II*Church · listed 1951St Michael's ChurchOn the list as Church of St Michael and All AngelsPhoto: David Roberts · CC BY-SA 2.0
Llanyrafon · Photo: M J Roscoe · CC BY-SA 2.0C−History Grade
History of Cwmbrân · Cadw
28 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade II*
Cadw counts them inside Cwmbrân’s built-up area, 5.9 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. 6.7% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings. Cwmbrân grades C− for history: #34 of 38 in Gwent.
Listed buildings
28
5.9 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
2
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
6.7%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Cwmbrân in 6 photos
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Church of St Michael and All AngelsGrade II* listed
Churchyard CrossScheduled monument
Llanyrafon MillGrade II listed
Aqueduct over Dowlais Brook on Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, partly in Cwmbran Central CommunityGrade II listed
Pontrhydyrun Baptist ChurchGrade II listed+1See 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.
The map
Where Cwmbrân’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
0 of 31neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 26% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
28 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I2 Grade II*26 Grade II
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. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade II*
The 2 Grade II* listed buildings in Cwmbrân
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
II*House · listed 1952LlanyrafonPhoto: M J Roscoe · CC BY-SA 2.0
What’s protected
The largest group of Cwmbrân’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas11
Churches, chapels & priories7
Walls, gates & bridges6
Inns, shops & warehouses3
Public & civic buildings1
11 entries (39%) are houses, terraces and villas. 7 are churches, chapels and priories.
Buildings are sorted by Cadw’s broad class for each building, else by words in its name; an entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
26 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 26 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Aqueduct over Dowlais Brook on Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal (partly in the Llantarnam community)Aqueduct over Dowlais Brook on Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, partly in Cwmbran Central CommunityBarn at Glyn Bran FarmBarn at Ty'r Ywen FarmBrook House and railingsChurch of the Holy TrinityChurchyard cross at the Church of Saint Michael and All AngelsCourt Road Industrial Estate SignCulvert taking Blaen Bran under Monmouthshire and Brecon CanalElim United Reformed Church and attached SchoolroomEnclosure railings, walls, gatepiers and Memorials at the Conway Burial YardGlan-y-nant FarmGlyn Bran FarmhouseLime kiln on S side of Garth RoadLlanfrechfa GrangeLlanyrafon MillMemorial to T. Leadbetter in churchyard of Church of St Michael and All AngelsMilepost north of Five LocksOutside kitchen at Glyn Bran FarmPontrhydyrun Baptist ChurchPontrhydyrun HouseThe Greenhouse Public HouseTy'r Ywen FarmhouseTy-coch FarmhouseWar Memorial in front of Pontrhydyrun Baptist Church2 Jim Crow Square
Conservation areas
3 conservation areas cover 1.9% of Cwmbrân
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Mon and Brecon Canal 201114 ha
Llantarnam 19849 ha
Upper Cwmbran 19845 ha
28 hain conservation areas, of 1,463 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Llantarnam and Upper Cwmbran, were designated in 1984; the newest, Mon and Brecon Canal, in 2011. 12 of the 28 listed buildings stand in one.
Cadw’s conservation areas via DataMapWales. Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
8 of Cwmbrân’s 28 listed buildings were added in 2003
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
2003 · 82002 · 5
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 4 entries were listed in 1951. 8 came in 2003. Only 3 have 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 Welsh Government (Cadw).
Churchyard CrossMedieval; Cross
1 registered park or garden
Llantarnam AbbeyGrade II · Landscape park, formal garden, informal garden, walled kitchen garden
History Grade
Cwmbrân grades C− for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (33 points, 7 per 10,000 residents)More than 40% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (6.7%)More than 15% 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
6.7% of Cwmbrân’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
5.3%
Before 1900
1.4%
1900–18
0.6%
1919–29
1.4%
1930s
8.1%
1945–54
25%
1955–64
24%
1965–72
8.8%
1973–82
8.7%
1983–92
5%
1993–99
2.4%
2000–08
2%
2009–15
7.3%
2016–25
CwmbrânEngland & Wales
5.3% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1955–64, which added 25% 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.
Born here
4 notable people born in Cwmbrân before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Edwin Thomas Maynard
Ernie Jenkins
George Thomas
Thomas Jones
18501875190019251950
Edwin Thomas Maynard1878–1961 · Welsh rugby union player
Ernie Jenkins1880–1958 · Welsh rugby union and rugby league footballer (1880-1958)
GT
George Thomas1881–1916 · Welsh rugby union and rugby league footballer
TJ
Thomas Jones1895–1933 · Welsh rugby player, born 1895 (1895–1933)
Everyone born in Cwmbrân → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Cwmbrân
In brief
Cwmbrân in brief
The official list counts 28 listed buildings in Cwmbrân, including St Michael's Church. Its older streets lie in 3 conservation areas, the first designated in 1984. Edwin Thomas Maynard (1878), Ernie Jenkins (1880) and George Thomas (1881) are among the 4 people born here before 1900. Its homes are mostly newer: 6.7% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. Beyond that, it has no Grade I building, where the middle town its size has 1; per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has a scheduled monument.
Questions about Cwmbrân’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Cwmbrân?
Cadw lists 28 buildings inside Cwmbrân’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II* and 26 Grade II.
Are there scheduled monuments in Cwmbrân?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Churchyard Cross.
How many conservation areas are there in Cwmbrân?
3, covering about 28 hectares of the town. The largest are Mon and Brecon Canal and Llantarnam.
When were Cwmbrân’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 8, in 2003.
Who was born in Cwmbrân?
Among people born before 1900: Edwin Thomas Maynard (1878), Ernie Jenkins (1880), George Thomas (1881) and Thomas Jones (1895).
How old are the homes in Cwmbrân?
6.7% of homes were built before 1919 and 8.7% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Listed buildings, scheduled monuments and historic parks and gardens: Cadw, © Crown copyright, via DataMapWales.
Sources: Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, 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 · Cadw conservation areas via DataMapWales (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.