II*Walls & gates · listed 1967Chapel of St Mary Including Boundary Walls Adjoining to North WestPhoto: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0
Chapel of St Mary Including Boundary Walls Adjoining to North West · Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of South Zeal · Historic England
Old homes in South Zeal: 54% built before 1919
For South Zeal, that is 4 times the typical town’s share, 15%. Historic England lists 24 buildings inside South Zeal’s built-up area, 271 for every 10,000 residents. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings.
Listed buildings
24
271 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
5
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
54%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
South Zeal in 5 photos
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Chapel of St Mary Including Boundary Walls Adjoining to North WestGrade II* listed
Mill HouseGrade II* listed
MoorsideGrade II* listed
The Oxenham ArmsGrade II* listed
Village CrossGrade 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 South Zeal’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.
24 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I5 Grade II*19 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 5 Grade II* listed buildings in South Zeal
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
II*Inns & shops · listed 1988Mill HousePhoto: Simon Cobb · CC0
II*House · listed 1988MoorsidePhoto: Simon Cobb · CC0
II*Inns & shops · listed 1952The Oxenham ArmsPhoto: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Memorials · listed 1967Village CrossPhoto: Nilfanion · CC BY-SA 3.0
What’s protected
Most of South Zeal’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas16
Inns, shops & warehouses3
Walls, gates & bridges2
Street furniture1
Public & civic buildings1
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
16 entries (67%) are houses, terraces and villas.
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
19 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 19 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Barn Approximately 1.5 Metres North of Ford FarmhouseBeacon CottageBracondale LangmeadBrights CottagesButtercup CottageCawsand ViewCrosswaysFord FarmhouseK6 Telephone Kiosk, South Zeal Village CentreOlditch FarmhouseSchool and Master's House Including Playground and Garden WallsShelly CottageShelly HouseSnowdropsThe Kings ArmsThe Post OfficeThe StoresYellands2 Cottages Adjoining to Rear (South-West) of No 1 Mill House
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 44% of South Zeal
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
South Zeal 197322 ha
22 hain conservation areas, of 51 ha inside the built-up area.
21 of the 24 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 South Zeal’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1988
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1988 · 18
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 1 entry was listed in 1952. 18 came in 1988, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
54% of South Zeal’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
50%
Before 1900
3.9%
1900–18
3.9%
1919–29
5.1%
1930s
2.7%
1945–54
5.1%
1955–64
10%
1965–72
9%
1973–82
2.7%
1983–92
1.2%
1993–99
3.9%
2000–08
0%
2009–15
2.7%
2016–25
South ZealEngland & Wales
50% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1965–72, which added 10% 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 (0 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around South Zeal
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Zeal | 886 | 24 | 0 | — |
| Okehampton | 9,108 | 22 | 0 | B |
| Chagford | 1,107 | 50 | 1 | A+ |
| North Tawton | 1,785 | 35 | 1 | A |
| Bow | 1,122 | 26 | 0 | A |
| Moretonhampstead | 1,334 | 66 | 2 | A+ |
| Winkleigh | 1,342 | 49 | 1 | A+ |
| Copplestone | 1,475 | 12 | 1 | A− |
In brief
South Zeal in brief
More of South Zeal’s homes are old than in most places: 54% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 24 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1973. Of the whole list, 67% are houses, terraces and villas. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1988: 18 of 24.
Questions about South Zeal’s history
How many listed buildings are there in South Zeal?
Historic England lists 24 buildings inside South Zeal’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 5 Grade II* and 19 Grade II.
How many conservation areas are there in South Zeal?
1, covering about 22 hectares of the town. The largest is South Zeal.
When were South Zeal’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 18, in 1988.
How old are the homes in South Zeal?
54% of homes were built before 1919 and 63% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
South Zeal 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.