Church of St John the Baptist · Photo: T Christopher · CC BY-SA 3.0

History of Thaxted · Historic England

151 listed buildings, 7 of them Grade I

On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Thaxted’s built-up area, 485 for every 10,000 residents. Grade II covers 136 of Thaxted’s listed buildings. We have photos of 16 of its listed buildings and 2 old views of the town. 19% of its homes were built before 1919. Thaxted grades A for history: #2 of 81 in Essex.

7Grade I 8Grade II*30on Newbiggen Street

Listed buildings

151

485 per 10,000 residents

Grade I

exceptional interest

Grade II*

more than special interest

Scheduled monuments

nationally important sites

Homes built before 1919

19%

typical UK town 15%

In pictures

Thaxted in 15 photos and old views

Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

GuildhallGrade I listed

Clarence HouseGrade I listed

Swan HotelGrade II listed

AlmshousesGrade II listed

The CottageGrade II listed+10See 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.

Through time

Thaxted from 1904 to 1917

2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

EdwardianBR74553 newbiggan street thaxted uk 1904 ESSEX POSTCARDPhoto: Mark Crombie · Public domain

Between the warsDUNMOW ROAD, THAXTED, ESSEX, c1917 nr Saffron Walden, Dunmow, FinchingfieldPhoto: Mark Crombie · Public domain

Public 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 Thaxted’s history is

Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.

Grade IGrade II*400 m from Church of St John the Baptist

7 of 7Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Church of St John the Baptist, a five-minute walk. So do 143 of the 151 listed buildings.

Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.

151 listed buildings by grade

7 Grade I8 Grade II*136 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 7 Grade I listed buildings in Thaxted

Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 7 of these stand within 400 m of Church of St John the Baptist. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Church · listed 1967Church of St John the BaptistPhoto: T Christopher · CC BY-SA 3.0

Public · listed 1967Thaxted GuildhallOn the list as GuildhallPhoto: T Christopher · CC BY-SA 3.0

House · listed 1967Clarence HousePhoto: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0

Walls & gates · listed 1983Garden Wall to Clarence House Fronting Bell Lane and Margaret StreetPhoto: Hjamesberglen · CC0

House · listed 19672, Stoney LanePhoto: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 19673, Stoney LanePhoto: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 19674, Stoney LanePhoto: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0

Grade II*

The 8 Grade II* listed buildings in Thaxted

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 6 are photographed.

House · listed 1967Borough FarmhousePhoto: Roger Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 1952Park FarmhousePhoto: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 1952Recorder's HousePhoto: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 1967The MansePhoto: Acabashi · CC BY-SA 4.0

House · listed 19671, Stoney LanePhoto: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 196716, Watling StreetPhoto: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0

Church · listed 1967The Priory

House · listed 1967Town House

Historic streets

Newbiggen Street has the most listed buildings

Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.

Newbiggen Street30 listed

Town Street12 listed

Watling Street12 listed · 1 II*

Stoney Lane9 listed · 3 Grade I · 1 II*

Mill End7 listed

Bolford Street4 listed

Stoney Lane holds 9 entries, 3 of them Grade I: more of the top grade than any other street. Of the 151 entries, 77 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Thaxted’s listed buildings are homes

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

Houses, terraces & villas126

Churches, chapels & priories7

Inns, shops & warehouses6

Public & civic buildings5

Walls, gates & bridges5

Street furniture2

126 entries (83%) are houses, terraces and villas. 7 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 7 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

136 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 136 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z

