Grade A
- This is of statutory list quality. To be the subject of notification to English Heritage and/or the serving of a Building Preservation Notice if imminently threatened.
- Grade B
- Important in the city wide architectural or local street scene context, warranting positive efforts to ensure retention.
- Grade C
- Of significance in the local historical/vernacular context, including industrial archaeological features, and worthy of retention.
[edit] Northern Ireland
Listed buildings in Northern Ireland are administered by the Environment and Heritage Service, under powers granted by Article 42 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.
The scheme of listing is as follows:
- Grade A: buildings of national importance and superior examples of a specific type.
- Grade B+: buildings of regional importance, or important buildings that would qualify as Grade A but for lower-quality design or subsequent additions.
- Grade B1: buildings of local importance, or good examples of some type.
- Grade B2: buildings of local importance, or good examples of some type, but of a lower quality than Grade B1.
[edit] Examples of Grade A listed buildings
[edit] Examples of Grade B+ listed buildings
[edit] Examples of Grade B1 listed buildings
[edit] Scotland
In Scotland the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 applies. As with other powers regarding planning, conservation is a power devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government. Historic Scotland is the agency charged by the Executive for protecting listed buildings and scheduled monuments.
The scheme for classifying buildings is:
- Category A: "buildings of national or international importance, either architectural or historic, or fine little-altered examples of some particular period, style or building type"
- Category B: "buildings of regional or more than local importance, or major examples of some particular period, style or building type which may have been altered"
- Category C(s): "buildings of local importance, lesser examples of any period, style or building type, as originally constructed or altered; and simple, traditional buildings which group well with others in categories A and B or are part of a planned group such as an estate or an industrial complex"
As of 2007, approximately 8% of listings are category A, 60% are category B, and 32% are category C(s).
[edit] Examples of Category A listed buildings
- Abbotsford House, near Melrose, in the Borders - commissioned by Sir Walter Scott
- Airth Castle, Falkirk
- Amisfield Tower, Dumfries and Galloway
- Balintore Castle, Angus
- Bell Rock Lighthouse and its mainland Signal Tower in Arbroath, Angus - the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse
- Bute House, Edinburgh - official residence of the First Minister of Scotland
- Cambusnethan House, North Lanarkshire
- Church of Maxwell, Mearns Castle, by Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire - a mid 15th century tower, now incorporated into Maxwell Mearns Castle Parish Church (Church of Scotland)
- Craigellachie Bridge, Moray - designed by Thomas Telford and built 1812-1814
- Crossraguel Abbey (Benedictine), South Ayrshire - founded in 1244 by Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick
- Dollan Baths, East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire - opened 1968, Scotland's first 50 m swimming pool
- Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire
- Dumbarton Central railway station, West Dunbartonshire
- Dun Carloway, Lewis, Western Isles - a 1st century broch
- Dunfermline Abbey (Benedictine), Fife - founded in 1128 by King David I
- Finnieston Crane, Glasgow
- Fort Charlotte, Shetland - built by Robert Mylne under the orders of Charles II at the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch Wars in 1665
- Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow
- General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh
- Glasgow City Chambers - designed by William Young, opened 1889
- Glenfinnan Viaduct, Lochaber, Highland
- Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the Statue of Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh
- Hippodrome Cinema, Bo'ness - Scotland's oldest purpose built cinema
- India of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire - designed in 1930 by Thomas Wallis of Wallis Gilbert & Partners; the former office block of the India Tyres of Inchinnan factory
- Jarlshof, Shetland - an archaeological site, including remains of a Bronze Age smithy, an Iron Age broch and houses, Pictish houses, Viking longhouses, a complex of wheelhouses, a mediaeval farmhouse, and a 17th century estate house
- John Knox House, Netherbow, Royal Mile, Edinburgh - built 1490
- Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian - rebuilding (after former buildings destroyed by fire) started by King James I in the early 15th century, as a grand residence for Scottish royalty
- Marischal College, Aberdeen
- Morgan Academy, Dundee
- New Register House, Edinburgh
- Newark Castle, Port Glasgow, Inverclyde
- Newbattle Abbey (Cistercian), Midlothian
- Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh - official residence of the monarch in Scotland
- Parliament Hall, Edinburgh - home of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland, now housing the Supreme Courts of Scotland
- Pinkie House, East Lothian
- Pollokshields Burgh Hall, Glasgow
- Queensberry House, Scottish Parliament complex, Edinburgh
- Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
- Scone Palace, Perth and Kinross
- St. Andrew's House, Edinburgh - headquarters of the Scottish Government
- St. Magnus' Cathedral (Church of Scotland), Kirkwall, Orkney - construction started in 1137
- St. Paul's Cathedral (Scottish Episcopal Church), Dundee
- Stirling Castle
- Wallace National Monument, Abbey Craig, Stirling - commemorating Sir William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland
- Wemyss Bay railway station
- Willow Tearooms, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow - designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
[edit] Examples of Category B listed buildings
- Ardencaple Castle, Rhu, Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute
- Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen
- Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh
- Boyd's Automatic tide signalling apparatus Irvine, North Ayrshire
- Crown Office, Chambers Street, Edinburgh
- Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen
- Harbourmaster's House, Dysart, Fife
- Inverurie railway station, Aberdeenshire
- Kilmarnock railway station, East Ayrshire
- Main Stand, Ibrox Park, Glasgow
- National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
- National War Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle (other parts of the castle are also listed A, B or C(s))
- Noup Head Lighthouse, Westray, Orkney
- Saddell Abbey, Argyll and Bute
- Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye, Highland
- St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow
- Woodend Hospital, Aberdeen
[edit] Examples of Category C(s) listed buildings
- a large number of notable private homes are designated Category C(s) (some A and B category listed buildings are also private homes)
- Statue of John Knox, New College Quadrangle, Edinburgh (New College is itself designated as a Category A listed building)
- War Memorial to Dundee City Police, West Bell Street, Dundee
[edit] References
- ^ About Listed Buildings. heritage.co.uk.
- ^ Grade II* to be axed for historic buildings. Daily Telegraph.
- ^ The Church of England today. Church of England.
[edit] See also
- English Heritage
- National Monuments Record
- Conservation area
- Images of England, the website which is building to a complete catalogue of listed buildings
- Monument historique (French equivalent)
- National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmark (American equivalents)
- List of Grade I historic buildings in Hong Kong,List of Grade II historic buildings in Hong Kong and List of Grade III historic buildings in Hong Kong (Hong Kong equivalent)
- Register of Parks and Gardens
- Scheduled Ancient Monument
- Site of Special Scientific Interest
- Tree preservation order
- New Zealand Historic Places Trust (New Zealand equivalent)
- VAT Savings available on Listed Buildings
[edit] External links
- Photographs of listed buildings from English Heritage
- Listed Property Owners Club, providing information & advice for listed property owners
- Information about heritage protection generally
- PASTMAP Map-based database of listed buildings, scheduled monuments etc in Scotland
- Birmingham City Council - What is a Locally Listed Building?
- Birmingham Local RegisterPDF (364 KB)