IChurch · listed 1951St Cadfan's ChurchOn the list as Church of St CadfanPhoto: RwthTomos1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Church of St Cadfan · Photo: RwthTomos1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0B+History Grade
History of Tywyn · Cadw
24 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
Cadw counts them inside Tywyn’s built-up area, 77 for every 10,000 residents. Of the listed buildings in Tywyn, 23 are Grade II. 25% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 1 old view of the town. Tywyn grades B+ for history: #11 of 13 in Gwynedd.
Listed buildings
24
77 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
0
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
25%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Tywyn in 7 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.
Corbett Arms HotelGrade II listed
Brynhyfryd, including Brynhyfryd Cottage and attached stable and coach houseGrade II listed
The VicarageGrade II listed
Tywyn & District War Memorial HospitalGrade II listed
5 Maengwyn StreetGrade 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.
Through time
Tywyn in old photos
1 old photo or postcard, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1840sPublic 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 Tywyn’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade I
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
24 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I0 Grade II*23 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 I
The Grade I listed building in Tywyn
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 1.6% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
What’s protected
Most of Tywyn’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas12
Walls, gates & bridges5
Public & civic buildings3
Inns, shops & warehouses2
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
Churches, chapels & priories1
12 entries (50%) are houses, terraces and villas. 1 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings.
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
23 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 23 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Boer War MemorialBrynhyfryd, including Brynhyfryd Cottage and attached stable and coach houseCarlton, including forecourt railings and gateCefn-y-wern, including forecourt railings and gateCeinfan, including forecourt railings and gateCorbett Arms HotelHouse, including forecourt railings and gateLych gate at church of St CadfanMemorial at entrance to War Memorial Cottage HospitalOutbuilding at rear of The VicarageSomerset House and house adjoining to its LStanley HouseThe VicarageTywyn & District War Memorial HospitalWhite Hall Hotel18 Maengwyn Street24 High Street34 High Street5 Corbet Square5 Maengwyn Street6 Maengwyn Street6 Red Lion Street7 Maengwyn Street
How the list grew
More than half of Tywyn’s listed buildings were added in one year, 2005
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
2005 · 151951 · 7
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 7 entries were listed in 1951, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 15 came in 2005. Only 0 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: the town touches its mapped area, which can include a buffer zone |
History Grade
Tywyn grades B+ for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (26 points, 83 per 10,000 residents)More than 62% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (25%)More than 75% 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
25% of Tywyn’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
24%
Before 1900
1%
1900–18
1.5%
1919–29
0.5%
1930s
8.2%
1945–54
11%
1955–64
10%
1965–72
22%
1973–82
7.7%
1983–92
4.1%
1993–99
4.6%
2000–08
2%
2009–15
2.6%
2016–25
TywynEngland & Wales
24% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1973–82, which added 22% 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
3 notable people born in Tywyn before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Griffith Hughes
Griffith Evans
Edward Ernest Hughes
170017501800185019001950
GH
Griffith Hughes1707–1758 · Welsh cleric and naturalist
GE
Griffith Evans1835–1935 · Welsh bacteriologist (1835-1935)
EH
Edward Ernest Hughes1877–1953 · British historian
Everyone born in Tywyn → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Tywyn has the 94th most Grade I buildings of 1,194 towns its size
Places of 2,000–5,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Tywyn1
#412 of 1,194for listed buildings per resident (77 per 10,000). Sandwich, Chipping Campden and Wells-next-the-Sea lead.
93 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Tywyn
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tywyn | 3,134 | 24 | 1 | B+ |
| Borth | 1,115 | 5 | 0 | B |
| Barmouth | 1,986 | 53 | 1 | A+ |
| Bow Street | 1,101 | 4 | 0 | C+ |
| Machynlleth | 2,161 | 109 | 1 | A+ |
| Penrhyn-coch | 1,378 | 1 | 0 | C− |
| Aberystwyth | 14,646 | 269 | 1 | A+ |
In brief
Tywyn in brief
Old houses are part of Tywyn’s character: 25% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 24 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including St Cadfan's Church. Only 93 of the 1,194 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Most entries on the list, 50%, are houses, terraces and villas.
Griffith Hughes (1707), Griffith Evans (1835) and Edward Ernest Hughes (1877) were all born here before 1900. The big year was 2005, when 15 of the 24 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.
Questions about Tywyn’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Tywyn?
Cadw lists 24 buildings inside Tywyn’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 0 Grade II* and 23 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Tywyn?
One: Church of St Cadfan.
Is Tywyn a World Heritage Site?
Part of Tywyn lies within the area Cadw maps for The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, which can include a buffer zone around the site itself.
When were Tywyn’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 15, in 2005.
Are there old photos of Tywyn?
Yes: 1 public-domain photo or postcard from 1840 to 1840, all on this page.
Who was born in Tywyn?
Among people born before 1900: Griffith Hughes (1707), Griffith Evans (1835) and Edward Ernest Hughes (1877).
How old are the homes in Tywyn?
25% of homes were built before 1919 and 27% 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. 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.