IChurch · listed 1966Church of St Peter and St PaulPhoto: JohnArmagh · Public domain
Church of St Peter and St Paul · Photo: JohnArmagh · Public domainA−History Grade
History of St Osyth · Historic England
55 listed buildings, 4 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside St Osyth’s built-up area, 245 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 2 old views of the town. 12% of its homes were built before 1919. St Osyth grades A− for history.
Listed buildings
55
245 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
4
exceptional interest
Grade II*
4
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
12%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
St Osyth in 7 photos and old views
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
St Osyth's Priory ruined east ranges of the Darcy House including the Tower and ChapelGrade I listed
St Osyth's Priory, Gatehouse and East and West flanking RangesGrade I listed
St Osyth's Priory: The Abbot's Lodging and South Wing, the Darcy Clock Tower and C18 House (formerly listed as the Convalescent Home).Grade I listed
St Osyth's Priory boundary wallsGrade II* listed+3See all photosPhotos 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.
Through time
St Osyth from 1906 to 1907
2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1906
1907Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where St Osyth’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden400 m from Church of St Peter and St Paul
4 of 4Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Church of St Peter and St Paul, a five-minute walk. So do 41 of the 55 listed buildings.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
55 listed buildings by grade
4 Grade I4 Grade II*47 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 4 Grade I listed buildings in St Osyth
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 4 of these stand within 400 m of Church of St Peter and St Paul. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
IChurch · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory ruined east ranges of the Darcy House including the Tower and ChapelPhoto: norman griffin · CC BY-SA 2.0
IWalls & gates · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory, Gatehouse and East and West flanking RangesPhoto: JohnArmagh · Public domain
IChurch · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory: The Abbot's Lodging and South Wing, the Darcy Clock Tower and C18 House (formerly listed as the Convalescent Home).Photo: terry joyce · CC BY-SA 2.0
Grade II*
The 4 Grade II* listed buildings in St Osyth
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 2 are photographed.
II*Walls & gates · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory boundary wallsPhoto: JohnArmagh · Public domain
Walls & gates · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory, Tithe Barn adjoining the west range of GatehousePhoto: terry joyce · CC BY-SA 2.0
Church · listed 1952Little Priory the Old House
Church · listed 1950St Osyth's Priory: West Barn and Bailiff's CottageOn the list as St Osyth's Priory: West Barn and Baliffs Cottage
What’s protected
The largest group of St Osyth’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas23
Churches, chapels & priories15
Walls, gates & bridges8
Inns, shops & warehouses5
Street furniture3
Public & civic buildings1
23 entries (42%) are houses, terraces and villas. 15 are churches, chapels and priories, including 3 of the 4 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
47 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 47 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Abbey National Building Society Offices Bretts StoresAnvil Cottage Adjacent to West of Church Cottage and St EdmundsburyBay HouseBg Stores at Corner of Colchester Road St Osyth DIY Centre at Corner of Colchester RoadBindersChesnut CottageChurch Cottage St EdmundsburyCottage to Left of Duke Stores the Duke Stores Wg AyersCranfield Cranfield Cottages Attached to South of CranfieldElm Cottage Manor CottageFreda Cottage Rose DowneryGiebrosHydrant Immediately in Front (South) of Jettied Crosswing of Cottages Numbers 45, 47 and 49Ivy CottageK6 Telephone Kiosk to South of St Osyth's PrioryKitchen garden walls and attached bothies north-east of St Osyth's PrioryLittle Thatch and Adjoining CottageMilestone on Western Verge Opposite Numbers 76/82Old Mill CottagePriory Tea House and Bakers Shop Corner of Spring RoadPump to Rear, Approximately 7 Metres East of Number 7 Spring LaneSt Osyth's Priory Cartlodge adjacent to west of barnSt Osyth's Priory Drying HouseSt Osyth's Priory Stable Block adjacent to north west of barnSt Osyth's Priory Urn and Pedestal in courtyard approximately 50 metres north of GatehouseSt Osyth's Priory ornamental steps flanked by urns in courtyard approximately 100 meters north of gatehouseSt Osyth's Priory pump approximately 20 metres west of cottage listed QV14/190St Osyth's Priory urn and stone pedestal approximately 50 metres north east of the abbots lodgingSt Osyth's Priory, Brewhouse and wall between Brewhouse and West BarnSt Osyth's Priory: Garden Walls located to the east and west of the Rose Garden, south of the Darcy WallTan Cottage the Old CottageThe Cottage and Attached Cast Iron Railings Enclosing ForecourtThe Kings ArmsThe Old BakeryThe Old Mill HouseTulip HallWaterloo House with Return Shop Front to Clacton Road Quode Vide 15/135White Hart Inn1-4, Church Square3, 5 and 7, Spring Road31 and 33, Mill Street36 and 38, Colchester Road37, 39 and 41, Spring Lane4, Spring Road45, 47 and 49, Mill Street46 and 48, Spring Lane89 and 91, Spring Lane
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 41% of St Osyth
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
St Osyth 196934 ha
34 hain conservation areas, of 83 ha inside the built-up area.
