Christmas Hours

Check when Council Services will be closing over this Christmas period.

Christmas hours

Listed buildings

Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest are listed by English Heritage.

The listing of a building provides statutory protection against alteration or demolition which would damage its special architectural or historical interest.

What kind of buildings can be listed?

Most buildings built between 1700 and 1849 are listed.

Some buildings after 1849 are also listed but the criteria are stricter.

Modern buildings must be exceptionally important and normally over 30 years old to be listed. Age, rarity and architectural merit are considered.

Buildings are listed in their entirety -  there is no such thing as a listed facade or interior. Structures and objects within the curtilage of the building may also be listed.

Nominate a heritage asset

You can nominate a heritage asset for addition to The National Heritage List for England on the English Heritage website.

Grades

There are three categories:

  • Grade I and II* are of national and international importance
  • Grade II are of regional and local interest

Find a listed building

View details of the borough's listed buildings:

Flooding and historic buildings

English Heritage provides guidance on establishing flood risk and preparing for flooding.

Alterations, extensions, repairs and demolition

Consent is normally required from the Council for any works of alteration or extension (internal or external), which would affect the building’s character, and for demolition (total or partial).

This is in addition to any planning permission that might be required.

In order to preserve a listed building, it is sometimes necessary to put it to a new use. However such re use should be appropriate and any conversion work must be carefully designed not to harm the building's character.

The Council will look positively at proposals for new uses where this would help to preserve historic buildings and is happy to offer advice on repairs and alterations.

Maintenance

If a building becomes dilapidated, the Council has the power to make owners undertake maintenance work.

A building can be added to the list regardless of its state of repair.

Grants for repairs

Grants may be available from English Heritage for the repair of Grade I and Grade II* buildings.

Appeal or de-list a listed building

If you are unhappy with the decision to list a building or you want to de-list a building, you may write to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Appeals must be made within 28 days of notification of the decision to list a building.

Images of listed buildings

The Images of England project holds details of England’s 370,000 listed buildings.

You can search for images of listed buildings within the borough.