49 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade II*

Church of St AndrewGrade II* listedMain Block of Conservative ClubGrade II listedRailway Platform Building at Biggleswade StationGrade II listedStratton HouseGrade II listedTrinity Methodist ChurchGrade II listed+4See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.

1908

1914

1916

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 7 entries were listed in 1952. 39 came in 1978, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

1 scheduled monument

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.

6.4% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 2016–25, which added 18% of today’s homes.

Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (20 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

Harper Twelvetrees

Louisa Mary Cresswell

Henry Ryland

Dan Albone

Charles Penrose

Hubert Foster

Christine Chaundler

William Welsh

1800182518501875190019251950

Dan Albone1860–1906 · British cyclist (1860-1906)

Henry Ryland1856–1924 · British artist (1856-1924)

Charles Penrose1873–1952 · British comedian, entertainer, singer (1873–1952)

William Welsh1891–1962 · RAF air marshal (1891-1962)

HT

Harper Twelvetrees1823– · British businessman

HF

Hubert Foster1885–1919 · Australian general (1885-1919)

CC

Christine Chaundler1887–1972 · British children's author (1887–1972)

LC

Louisa Mary Cresswell1830–1916 · English farmer and autobiographer (1830–1916)

Everyone born in Biggleswade → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

The official list counts 49 listed buildings in Biggleswade, including Church of St Andrew. On Shortmead Street alone there are 14 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1977. Most entries on the list, 73%, are houses, terraces and villas.

Dan Albone (1860), Henry Ryland (1856) and Charles Penrose (1873) are among the 8 people born here before 1900. Its homes are mostly newer: 8.3% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. The big year was 1978, when 39 of the 49 went on the list. Beyond that, like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has a scheduled monument.