Listed building
In the
United Kingdom the term
'listed building' refers to 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 being granted by the local planning authority (who typically consult the pertaining 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 the building, 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, and even
milestones and mileposts may also be listed. Ancient structures (such as
Stonehenge) are not protected by listing, but are instead classified as
Scheduled Ancient Monuments and protected by separate legislation. Similarly, natural features such as landscapes, parks and forests are protected by other means.
Listing was begun by a provision in the
Town and Country Planning Act 1947.
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 (in Wales)
Cadw. 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 exceptional interest.
* Grade II*: particularly important buildings of special interest.
* Grade II: buildings of special 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 are currently proposing to abolish Grade II*. Despite 91% of respondents to the
Heritage Protection Review voicing their opposition,
English Heritage says they expect 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. 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 which 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 ten years old never.
Although the decision to list may be made on the basis of the architectural interest of one small part of the building, the listing protection nevertheless applies to the whole building.
De-listing is theoretically possible but rare in practice — one example being the
November 30 2001 de-listing of
North Corporation Primary School,
Liverpool.
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: building of local importance, or good examples of some type.
* Grade B2: building of local importance, or good examples of some type, but of a lower quality than Grade B1.
Scotland
In
Scotland, similar legislation (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 Executive.
Historic Scotland is the agency charged by the Executive for protecting listed buildings and scheduled monuments.
The scheme for classifying buildings is largely similar to its equivalents in the rest of the UK:
* A: buildings of national or international importance, and important examples of a specific type.
* B: buildings of regional importance, and notable examples of a specific type.
* C(s): buildings of local importance, and lesser examples of a specific type.
As of 2005, approximately 8% of listings are category A, 60% are category B, and 32% are category C(S).
|
Centre Point, a Grade II listed building. |
Grade I
*
List of Grade I listed buildings*
Albert Dock,
Liverpool*
Ashridge House,
Hertfordshire Neo Gothic House by James Wyatt, 1802
*
Aston Hall,
Birmingham*
Royal Albert Bridge,
Saltash*
Birmingham Town Hall*
British Museum Reading Room*
Buckingham Palace*
Durham Cathedral* The
Isokon (Lawn Road Flats), Hampstead, London
*
Kirkstall Abbey (ancient monument) Leeds
*
Manchester Town Hall* The
Palace of Westminster*
Royal Festival Hall — first post-war building to be listed Grade I
*
Royal Opera House*
Theatre Royal, Bristol (Bristol Old Vic)
*
Ss Mary & Everilda, Everingham* The
Cenotaph, London
* The
West Pier in
Brighton*
Windsor Castle* The
Willis Building in Ipswich — the most recently constructed Grade I listed building
Grade II*
*
List of Grade II* listed buildings*
Broadcasting House*
Criterion Theatre, London
*
Keeling House, Whitechapel, London
*
Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge*
Park Hill,
Sheffield*
Senate House (University of London)*
Sunderland Empire*
Theatre Royal, Bath*
Trellick Tower, London
*
Victoria Baths,
Manchester*
William Brown Library,
Liverpool* The Elephant House at
London ZooGrade II
*
List of Grade II listed buildings*
BT Tower*
Centre Point* The East Stand,
Arsenal Stadium,
Highbury, London
*
Whitechapel Bell FoundryMixed
*Several
Red telephone boxes
*In
2002 there were 80 seaside
piers in England that were listed.
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. The council hope that owners will recognise the merit of their property and keep it 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*
Conservation area*
Images of England, the website which is building to a complete catalogue of listed buildings
*
Monument historique (
French equivalent)
*
National Historic Landmark (
American equivalent)
*
Register of Parks and Gardens*
Scheduled Ancient Monument*
Site of Special Scientific Interest*
Tree preservation order*
Department of Culture, Media and Sport's page on Listed buildings*
Photographs of listed buildings from English Heritage*
Information about planning restrictions generally*
PASTMAP Map-based database of listed buildings, scheduled monuments etc in Scotland*
Birmingham City Council - What is a Locally Listed Building?*
PDF of Birmingham Local Register 366Kb
