Blaina: 54% of homes built before 1919

1820

c. 1905

1905

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.

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.

31% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1900–18, which added 24% 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.

David Davies

Florence Eleanor Soper

John William Evans

Gwynn Parry Jones

Mostyn Thomas

Jack Gore

1800182518501875190019251950

Florence Eleanor Soper1861–1957 · (1861-1957) British Salvation army clergy

DD

David Davies1840–1894 · Australian politician in colonial Victoria

GJ

Gwynn Parry Jones1891–1963 · Welsh opera singer (1891–1963)

JE

John William Evans1875–1947 · Welsh rugby union player

MT

Mostyn Thomas1896–1984 · Welsh opera singer

JG

Jack Gore1899–1971 · Welsh rugby union and rugby league footballer (1899-1971)

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

Old houses are part of Blaina’s character: 54% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 1 listed building. Of the 6 people born here before 1900, the best known include Florence Eleanor Soper (1861), David Davies (1840) and Gwynn Parry Jones (1891). For its size the list is short: per resident, it has more listed heritage than only 6% of UK towns. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: its only entry went on the list in 1999.