IChurch · listed 1952St Ia's ChurchOn the list as Church of St IaPhoto: Olaf Tausch · CC BY 3.0
Harbour wharfs and piers including the two lighthouses · Photo: Jhsteel · CC BY-SA 3.0A+History Grade
History of St Ives · Historic England
180 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside St Ives’s built-up area, 333 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 2 scheduled monuments. 41% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings and 8 old views of the town. St Ives grades A+ for history: #1 of 35 in Cornwall.
Listed buildings
180
333 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
2
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
2
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
41%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
St Ives in 17 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.
Church of St IaGrade I listed
Barbara Hepworth Sculpture GardenGrade II park or garden
Market HouseGrade II listed
St Leonard's Chapel, The HarbourGrade II listed
The Queen's HotelGrade II listed+12See 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
St Ives from 1890 to 1948
An old map and 8 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1890
1910
1911
1914
1941
1946
1948Public 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 St Ives’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
1 of 5neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 78% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
180 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I2 Grade II*177 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. 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).
Grade I
The Grade I listed building in St Ives
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The 2 Grade II* listed buildings in St Ives
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 1 is photographed.
II*House · listed 1952Harbour wharfs and piers including the two lighthousesPhoto: Jhsteel · CC BY-SA 3.0
House · listed 2004Porthmeor Pilchard Cellars and Studios
Historic streets
Fore Street has the most listed buildings
Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.
Fore Street21 listed
Back Road9 listed
Digey Street7 listed
St Eia Street5 listed
Street-an-Garrow5 listed
The Terrace5 listed
Virgin Street4 listed
The Warren3 listed
Victoria Place3 listed
Of the 180 entries, 89 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of St Ives’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas159
Churches, chapels & priories6
Inns, shops & warehouses6
Public & civic buildings5
Walls, gates & bridges3
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
159 entries (88%) are houses, terraces and villas. 6 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings.
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
177 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.
The first 150 of 177 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Bethesda HouseBible Christian ChurchChurch of St John in the Fields, and gates and gateposts to southChurchyard Wall at Church of St IaCogar Cottage and Philmar CottageConnaught VillasCorner CottageCountess of Huntingdon's Chapel (Congregational Church)Digey CottageDr Stack's HouseDragon StudioDriftwood FlatsEden HouseFairingsFisherman's CottageFormer Mariners' ChurchGrey Mullet Guest HouseHarbour AmusementsHarbour AmusementsHarbour LightsIncluding Adjoining StoreK6 Telephone Kiosk, Wharf Road, WeighbridgeLeach PotteryLloyds BankManor House, AyrMarket HouseMasonic HallNorth LodgeNorway CottageNorway StoresOld ArchwayOutrigger RestaurantP N Harvey (Ironmonger)Palais de Danse and southern boundary wallPaynters Boathouse and Stevens' Tours and Customs HousePenrose CottagePorthgwellPorthmeor Beach FlatsPottery CottagePremises Occupied by Mayfields and BookshopPremises of Edward Marsh (Men's outfitters) and Clotworthys (Men's outfitters)Premises of R G and L a QuickPremises of W J Rowe (Printer)Quay CottagesRasmeor FlatRose Lodge StudioRosedaleSalubrious TerraceSloop CottageSt Andrews HouseSt EiaSt Ives Arts ClubSt Ives Junior SchoolSt Leonard's Chapel, The HarbourSt Peter's StudioStone CrossTalland HouseThe AnchorageThe Black Rock, Port of Call, Praeds and MoshuluThe Cabin, The Cuddy and the BarquentineThe Copper Kettle and Wimpey BarThe GewThe Information BureauThe Old Salt HouseThe Primitive Methodist ChurchThe Queen's HotelThe Sloop InnThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street SurfaceThe Street Surface (Along North-West End Bordering the North of the Harbour)The Street Surface and Granite StepsThe Street Surface and Granite StepsThe Street Surface and Granite StepsThe Union InnThe Western HotelThomas's Boat HouseTreesdaleTregenna Castle HotelWesleyan SchoolWestminsterWindy Parc1 and 3, Back Road West1, Island Square1, The Terrace1,2 and 3, St Andrews Street1,2 and 3, The Stennack1,3,5 and 7, St Peter's Street1-13, Carncrows Street1-15, St Eia Street1-19, Teetotal Street10, St Eia Street11, Virgin Street12, Digey Street12, St Eia Street14 and 15, Street-an-Garrow14, Carncrows Street14, Fore Street14, St Eia Street14,16 and 18, Digey Street15 and 15A, The Warren15, Virgin Street16, Victoria Place17,19 and 21, Digey Street17,19 and 21, The Warren19, Victoria Place2 and 3, Albert Road2 and 3, Street-an-Pol2 and 3, Westcott Court2 and 8A, Baileys Lane2, Fore Street2, High Street2, Island Square20,22 and 24, Digey Street21-26, The Terrace22, Fore Street22.23 and 23A, Street-an-Garrow23 and 25, St Peter's Street24, Street-an-Garrow25 and 27, Digey Street26, Fore Street27, Fore Street27, The Terrace28,30 and 32, Digey Street3 and 4, Fore Street3 and 4, Skidden Hill3 and 5, The Warren3, Chy-an-Chy3, Street-an-Garrow3, The Terrace30, Fore Street32 and 34, Fore Street33, Fore Street35-45, Back Road38 and 40, Fore Street4 and 5, Street-an-Pol4, Albert Road4, Back Street4, The Terrace4,6 and 8, Virgin Street46, Fore Street48, Fore Street49-55, Back Road5 and 6, The Stennack
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 8.9% of St Ives
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
St Ives 196815 ha
15 hain conservation areas, of 163 ha inside the built-up area.
