Listed Building - How To Find A Listed Building

How To Find A Listed Building

Although the 2008 draft legislation was abandoned, English Heritage published a single list of all designated heritage assets within England in 2011. The National Heritage List for England is an online searchable database which includes 400,000 (most but not all) of England’s listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, protected historic wrecks and registered battlefields in one place. The legislative frameworks for each type of historic asset remains unchanged (2011).

In Scotland, the national dataset of listed buildings and other heritage assets can be searched online via Historic Scotland, or through the map database Pastmap.

To find a listed building in Wales, it is necessary to contact the appropriate local authority or Cadw. Also British Listed Buildings (website) has sections on England, Wales and Scotland. It can be searched either by browsing for listed buildings by country, county and parish/locality, or by keyword search or via the online map. Not all buildings have photographs, as it is run on a volunteer basis.

The Northern Ireland Buildings Database contains details of all listed buildings in Northern Ireland.

A photographic library of English listed buildings was started in 1999 as a snap shot of buildings listed at the turn of the millennium. This is not an up-to-date record of all listed buildings in England - the listing status and descriptions are only correct as at February 2001. The photographs were taken between 1999 and 2008. It is maintained by the English Heritage archive at the Images of England project website. The National Heritage List for England contains the up-to-date list of listed buildings.

Listed buildings in danger of being lost through damage or decay in England started to be recorded by survey in 1991. This was extended in 1998 with the publication of English Heritage's 'Buildings at Risk Register' which surveyed Grade I and Grade II* buildings. In 2008 this survey was renamed ‘Heritage at Risk’ and extended to include all listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, protected wreck sites and conservation areas. The register is complied by survey using information from local authorities, official and voluntary heritage groups and the general public. It is possible to search this list online.

In Scotland, a buildings at risk register was started in 1990 by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)in response to similar concerns at the number of listed buildings that were vacant and in disrepair. RCAHMS maintain the register on behalf of Historic Scotland, and provides information on properties of architectural or historic merit throughout the country that are considered to be at risk.

In Wales, at risk registers of listed buildings are complied by local planning authorities and CADW produced a report in 2009. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales's (RCAHMW) Emergency Buildings Recording team is responsible for surveying historic buildings threatened with destruction, substantial alteration, or serious decay.