IChurch · listed 1967St Oswald's ChurchOn the list as Church of St OswaldPhoto: Brian Clift · CC BY-SA 2.0
Church of St Oswald · Photo: Brian Clift · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Grasmere · Historic England
Grasmere: 55% of homes built before 1919
Against 15% in the typical town, Grasmere has 4 times the share. Historic England lists 15 buildings inside Grasmere’s built-up area, 289 for every 10,000 residents. We have photos of 3 of its listed buildings.
Listed buildings
15
289 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
2
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
55%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Grasmere
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Goodybridge House and Attached Barn to North EastGrade II* listed
Wordsworth Group of Graves in Churchyard of Church of St OswaldGrade II* listedPhotos 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 Grasmere’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
15 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I2 Grade II*12 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 Grasmere
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 Grasmere
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*House · listed 1974Goodybridge House and Attached Barn to North EastPhoto: Antiquary · CC BY 4.0
II*Church · listed 1974Wordsworth Group of Graves in Churchyard of Church of St OswaldPhoto: Gweduni · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grade II
12 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 12 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Barn and Cottage Belonging to the Red Lion to South of HotelBarn at Rear of Church Stile StudioBridge Beside St Oswalds ChurchChurch Stile CottageChurch Stile Studio National Trust Information CentreDockray CottageGrasmere War MemorialMoss SidePavement End FarmhouseRectoryRed Lion Hotel (Old Portion Only)Thorney Howe Youth Hostel
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 46% of Grasmere
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Grasmere Village 198417 ha
17 hain conservation areas, of 37 ha inside the built-up area.
12 of the 15 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 Grasmere’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1974
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1974 · 91967 · 5
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 5 entries were listed in 1967, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 9 came in 1974, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
55% of Grasmere’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
54%
Before 1900
2.3%
1900–18
3.5%
1919–29
3.5%
1930s
2.3%
1945–54
2.3%
1955–64
5.8%
1965–72
4.6%
1973–82
12%
1983–92
1.2%
1993–99
3.5%
2000–08
2.3%
2009–15
3.5%
2016–25
GrasmereEngland & Wales
54% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1983–92, 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 (12 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Grasmere
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasmere | 519 | 15 | 1 | — |
| 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 |
| Keswick | 4,465 | 49 | 1 | A |
In brief
Grasmere in brief
Old houses are part of Grasmere’s character: 55% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 15 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1984. The big year was 1974, when 9 of the 15 went on the list. Beyond that, Paul Frederick de Quincey (1828) was born here before 1900.
Questions about Grasmere’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Grasmere?
Historic England lists 15 buildings inside Grasmere’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II* and 12 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Grasmere?
One: Church of St Oswald.
How many conservation areas are there in Grasmere?
1, covering about 17 hectares of the town. The largest is Grasmere Village.
When were Grasmere’s buildings listed?
The first in 1967; the most, 9, in 1974.
How old are the homes in Grasmere?
55% of homes were built before 1919 and 62% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Grasmere 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 · 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.