II*Church · listed 1987Hamsterley Baptist ChapelPhoto: Hugh Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Hamsterley · Historic England
Old homes in Hamsterley: 63% built before 1919
Against 15% in the typical town, Hamsterley has 4 times the share. Historic England lists 17 buildings inside Hamsterley’s built-up area, 375 for every 10,000 residents.
Listed buildings
17
375 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
63%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Hamsterley
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
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.
The map
Where Hamsterley’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.
17 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I1 Grade II*16 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 Hamsterley
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II
16 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 16 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Barn to North East of Village HallDowson Tomb Circa 3 Metres South of Baptist ChapelFormer Manse to Hamsterley Baptist ChapelGarner Tomb Circa 2 Metres South of Baptist ChapelGlen ViewGuide Post Opposite Number 1 South View CottageHamsterley HouseHamsterley Post OfficeHamsterley War MemorialPear Tree Cottage and Attached OutbuildingsPlane Tree Cottage and Walls AttachedPond House Cottage and Archway AttachedProspect HouseRoslyn HouseThe LodgeWhitfield Tomb Circa 4 Metres North of Baptist Chapel
How the list grew
More than half of Hamsterley’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1987
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1987 · 14
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 1 entry was listed in 1966. 14 came in 1987, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
63% of Hamsterley’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
33%
Before 1900
32%
1900–18
1.9%
1919–29
2.9%
1930s
2.9%
1945–54
1%
1955–64
6.2%
1965–72
4.3%
1973–82
4.3%
1983–92
5.2%
1993–99
2.9%
2000–08
2.9%
2009–15
1%
2016–25
HamsterleyEngland & Wales
33% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1900–18, which added 32% 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 (4 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Hamsterley
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamsterley | 453 | 17 | 0 | — |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 5 | 0 | B− |
| Crook | 9,717 | 5 | 0 | C |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 0 | 0 | C |
| Cockfield | 1,351 | 8 | 0 | B+ |
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | 40 | 0 | A |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 30 | 1 | A− |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 8 | 0 | B+ |
In brief
Hamsterley in brief
Old houses are part of Hamsterley’s character: 63% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 17 listed buildings. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1987: 14 of 17. Beyond that, Robert Peat (1775) was born here before 1900.
Questions about Hamsterley’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Hamsterley?
Historic England lists 17 buildings inside Hamsterley’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 16 Grade II.
When were Hamsterley’s buildings listed?
The first in 1966; the most, 14, in 1987.
How old are the homes in Hamsterley?
63% of homes were built before 1919 and 68% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Hamsterley has no History Grade.
© 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. 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.