Listed Buildings
The map above shows listed buildings in Huntingdonshire. You can zoom and pan around the map as usual and clicking on a particular property will display its details. Principle Listed Buildings have been highlighted within this map. Ancillary structures to Listed Buildings that may be Curtilage Listed have not been included within this document. For further information on Curtilage Listed structures, please contact the conservation team on 01480 388388.
A listed building is acknowledged by the Secretary of State to be of special architectural or historic interest.
In the context of listing, the term building is used very widely and includes not only buildings such as houses, churches, schools and barns, but also walls, tomb stones, milestones, ice houses, bridges and locks, telephone and post boxes.
The responsibility for deciding which buildings have special architectural or historic interest falls to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has a statutory duty to produce a “list” of such buildings, known as Greenbacks.
The part of the list covering Huntingdonshire can be inspected at our offices.
Once listed, a building has special protection under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and we have additional powers of protection. Extra responsibilities are also imposed on owners, for example the need to obtain listed building consent for certain works. It is an offence to carry out works to a listed building without consent.
When is a Building Worthy of Listing?
In brief, the following are normally listed:
All buildings built before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition.
Most buildings of about 1700 to 1840, although some selection is necessary.
Between 1840 and 1914 greater selection is necessary. Only buildings of definite quality and character are listed.
To identify the best examples of particular building types, between 1914 and 1939, selected buildings of high quality only are listed.
Buildings less than 30 years old are normally only listed if they are of outstanding quality and under threat. Buildings less than 10 years old are not listed.
Principles of Selection
Buildings are listed for their architectural interest, technological innovation, historic interest or association, a good example of their type or group value. Listed buildings are allocated one of three grades; Grade I, II* or II.
While the grading is taken as an indicator of the relative importance of the building it has nothing to do with the legal requirements that apply to it.
The broad classification of Grades is:
Grade I – buildings of outstanding national interest (about 2% of listed buildings fall within this category).
Grade II* - particularly important buildings of more than special interest (some 4% of the overall total).
Grade II – Includes 94% of all listed buildings, representing a major element in the historic quality of our towns, villages and countryside. These are buildings of special interest.
While the Secretary of State has ultimate responsibility for the list, local authorities, amenity societies, or other bodies or individuals may propose that a building be added to the list. In such cases, the Secretary of State will seek the advice of English Heritage before making a decision.
Buildings At Risk
The condition of listed buildings is monitored by the council’s conservation team, and a register is compiled indicating which buildings or structures are at risk of structural decay or deteriorating historic fabric. Our Buildings at Risk strategy helps to prioritise resources where they are most needed.
Conservation team officers work with owners, providing advice, overseeing schemes of restoration, planning permissions and listed building consents. Limited financial aid in the form of Historic Building Grants is offered to owners of properties on the register to help assist with the specialist nature of some of the works that are required.
A new Buildings at Risk register for 2011 has just been published (available in linked documents) which contains 245 listed buildings which are currently of concern to the council. The register is constantly changing as some buildings are repaired and others are found to be deteriorating. For inquiries related to specific buildings, please contact the Conservation Team through the 'Contact Us' links on the HDC Home Page.