Listed building

The Forth Bridge, designed by Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler, opened in 1890, and now owned by Network Rail, is designated as a Category A listed building by Historic Scotland.

A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building which has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. 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). Exemption from secular listed building control is provided for some buildings in current use for worship, but only in cases where the relevant religious organisation operates its own equivalent permissions procedure. 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.

The listing procedure allows for buildings to be removed from the list if the listing is shown to be in error.English Heritage - Listing FAQs

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).

Contents

History

Although a limited number of 'ancient monuments' were given protection under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882,[1] it was the damage to buildings caused by Nazi bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were of deemed to be of particular architectural merit.[2] 300 members of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings were dispatched to prepare the list under the supervision of the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, with funding from the Treasury.[3] The listings were used as a means of determining whether a particular building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing,[2] with varying degrees of success.[3]

The basis of the current more comprehensive listing process was developed from the wartime system and was enacted by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. In 1980 there was public outcry at the sudden destruction of the art deco Firestone Factory (Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, 1928–29), which was demolished over the August bank holiday weekend by its owners Trafalgar House who had been told that it was likely to be 'spot-listed' a few days later,[4] and the Government undertook to review arrangements for listing buildings.[5] After the Firestone demolition, the Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine also initiated a complete re-survey of buildings to ensure there was nothing which merited preservation and had been missed off the lists.[6]

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 and 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:

There was formerly a non-statutory Grade III, which was abolished in 1970.[8] Additionally, Grades A, B and C were used mainly for Anglican churches in use – these correspond to Grades I, II* and II. These grades were used mainly before 1977, although a few buildings are still listed using these grades.

A photographic library of Listed Buildings is maintained by English Heritage at the Images of England Project Website.[9]

In 2008, a draft Heritage Protection Bill was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny before its passage through Parliament. In the event, the legislation was abandoned, though it may be revived in future. The proposal was that the existing registers of buildings, parks and gardens, archaeology and battlefields, maritime wrecks, and World Heritage Sites be merged into a single online register which will "explain what is special and why". English Heritage would become directly responsible for identifying Historic Assets in England and there would be wider consultation with the public and asset owners, and new rights of appeal. There would have been streamlined systems for granting consent for work on Historic Assets.[10]

In July 2009, there were approximately 373,000 listings in place, of which 343,000 (92%) were Grade II, 20,500 (5.5%) were Grade II*, and 9,300 (2.5%) were Grade I.[11] Forty five per cent of Grade I buildings are Church of England parish churches.[12] 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. Additionally, any buildings or structures constructed before 1 July 1948 which fall within the curtilage of a listed building are treated as part of the listed building [13]

The effect of a proposed development on the setting of a listed building is a material consideration in determining a planning application.

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 is the November 30, 2001, de-listing of North Corporation Primary School, Liverpool.

Examples of Grade I listed buildings

Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch.

See also Category:Grade I listed buildings for examples of such buildings across England and Wales

Examples of Grade II* listed buildings

The Johnny Haynes stand at Craven Cottage is a Grade II* listed building.

See also Category:Grade II* listed buildings for examples of such buildings across England and Wales

Examples of Grade II listed buildings

See also Category:Grade II listed buildings for examples of such buildings across England and Wales

Mixed designations

Locally listed buildings

Many councils, for example, Birmingham City Council, maintain a list of Locally listed buildings as separate to the statutory list (and in addition to it). There is no statutory protection of a building or object on the local 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.

Northern Ireland

Listed buildings in Northern Ireland are administered by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, under powers granted by Article 42 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

The scheme of listing is as follows:

Examples of Grade A listed buildings

Examples of Grade B+ listed buildings

Examples of Grade B1 listed buildings

Scotland

In Scotland the 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 Scottish Government for protecting listed buildings and scheduled monuments.

The scheme for classifying buildings is:

As of 2007, approximately 8% of listings are category A, 60% are category B, and 32% are category C(s).

Examples of Category A listed buildings

The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, designed by William Henry Playfair and opened in 1859, is one of the National Galleries of Scotland, a public body funded by the Scottish Government Education Department. It is a Category A listed building.

Examples of Category B listed buildings

The main stand of Ibrox Stadium, the home of Rangers, was designed by Archibald Leitch in 1929. It is designated as a Category B listed building by Historic Scotland.

Examples of Category C(s) listed buildings

See also

References

  1. ↑ Preserving historic sites and buildings
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Listed buildings, The Victorian Society
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Targets of enemy bombers and our own demolition men, The Independent
  4. ↑ John Witherow, "No listing of Hoover factory", The Times, 1 September 1980, p. 4.
  5. ↑ John Young, "A notable dozen are added to the nation's listed buildings", The Times, 15 October 1980, p. 4.
  6. ↑ Charles Knevitt, "Protecting palaces and pillarboxes", The Times, 3 June 1985, p. 8.
  7. ↑ http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1373
  8. ↑ "About Listed Buildings". heritage.co.uk. http://www.heritage.co.uk/apavilions/glstb.html. 
  9. ↑ Images of England Project
  10. ↑ English Heritage
  11. ↑ English Heritage Listed Buildings
  12. ↑ "The Church of England today". Church of England. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/thechurchofenglandtoday/. 
  13. ↑ Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, Part 1, Chapter 1, Section 5(a).

External links