149 of the 180 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
More than half of St Ives’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1972
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1972 · 1531952 · 17
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 17 entries were listed in 1952, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 153 came in 1972, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 2 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
2 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
1 registered park or garden
History Grade
St Ives 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 (189 points, 349 per 10,000 residents)More than 94% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (41%)More than 94% 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
41% of St Ives’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
40%
Before 1900
1.2%
1900–18
2.8%
1919–29
12%
1930s
8%
1945–54
3.9%
1955–64
7.5%
1965–72
6.1%
1973–82
3%
1983–92
2%
1993–99
5.9%
2000–08
4.6%
2009–15
2.4%
2016–25
St IvesEngland & Wales
40% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was the 1930s, which added 12% 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 (41 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
5 notable people born in St Ives before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
John Baragwanath
John Crase
Edward Hain
Thomas Wedge
Warwick Ward
1800182518501875190019251950
Warwick Ward1889–1967 · British actor and producer (1891-1967)
TW
Thomas Wedge1881–1964 · English rugby union player (1881–1964)
John Crase1837–1919 · Australian businessman and politician
EH
Edward Hain1851–1917 · British politician
JB
John Baragwanath1817–1885 · Australian politician
Everyone born in St Ives → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
St Ives has the 87th most Grade I buildings of 913 towns its size
Places of 3,000–9,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
St Ives1
#33 of 913for listed buildings per resident (333 per 10,000). Sandwich, Tenby and Brecon lead.
86 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around St Ives
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Ives | 5,413 | 180 | 1 | A+ |
| Carbis Bay | 3,967 | 6 | 0 | C |
| Hayle | 9,040 | 101 | 0 | A |
| St Erth | 1,128 | 31 | 1 | A |
| Crowlas | 1,054 | 3 | 0 | B− |
| Connor Downs | 1,482 | 2 | 0 | C− |
| Longrock | 1,983 | 6 | 0 | B+ |
| Marazion | 1,350 | 71 | 0 | A+ |
In brief
St Ives in brief
Few towns are as rich in listed heritage as St Ives: per resident it has more than 94% of UK towns. All told, the list holds 180 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including St Ia's Church. Its housing is old: 41% of homes date from before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. Only 86 of the 913 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.
Fore Street alone has 21 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1968. Most entries on the list, 88%, are houses, terraces and villas. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Questions about St Ives’s history
How many listed buildings are there in St Ives?
Historic England lists 180 buildings inside St Ives’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II* and 177 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in St Ives?
One: Church of St Ia.
Which street in St Ives has the most listed buildings?
Fore Street (21), Back Road (9) and Digey Street (7) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
Are there scheduled monuments in St Ives?
Yes, 2 scheduled monuments, including Churchyard cross in St Ia's churchyard and Penbeagle Cross.
How many conservation areas are there in St Ives?
1, covering about 15 hectares of the town. The largest is St Ives.
When were St Ives’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 153, in 1972.
Are there old photos of St Ives?
Yes: 8 public-domain photos and postcards from 1890 to 1948, and an old map from 1946, all on this page.
Who was born in St Ives?
Among people born before 1900: Warwick Ward (1889), Thomas Wedge (1881), John Crase (1837), Edward Hain (1851) and John Baragwanath (1817).
How old are the homes in St Ives?
41% of homes were built before 1919 and 56% 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.