Photo: PaleCloudedWhite · CC BY-SA 4.0

History of Puddletown · Historic England

43 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I

On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Puddletown’s built-up area, 360 for every 10,000 residents. 39 of Puddletown’s listed buildings are Grade II. 31% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 3 of its listed buildings. Puddletown grades A for history.

1Grade I 3Grade II*5on High Street

Listed buildings

360 per 10,000 residents

Grade I

exceptional interest

Grade II*

more than special interest

Scheduled monuments

nationally important sites

Homes built before 1919

31%

typical UK town 15%

In pictures

Landmarks of Puddletown

Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Church of Saint MaryGrade I listed

8, The SquareGrade II* listed

The Old Vicarage Including Garden Walls Adjoining Islington HouseGrade II* listed

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 Puddletown’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.

43 listed buildings by grade

1 Grade I3 Grade II*39 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 Puddletown

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.

Church · listed 1956Church of Saint MaryPhoto: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0

Grade II*

The 3 Grade II* listed buildings in Puddletown

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 2 are photographed.

Walls & gates · listed 1956The Old Vicarage Including Garden Walls Adjoining Islington HousePhoto: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 19568, The SquarePhoto: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 1956Ilsington House

What’s protected

Most of Puddletown’s listed buildings are homes

Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.

Houses, terraces & villas24

Walls, gates & bridges6

Churches, chapels & priories6

Street furniture3

Inns, shops & warehouses2

Public & civic buildings1

Memorials, crosses & tombs1

24 entries (56%) are houses, terraces and villas. 6 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings.

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

39 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 39 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z

Antique Book and Map Shop and Saddlers Boundary Railings, Gate Piers and Gates to Ilsington House Bridge over River Piddle, And Wall Along South Side of River, Extending West from the Bridge to the Gap Filled by Railing Churchyard Cross, In the Churchyard, 15M South of the South Porch of the Church of Saint Mary Cobblers George Edwards Monument, In the Churchyard, 2M South of the South Transept of the Church of Saint Mary Group of 5 Monuments in the Churchyard 3M North of the North Porch of the Church of Saint Mary Group of 6 Monuments in the Churchyard, 3M North East of the Chancel of the Church of Saint Mary Ha-Ha Surrounding the Garden of Ilsington House on East and South, And Boundary Wall to the Garden Hand Monument, In the Churchyard in the Angle of the North Porch and West End of North Aisle of the Church of Saint Mary K6 Telephone Kiosk West North West of No 9 No 23 Including Front Boundary Railing No 3 (Including Stephens Shop and Weatherbury Guest House) Including Iron Railings Around Bay No 7, Including Detached Outbuilding at Rear Nos 17 to 25 (Odd Nos) Including Front Boundary Railings Puddletown Primary School Stafford Park Farm House, Including Boundary Wall and Gate Piers The Martyn's House The Reading Room - Now Puddletown Youth Centre The Stables Trent Meadows Including Attached Stables Tudor Cottage Walls and Gate Piers to Service Yard, Adjoining West End of North Front of Ilsington House William Dennis Monument, In the Churchyard, 2M South East of Item 12/111 Willoughby Cottage Willoughby House 1, Athelhampton Road 10 and 11, New Street 12, New Street 15, High Street 15-21, Mill Street 16-30, High Street 3-8, The Moor 34 and 36, High Street 4, The Square 5, High Street 5, The Square 6, The Square 9, High Street

Conservation areas

1 conservation area covers 35% of Puddletown

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Puddletown18 ha

18 hain conservation areas, of 50 ha inside the built-up area.

40 of the 43 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 Puddletown’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1987

The year each building now on the list was first listed.

1987 · 251956 · 15

19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 15 entries were listed in 1956, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 25 came in 1987, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

History Grade

Puddletown 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 (48 points, 402 per 10,000 residents)More than 85% of UK towns

Homes built before 1919 (31%)More than 85% 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

31% of Puddletown’s homes were built before 1919

Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).

29%

Before 1900

2.5%

1900–18

3.2%

1919–29

0.9%

1930s

3.2%

1945–54

1955–64

12%

1965–72

3.2%

1973–82

15%

1983–92

5.7%

1993–99

12%

2000–08

2.5%

2009–15

5.7%

2016–25

PuddletownEngland & Wales

29% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1983–92, which added 15% 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 (9 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

Towns its size

Puddletown has the 89th most Grade I buildings of 1,970 towns its size

Places of 1,000–2,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.

Dadford23

Puddletown1

#231 of 1,970for listed buildings per resident (360 per 10,000). Aberaeron, Beaumaris and Burford lead.

88 have more. The typical town its size has 0.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Puddletown

Town	People	Listed	Grade I	History
Puddletown	1,193	43	1	A
Milborne St Andrew	1,090	18	0	B
Crossways	2,494	0	0	D
Charlton Down	1,487	2	0	C
Dorchester	21,358	278	5	A
Charminster	1,732	17	1	B⁺
Bere Regis	1,320	42	1	A
Wool	5,044	39	0	B⁻

In brief

Puddletown in brief

More of Puddletown’s homes are old than in most places: 31% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 43 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. For its size, it has more listed heritage than 85% of UK towns. Only 88 of the 1,970 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.

A conservation area protects part of it. Most entries on the list, 56%, are houses, terraces and villas. The big year was 1987, when 25 of the 43 went on the list. Beyond that, Edward Boswell (1760) and Tryphena Sparks (1851) were born here before 1900.

Questions about Puddletown’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Puddletown?

Historic England lists 43 buildings inside Puddletown’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II* and 39 Grade II.

What are the Grade I listed buildings in Puddletown?

One: Church of Saint Mary.

How many conservation areas are there in Puddletown?

1, covering about 18 hectares of the town. The largest is Puddletown.

When were Puddletown’s buildings listed?

The first in 1956; the most, 25, in 1987.

How old are the homes in Puddletown?

31% of homes were built before 1919 and 35% 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.