IChurch · listed 1965Church of St JamesPhoto: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Swimbridge · Historic England
14 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Swimbridge’s built-up area, 205 for every 10,000 residents. Grade II covers 13 of Swimbridge’s listed buildings. 23% of its homes were built before 1919.
Listed buildings
14
205 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
0
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
23%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Swimbridge
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 Swimbridge’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade I
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
14 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I0 Grade II*13 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 Swimbridge
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
13 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 13 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Baptist ChapelCoach and Horses HouseLychgate Approximately 50 Metres South West of St James ChurchMiddle YarnacottMill CottageSwimbridge Primary School and School HouseSwimbridge War MemorialTannery HouseThe Old School RoomYarnacott CornerYarnacott Farmhouse, Including Ciderhouse Attached to WestYarnacott, Including Barn Attached to West End2, 3 and 4, Church Lane
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 37% of Swimbridge
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Swimbridge 19919 ha
9 hain conservation areas, of 25 ha inside the built-up area.
10 of the 14 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 Swimbridge’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1986
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1986 · 10
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 2 entries were listed in 1965, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 10 came in 1986, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
23% of Swimbridge’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
22%
Before 1900
1%
1900–18
1%
1919–29
2.7%
1930s
2.7%
1945–54
2.7%
1955–64
4.4%
1965–72
13%
1973–82
5.7%
1983–92
9.4%
1993–99
19%
2000–08
4.7%
2009–15
11%
2016–25
SwimbridgeEngland & Wales
22% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 2000–08, which added 19% 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 (5 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Swimbridge
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swimbridge | 683 | 14 | 1 | — |
| Landkey | 2,001 | 14 | 1 | B+ |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 378 | 6 | A |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 6 | 0 | C− |
| South Molton | 6,226 | 83 | 3 | A− |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 29 | 0 | C+ |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 6 | 0 | C− |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 40 | 1 | B+ |
In brief
Swimbridge in brief
Old houses are part of Swimbridge’s character: 23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 14 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1991. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1986: 10 of 14.
Questions about Swimbridge’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Swimbridge?
Historic England lists 14 buildings inside Swimbridge’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 0 Grade II* and 13 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Swimbridge?
One: Church of St James.
How many conservation areas are there in Swimbridge?
1, covering about 9 hectares of the town. The largest is Swimbridge.
When were Swimbridge’s buildings listed?
The first in 1965; the most, 10, in 1986.
How old are the homes in Swimbridge?
23% of homes were built before 1919 and 27% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Swimbridge 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.