II*Inns & shops · listed 2014High MillPhoto: Mainlymazza · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0A+History Grade
History of Alston · Historic England
Alston: 56% of homes built before 1919
The typical town has 15%: Alston has 4 times the share. Historic England lists 39 buildings inside Alston’s built-up area, 363 for every 10,000 residents. Alston grades A+ for history.
Listed buildings
39
363 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
2
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
56%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Alston
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. 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.
Through time
Alston from 1882 to 1882
2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1882
1882Public 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 Alston’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.
39 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I2 Grade II*37 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 2 Grade II* listed buildings in Alston
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
II*Public · listed 1951Market CrossPhoto: Carl Bendelow · CC BY-SA 2.0
What’s protected
The largest group of Alston’s listed buildings is inns, shops and warehouses
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Inns, shops & warehouses12
Houses, terraces & villas11
Memorials, crosses & tombs6
Walls, gates & bridges5
Public & civic buildings3
Churches, chapels & priories2
11 entries (28%) are houses, terraces and villas. 2 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
37 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 37 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Blackstock's Baker's ShopBlue Bell HotelChurch GatesChurch of St AugustineCorner House Adjoining House to South of Blue Bell HotelCross View CottageFormer Carlisle and Cumberland Bank and bank manager's houseGarage and Garden Walls to Loaning Foot HouseH Kearton and Sons StoreH Kearton's Shops Adjoining West End of Cross View CottageHillcrest HotelHouse Adjoining North End of Monument ViewHouse Adjoining South End of Blue Bell HotelHouse Adjoining South End of Monument ViewLibrary Town Hall Trustee Savings BankLoaning Foot HouseLowbyer Manor FarmhouseLowbyer Manor HotelLyndhurstMilestone Set Into Rounded Corner of Wall to West of Town HallMonument ViewNumber 4, Adjoining North End of LyndhurstOrchard HouseProperty Adjoining East End of Blackstock's Baker's ShopProperty Adjoining East End of Cross View CottageProperty Adjoining West End of Angel InnProperty Adjoining to South of Midland BankProperty Occupied by the Sunderland Building SocietyProperty on Corner at West End of StreetQuaker Meeting House AlstonStation HouseSun House, Adjoining North End of Orchard HouseThe Angel InnThe CottageVicarage and Ajoining StablesWalls and Gates to St Augustine's Churchyard EntranceWalls to Burial Ground in Front of Quaker Meeting House
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 18% of Alston
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Alston 19768 ha
8 hain conservation areas, of 44 ha inside the built-up area.
33 of the 39 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 Alston’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1984
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1984 · 33
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 4 entries were listed in 1951. 33 came in 1984, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 2 have been added in the last 15 years.
History Grade
Alston 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 (41 points, 381 per 10,000 residents)More than 82% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (56%)More than 98% 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
56% of Alston’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
55%
Before 1900
0.8%
1900–18
0.8%
1919–29
0.8%
1930s
11%
1945–54
1.8%
1955–64
6.1%
1965–72
4.5%
1973–82
6.1%
1983–92
4.5%
1993–99
4.5%
2000–08
1.8%
2009–15
1.8%
2016–25
AlstonEngland & Wales
55% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1945–54, which added 11% 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 (16 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Alston
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alston | 1,075 | 39 | 0 | A+ |
| Haltwhistle | 3,646 | 28 | 1 | A− |
In brief
Alston in brief
Old houses are part of Alston’s character: 56% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 39 listed buildings. For its size, it has more listed heritage than 82% of UK towns.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1976. The big year was 1984, when 33 of the 39 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; and Hugh Lee Pattinson (1796) was born here before 1900.
Questions about Alston’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Alston?
Historic England lists 39 buildings inside Alston’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II* and 37 Grade II.
How many conservation areas are there in Alston?
1, covering about 8 hectares of the town. The largest is Alston.
When were Alston’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 33, in 1984.
Are there old photos of Alston?
Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1882 to 1882, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Alston?
56% of homes were built before 1919 and 58% 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.