Aldeborough House Almshouses Baptist Chapel Barn 60 Metres North West of Rails Farm Barn Adjoining to North of Number 4 Barn to South West of Cart Lodge South West of Park Farmhouse Becket House Belvedere Brooklyns Cottages Broomfield House Bull Public House Carriage House to Rear of Number 26 Cart Lodge to South West of Park Farmhouse Christopher Cottage Church Cottage Church House Claypits Farmhouse Coaching House Coldhams Fee County Library Court House Cutlers Cottage Fabric Shop, General Store, And Adjacent House Folly in Garden of Oakhurst Hannas Hillside Cottage (East of Claypits Farm)House to East of Churchyard and Facing South East Corner of Church of St John the Baptist International Stores K6 Telephone Kiosk Maud Lamb's Cottage Maytree House Mill Cottage Mp United Drug Company Mp United Drug Company (Building Adjoining to South East of Previous Item and Fronting Road)Mp United Drug Company (Building Immediately to South East of Previous Item and Fronting Road)Oak Cottage Sapling Cottage Oak Cottage and Adjacent Tenement Old Bakehouse Outbuilding Approximately 3 Metres to South West of Vicarage, Now Dwelling Peverals Post Office Pump Rails Farmhouse Rookwood Rosary Cottage Rose and Crown Public House Shirley Star Inn Stone Cottage Stoneville Swan Hotel Thaxted Pharmacy The Chantry The Cottage The Little House The Roost Totman's Vicarage Wakelyn Wall at Park Farm Fronting Road Wall to Number 26 Fronting Road Wall to West of Byroma Walls to East, West and South of Tennis Courts to North of Clarence House Woodcroft 1, Newbiggen Street 1, Watling Street 10, Stoney Lane 10, Watling Street 11 and 15, Newbiggen Street 11, Watling Street 12, Newbiggen Street 12, Town Street 12, Watling Street 14, Newbiggen Street 14, Town Street 14, Watling Street 15, Town Street 16, Newbiggen Street 18 and 20, Newbiggen Street 18, Town Street 2 and 4, Newbiggen Street 2, 4 and 6, Town Street 2, Watling Street 20, Town Street 22 and 24, Newbiggen Street 22, Bolford Street 23, Bolford Street 23, Town Street 24 and 26, Bolford Street 24, Town Street 24, Watling Street 26, Town Street 27, 29 and 31, Newbiggen Street 3, Mill End 3, Watling Street 30 and 32, Newbiggen Street 30 and 32, Park Street 32, Town Street 33, 35 and 37, Mill End 33, Newbiggen Street 34 and 36, Newbiggen Street 35, Newbiggen Street 36, Park Street 38, Newbiggen Street 39, 41, 43 and 45, Mill End 4, Mill End 4, Watling Street 40, Newbiggen Street 41, Newbiggen Street 42, Newbiggen Street 43, Newbiggen Street 44, Newbiggen Street 45 and 47, Newbiggen Street 46, Newbiggen Street 47, Mill End 48, Newbiggen Street 5 and 9, Watling Street 5, Mill End 5, Newbiggen Street 5, Stoney Lane 5, Town Street 51 and 53, Newbiggen Street 55, Newbiggen Street 57, Newbiggen Street 6 and 8, Watling Street 6, Mill End 6, Newbiggen Street 6, Stoney Lane 67, 69 and 71, Newbiggen Street 7 and 8, Fishmarket Street 7, Stoney Lane 8 and 10, Newbiggen Street 8 and 10, Town Street 8, Stoney Lane 9, 11, 15 and 17, Bolford Street 9, Newbiggen Street

Conservation areas

1 conservation area covers 26% of Thaxted

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

Thaxted 196822 ha

22 hain conservation areas, of 83 ha inside the built-up area.

148 of the 151 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 Thaxted’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1967

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

1967 · 861983 · 55

19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 4 entries were listed in 1952. 86 came in 1967. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

History Grade

Thaxted 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 (173 points, 556 per 10,000 residents)More than 95% of UK towns

Homes built before 1919 (19%)More than 59% 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

Thaxted has the 2nd most Grade I buildings of 1,203 towns its size

Places of 2,000–5,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.

Thaxted7

Appleby-in-Westmorland6

#33 of 1,203for listed buildings per resident (485 per 10,000). Sandwich, Chipping Campden and Wells-next-the-Sea lead.

Only Melbourne has more. Thaxted is level with Sandwich, West Malling, Wilton and Great Haywood. The typical town its size has 0.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Thaxted

Town	People	Listed	Grade I	History
Thaxted	3,111	151	7	A
Great Bardfield	1,372	75	1	A⁺
Henham	1,046	58	1	A
Stebbing	1,061	86	1	A⁺
Great Dunmow	10,395	199	2	A⁻
Elsenham	3,414	28	0	B⁻
Newport	2,945	78	1	A⁻
Saffron Walden	16,609	321	6	A

In brief

Thaxted in brief

Few towns are as rich in listed heritage as Thaxted: per resident it has more than 95% of UK towns. All told, the list holds 151 listed buildings, 7 of them Grade I. Its Grade I buildings cluster together: 7 of them stand within 400 m of Church of St John the Baptist. Only one of the 1,203 towns nearest its size has more Grade I buildings.

Newbiggen Street alone has 30 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1968. Most entries on the list, 83%, are houses, terraces and villas. The rest is about typical: Samuel Purchas (1577) and Alfred Barnard (1837) were born here before 1900; and 19% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.

Questions about Thaxted’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Thaxted?

Historic England lists 151 buildings inside Thaxted’s built-up area: 7 Grade I, 8 Grade II* and 136 Grade II.

What are the Grade I listed buildings in Thaxted?

7, including Church of St John the Baptist, Clarence House, Garden Wall to Clarence House Fronting Bell Lane and Margaret Street, Guildhall, 2, Stoney Lane and 3, Stoney Lane.

Which street in Thaxted has the most listed buildings?

Newbiggen Street (30), Town Street (12) and Watling Street (12) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

How many conservation areas are there in Thaxted?

1, covering about 22 hectares of the town. The largest is Thaxted.

When were Thaxted’s buildings listed?

The first in 1952; the most, 86, in 1967.

Are there old photos of Thaxted?

Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1904 to 1917, all on this page.

How old are the homes in Thaxted?

19% of homes were built before 1919 and 26% 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.