II*Walls & gates · listed 1990Methodist Church and Forecourt Wall, Railings and GatewayPhoto: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0
Warehouse Occupied by Salt Cellar Crafts · Photo: Peter Glyn · CC BY-SA 3.0A−History Grade
History of Porthleven · Historic England
28 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade II*
Historic England counts them inside Porthleven’s built-up area, 90 for every 10,000 residents. 27 of Porthleven’s listed buildings are Grade II. 29% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 7 of its listed buildings and 2 old views of the town. Porthleven grades A− for history: #17 of 35 in Cornwall.
Listed buildings
28
90 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
29%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Porthleven in 9 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The Harbour InnGrade II listed
China Clay StoreGrade II listed
The Bickford Smith Institute and Attached WallGrade II listed
The Old Custom HouseGrade II listed
Harbour Walls Including East and West Wharfs, Inner Jetties and Main PierGrade II listed+4See all photosPhotos 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.
Through time
Porthleven from 1910 to 1928
2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1910
1928Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Porthleven’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade II*
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
28 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I1 Grade II*27 Grade II
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.
Grade II*
The Grade II* listed building in Porthleven
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
What’s protected
The largest group of Porthleven’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas11
Inns, shops & warehouses6
Walls, gates & bridges5
Churches, chapels & priories3
Street furniture1
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
Public & civic buildings1
11 entries (39%) are houses, terraces and villas. 3 are churches, chapels and priories.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
27 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
All 27 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Boundary Stone at Sw 6276 2566, Immediately East of Nos 6 and 8 (Not Included)Breage Cliff and Attached Walls with LetterboxBuilding Opposite No 1 (Gulls Way Not Included)Chapel Keeper's House Immediately West of Methodist ChurchChina Clay StoreFormer Smithy, Now Part of the Ship InnHarbour Walls Including East and West Wharfs, Inner Jetties and Main PierK6 Telephone Kiosk to North East Corner of WharfLime KilnMemorial Lamp to King George VMethodist ChapelMount CottageNos 1-18 and Attached Front Garden and Front Retaining WallsRing O'bright WaterStrawtopThe Bickford Smith Institute and Attached WallThe Harbour InnThe Old Custom HouseThe Ship InnTorleven FarmhouseTorleven FarmhouseWarehouse Occupied by Porthleven Harbour and Dock Co LtdWarehouse Occupied by Salt Cellar CraftsWesley Chapel and Attached Schoolroom1 and 2, Commercial Road12, Chapel Terrace7 and 8, Peverell Terrace
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 23% of Porthleven
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Porthleven 197821 ha
21 hain conservation areas, of 93 ha inside the built-up area.
28 of the 28 listed buildings stand in one.
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.
How the list grew
13 of Porthleven’s 28 listed buildings were added in 1994
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1994 · 131972 · 9
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 1 entry was listed in 1950. 13 came in 1994. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
History Grade
Porthleven grades A− for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (29 points, 93 per 10,000 residents)More than 65% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (29%)More than 81% of UK towns
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.
Homes by age
29% of Porthleven’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
27%
Before 1900
1.8%
1900–18
1.5%
1919–29
4.1%
1930s
5.8%
1945–54
8%
1955–64
24%
1965–72
9.3%
1973–82
4.5%
1983–92
3.6%
1993–99
3.8%
2000–08
4.3%
2009–15
2.8%
2016–25
PorthlevenEngland & Wales
27% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1965–72, which added 24% 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 (0 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Porthleven
In brief
Porthleven in brief
Old houses are part of Porthleven’s character: 29% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 28 listed buildings, including Warehouse Occupied by Salt Cellar Crafts. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1978. The rest is about typical: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; and per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.
Questions about Porthleven’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Porthleven?
Historic England lists 28 buildings inside Porthleven’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 27 Grade II.
How many conservation areas are there in Porthleven?
1, covering about 21 hectares of the town. The largest is Porthleven.
When were Porthleven’s buildings listed?
The first in 1950; the most, 13, in 1994.
Are there old photos of Porthleven?
Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1910 to 1928, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Porthleven?
29% of homes were built before 1919 and 34% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.