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). Exemption is provided for Anglican churches in current use, and the church operates its own 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. 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.
There are three types of listed status (in descending order of "importance" and difficulty to obtain planning permission):
Grade I: buildings of outstanding 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.
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. 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.
Examples of Grade I listed buildings
for a list of buildings across England and Wales
Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch.
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.
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.
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).
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