334 listed buildings, 3 of them Grade I

Church of Saint Mary in LibertyGrade I listedThe Tudor Merchant's HouseGrade I listedTenby Railway Station (main entrance range)Grade II listedThe Three Mariners InnGrade II listedThe Royal Playhouse CinemaGrade II listed+20See all photos

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.

1880

c. 1890

1890

c. 1890

c. 1890

c. 1890

c. 1905

1943

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Cadw lists buildings of special architectural or historic interest in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest, Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest, and Grade II for buildings of special interest. Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on Cadw’s register of listed buildings whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings.

Of the 334 entries, 34 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

Search the rest on Cadw’s records →

Cadw’s conservation areas via DataMapWales. Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 72 entries were listed in 1951, 2 of the 3 Grade I buildings among them. 149 came in 1977. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.

3 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Welsh Government (Cadw).

Tenby CastleMedieval; Castle

Tenby Market CrossMedieval; Market Cross

Tenby Town WallMedieval; Town Wall

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.

37% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1965–72, which added 16% 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.

Tudwal

Robert Recorde

Robert Lougher

Thomas Purnell

Emma Maitland

John Fowke

Edith Sophia Hooper

William Field Lloyd

Augustus John

Nina Hamnett

Cecil Woodham-Smith

4506007509001050120013501500165018001950

Robert Recorde1510–1558 · Welsh mathematician and inventor of the symbol '='

Augustus John1878–1961 · Welsh painter (1878–1961)

Tudwal490–564 · Medieval Breton bishop, considered to be one of the seven founder sai…

Nina Hamnett1890–1956 · Welsh painter (1890–1956)

CW

Cecil Woodham-Smith1896–1977 · British historian (1896-1977)

RL

Robert Lougher1530–1585 · Welsh politician

TP

Thomas Purnell1834–1889 · British critic

JF

John Fowke1858–1938 · New Zealand cricketer (1858-1938)

Everyone born in Tenby → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

Few towns are as rich in listed heritage as Tenby: per resident it has more than 98% of UK towns. In all there are 334 listed buildings, 3 of them Grade I, including Tenby Town Walls. Its housing is old: 39% of homes date from before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. St Mary's Church sits at the heart of it all, with 3 of the town’s Grade I buildings within 400 m.

Only 24 of the 1,031 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. On High Street alone there are 8 listed buildings. A conservation area protects part of it. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it also has 3 scheduled monuments.