Bethesda: 57% of homes built before 1919

Ty'n TwrScheduled monumentThe Victoria HotelGrade II listedChrist ChurchGrade II listedThe War Memorial and surrounding wall.Grade II listedPont Ogwen (partly in Llandygai community)Grade II listed+4See 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.

c. 1890

c. 1890

c. 1890

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.

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

The first 1 entry was listed in 1950. 34 came in 1997. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.

World Heritage

1 scheduled monument

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

Ty'n TwrMedieval; Building (Unclassified)

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.

57% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1945–54, which added 7.9% 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.

William John Parry

David Ffrangcon-Davies

Frederick Llewellyn-Jones

Bobby Atherton

Leila Megane

1800182518501875190019251950

David Ffrangcon-Davies1855–1918 · Welsh operatic baritone

BA

Bobby Atherton1876–1917 · Welsh footballer (1876-1917)

William John Parry1842–1927 · Welsh businessman, politician and author (1842–1927)

Leila Megane1891–1960 · Welsh opera singer

FL

Frederick Llewellyn-Jones1866–1941 · British politician (1866-1941)

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

Old houses are part of Bethesda’s character: 57% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 37 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Jerwsalem Chapel. Only 88 of the 1,086 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Its older streets lie in 4 conservation areas, the first designated in 1989.

Of the whole list, 70% are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 5 people born here before 1900, the best known include David Ffrangcon-Davies (1855), Bobby Atherton (1876) and William John Parry (1842). More than half went on the list in a single year, 1997: 34 of 37. Beyond that, per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has a scheduled monument.