53 of the 55 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 St Osyth’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1986
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1986 · 361950 · 10
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 10 entries were listed in 1950, 3 of the 4 Grade I buildings among them. 36 came in 1986, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
1 scheduled monument
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
1 registered park or garden
St Osyth's PrioryGrade II
History Grade
St Osyth 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 (70 points, 311 per 10,000 residents)More than 87% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (12%)More than 32% 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.
Towns its size
St Osyth has the 10th most Grade I buildings of 1,414 towns its size
Places of 1,000–4,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
St Osyth4
#164 of 1,414for listed buildings per resident (245 per 10,000). Burford, Painswick and Chipping Campden lead.
Only Cromford, Thaxted, Great Haywood, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Clare, Repton, Chipping Campden, Charing and Tisbury have more. St Osyth is level with Arundel, Bakewell, Berkeley and Buckden. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around St Osyth
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Osyth | 2,249 | 55 | 4 | A− |
| Point Clear | 1,707 | 1 | 0 | D |
| Jaywick | 5,080 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Brightlingsea | 8,678 | 37 | 1 | B+ |
| Clacton-on-Sea | 53,190 | 33 | 1 | C |
| Little Clacton | 2,458 | 7 | 0 | C |
| Thorrington | 1,427 | 6 | 0 | C |
| Great Bentley | 1,746 | 14 | 1 | B− |
In brief
St Osyth in brief
Measured per resident, St Osyth has more listed heritage than 87% of UK towns. In all there are 55 listed buildings, 4 of them Grade I. Church of St Peter and St Paul sits at the heart of it all, with 4 of the town’s Grade I buildings within 400 m. Only 9 of the 1,414 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1969. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1986: 36 of 55. The rest is about typical: it also has a scheduled monument; and 12% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about St Osyth’s history
How many listed buildings are there in St Osyth?
Historic England lists 55 buildings inside St Osyth’s built-up area: 4 Grade I, 4 Grade II* and 47 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in St Osyth?
4, including Church of St Peter and St Paul, St Osyth's Priory ruined east ranges of the Darcy House including the Tower and Chapel, St Osyth's Priory, Gatehouse and East and West flanking Ranges and St Osyth's Priory: The Abbot's Lodging and South Wing, the Darcy Clock Tower and C18 House (formerly listed as the Convalescent Home)..
Are there scheduled monuments in St Osyth?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Remains of St Osyth's Priory including the ruinous sections of a mid-C16 mansion.
How many conservation areas are there in St Osyth?
1, covering about 34 hectares of the town. The largest is St Osyth.
When were St Osyth’s buildings listed?
The first in 1950; the most, 36, in 1986.
Are there old photos of St Osyth?
Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1906 to 1907, all on this page.
How old are the homes in St Osyth?
12% of homes were built before 1919 and 20% 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.