Former Diffwys Railway Station (now public toilets) · Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain

History of Blaenau Ffestiniog · Cadw

Blaenau Ffestiniog is home to a World Heritage Site: The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales

81% of Blaenau Ffestiniog’s homes were built before 1919. Cadw lists 29 buildings inside Blaenau Ffestiniog’s built-up area, 84 for every 10,000 residents. We have photos of 3 of its listed buildings and 3 old views of the town. Blaenau Ffestiniog grades A for history: #7 of 13 in Gwynedd.

1Grade II*7on Uwchllaw'rffynnon Terrace

Listed buildings

84 per 10,000 residents

Grade I

exceptional interest

Grade II*

more than special interest

Scheduled monuments

nationally important sites

Homes built before 1919

81%

typical UK town 15%

In pictures

Blaenau Ffestiniog in 6 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.

Old Market HallGrade II listed

Workshop of R.L. Jones & SonGrade II listed

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

Blaenau Ffestiniog from 1875 to 1875

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

VictorianA view of Blaenau Ffestiniog from Graig DduPhoto: Thomas, John · Public domain

VictorianBlaenau Ffestiniog viaductPhoto: Thomas, John · Public domain

VictorianLlwyn-y-gell, Rhiw, Blaenau FfestiniogPhoto: Thomas, John · 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 Blaenau Ffestiniog’s history is

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

Grade II*

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

29 listed buildings by grade

0 Grade I1 Grade II*28 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.

Grade II*

The Grade II* listed building in Blaenau Ffestiniog

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Inns & shops · listed 1996Hydro-Electric Powerstation

What’s protected

Most of Blaenau Ffestiniog’s listed buildings are homes

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

Houses, terraces & villas15

Inns, shops & warehouses7

Public & civic buildings3

Churches, chapels & priories2

Walls, gates & bridges2

15 entries (52%) are houses, terraces and villas. 2 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

28 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 28 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z

How the list grew

12 of Blaenau Ffestiniog’s 29 listed buildings were added in 1996

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

1996 · 121975 · 7

19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 3 entries were listed in 1974. 12 came in 1996. Only 4 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.

World Heritage

The Slate Landscape of Northwest WalesUNESCO World Heritage Site, partly or wholly inside the town

History Grade

Blaenau Ffestiniog 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 (30 points, 87 per 10,000 residents)More than 65% of UK towns

Homes built before 1919 (81%)More than almost every UK town

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

81% of Blaenau Ffestiniog’s homes were built before 1919

Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).

78%

Before 1900

3.1%

1900–18

1919–29

4.8%

1930s

1945–54

1.2%

1955–64

0.9%

1965–72

2.4%

1973–82

0.2%

1983–92

3.8%

1993–99

1.2%

2000–08

0.2%

2009–15

0.5%

2016–25

Blaenau FfestiniogEngland & Wales

78% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was the 1930s, which added 4.8% 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.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Blaenau Ffestiniog

Town	People	Listed	Grade I	History
Blaenau Ffestiniog	3,449	29	0	A
Penrhyndeudraeth	1,463	12	0	B⁺
Porthmadog	2,579	90	0	A⁺
Harlech	1,261	22	1	A
Llanrwst	2,463	37	1	A
Llanberis	1,838	13	0	A⁻

In brief

Blaenau Ffestiniog in brief

Blaenau Ffestiniog holds part of a World Heritage Site, The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales. All told, the list holds 29 listed buildings, including Former Diffwys Railway Station (now public toilets). Its housing is old: 81% of homes date from before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. Of the whole list, 52% are houses, terraces and villas. The rest is about typical: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and Margarette 'Peggy' Golding (1881) and Thomas Carey-Evans (1884) were born here before 1900.

Questions about Blaenau Ffestiniog’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Blaenau Ffestiniog?

Cadw lists 29 buildings inside Blaenau Ffestiniog’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 28 Grade II.

Is Blaenau Ffestiniog a World Heritage Site?

Blaenau Ffestiniog is home to part or all of The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, inscribed by UNESCO.

When were Blaenau Ffestiniog’s buildings listed?

The first in 1974; the most, 12, in 1996.

Are there old photos of Blaenau Ffestiniog?

Yes: 3 public-domain photos and postcards from 1875 to 1875, all on this page.

How old are the homes in Blaenau Ffestiniog?

81% of homes were built before 1919 and 85% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).

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. 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.