Tafarn Pencei Cafe Bar · Photo: Alan Fryer · CC BY-SA 2.0Old homes in Porthmadog: 47% built before 1919
For Porthmadog, that is 3 times the typical town’s share, 15%. Cadw lists 90 buildings inside Porthmadog’s built-up area, 349 for every 10,000 residents. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 1 old view of the town. Porthmadog grades A+ for history: #3 of 13 in Gwynedd.
Porthmadog in 7 photos and old views
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Snowdon Mill and Ty'r FelinGrade II listed
Madoc Yacht ClubGrade II listed
Church of St JohnGrade II listed
HSBC BankGrade II listed
Bridge CottageGrade II listed+2See 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.
Porthmadog in old photos
1 old photo or postcard, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1870Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
Where Porthmadog’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
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.
Most of Porthmadog’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
52 entries (58%) are houses, terraces and villas. 5 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.
90 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 90 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
1 conservation area covers 15% of Porthmadog
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
70 of the 90 listed buildings stand in one.
Cadw’s conservation areas via DataMapWales. Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
41 of Porthmadog’s 90 listed buildings were added in 2005
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
The first 25 entries were listed in 1951. 41 came in 2005. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
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: the town touches its mapped area, which can include a buffer zone |
Porthmadog grades A+ for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all 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.
47% of Porthmadog’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
47% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1965–72, which added 13% 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.
4 notable people born in Porthmadog before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Porthmadog → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Listed buildings in the places around Porthmadog
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porthmadog | 2,579 | 90 | 0 | A+ |
| Penrhyndeudraeth | 1,463 | 12 | 0 | B+ |
| Criccieth | 1,737 | 29 | 0 | A |
| Harlech | 1,261 | 22 | 1 | A |
| Blaenau Ffestiniog | 3,449 | 29 | 0 | A |
| Penygroes | 1,793 | 8 | 0 | B |
Porthmadog in brief
Old houses are part of Porthmadog’s character: 47% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 90 listed buildings, including Tafarn Pencei Cafe Bar. Per resident, it has more listed heritage than 89% of UK towns.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1974. Most entries on the list, 58%, are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 4 people born here before 1900, the best known include Eliseus Williams (1867), Roddy Hughes (1891) and Mary Davies (1846).
Questions about Porthmadog’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Porthmadog?
Cadw lists 90 buildings inside Porthmadog’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II* and 90 Grade II.
Is Porthmadog a World Heritage Site?
Part of Porthmadog lies within the area Cadw maps for The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, which can include a buffer zone around the site itself.
How many conservation areas are there in Porthmadog?
1, covering about 20 hectares of the town. The largest is Porthmadog.
When were Porthmadog’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 41, in 2005.
Are there old photos of Porthmadog?
Yes: 1 public-domain photo or postcard from 1870 to 1870, all on this page.
Who was born in Porthmadog?
Among people born before 1900: Eliseus Williams (1867), Roddy Hughes (1891), Mary Davies (1846) and John Roberts (1880).
How old are the homes in Porthmadog?
47% of homes were built before 1919 and 54% 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.