Walls & gates · listed 1974Bridge House
Ambleside Roman fort, associated vicus and Roman road · Photo: Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0AHistory Grade
History of Ambleside · Historic England
44 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Ambleside’s built-up area, 168 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. 39% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings and 8 old views of the town. Ambleside grades A for history: #3 of 23 in Cumbria.
Listed buildings
44
168 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
39%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Ambleside in 14 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 MaryGrade II* listed
Old Mill StudiosGrade II listed
Golden Rule HotelGrade II listed
Premises occupied by Stoneage, The Priest Hole Restaurant, OxfamGrade II listed
Albert Moore's BarnGrade II listed+9See 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
Ambleside from 1890 to 1919
8 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1890
1903
1903
1903
c. 1907
1919Public 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 Ambleside’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
44 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I1 Grade II*42 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 I
The Grade I listed building in Ambleside
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The Grade II* listed building in Ambleside
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*Church · listed 1967Church of St MaryPhoto: FFNick · CC BY-SA 3.0
What’s protected
Most of Ambleside’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas28
Inns, shops & warehouses6
Public & civic buildings5
Churches, chapels & priories2
Memorials, crosses & tombs2
Walls, gates & bridges1
28 entries (64%) 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
42 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 42 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Albert Moore's BarnAsh Tree CottageAshton Cottage, Little Beck and RaesbeckCorbrig, Planetree HouseCottage Adjoining Kirkstone Foot Cottage Kirkstone Foot Cottage Springwell CottageCross BrowCross in Front of the Salutation InnFairview Cottage, The Cottage and Nos 3-6Former Friends Meeting HouseGhyll SideGolden Rule HotelLowfield with Former Cottage Adjoining to North EastMarket Hall (Occupied by Mountain Restaurant and Offices)Mill Cottage Mill StreamNo. 1 CHEAPSIDENo. 22 LAKE ROADNook End Farmhouse and Attached Farm BuildingNorth SykeNorth ViewNos. 1-4, TOM FOLDOld Mill StudiosOld School House and Barn Attached to Old School HouseOld Stamp HousePremises Occupied by Browns Booking OfficePremises occupied by Stoneage, The Priest Hole Restaurant, OxfamRothay Manor HotelRoyal Oak HotelScale How (Part of Charlotte Mason College)St Anne's CourtStock CottageThe HavenThe KnollThe Nook CottageThe Old HouseWateredge Hotel1-3, Smithy Brow2 and 3, Bridge Street2, Cheapside2-11, Church Street3 and 4, Cheapside4, Bridge Street5 and 6, Bridge Street
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 30% of Ambleside
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Ambleside 198038 ha
38 hain conservation areas, of 126 ha inside the built-up area.
41 of the 44 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 Ambleside’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1974
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1974 · 39
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 3 entries were listed in 1967. 39 came in 1974, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 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.
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.
History Grade
Ambleside 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 (49 points, 187 per 10,000 residents)More than 79% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (39%)More than 93% 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
39% of Ambleside’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
36%
Before 1900
2.2%
1900–18
0.5%
1919–29
3.5%
1930s
5.1%
1945–54
3.5%
1955–64
11%
1965–72
14%
1973–82
12%
1983–92
3.1%
1993–99
3.5%
2000–08
2.7%
2009–15
1.8%
2016–25
AmblesideEngland & Wales
36% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1973–82, which added 14% 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 (33 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Towns its size
Ambleside has the 93rd most Grade I buildings of 1,292 towns its size
Places of 2,000–4,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Ambleside1
#209 of 1,292for listed buildings per resident (168 per 10,000). Painswick, Chipping Campden and Wells-next-the-Sea lead.
92 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Ambleside
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambleside | 2,624 | 44 | 1 | A |
| Windermere | 4,819 | 24 | 0 | B+ |
| Bowness-on-Windermere | 2,290 | 26 | 1 | A− |
| Staveley | 1,466 | 5 | 0 | B |
| Kendal | 28,939 | 183 | 3 | A− |
In brief
Ambleside in brief
More of Ambleside’s homes are old than in most places: 39% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 44 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Ambleside Roman fort, associated vicus and Roman road. Per resident, it has more listed heritage than 79% of UK towns. Only 92 of the 1,292 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1980. Of the whole list, 64% are houses, terraces and villas. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1974: 39 of 44. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: Charles Robert Bree (1811) was born here before 1900; and it also has a scheduled monument.
Questions about Ambleside’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Ambleside?
Historic England lists 44 buildings inside Ambleside’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 42 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Ambleside?
One: Bridge House.
Are there scheduled monuments in Ambleside?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Ambleside Roman fort, associated vicus and Roman road.
How many conservation areas are there in Ambleside?
1, covering about 38 hectares of the town. The largest is Ambleside.
When were Ambleside’s buildings listed?
The first in 1967; the most, 39, in 1974.
Are there old photos of Ambleside?
Yes: 8 public-domain photos and postcards from 1890 to 1919, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Ambleside?
39% of homes were built before 1919 and 43% 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.