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Watt Institution including Watt Library and McLean Museum and Art Gallery, 15 Kelly Street, GreenockWatt Institution including Watt Library and McLean Museum and Art Gallery, 15 Kelly Street, Greenock · Photo: Hajotthu · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History of Greenock · Historic Environment Scotland

112 listed buildings, 15 of them in the top category

On the Historic Environment Scotland list, all of them stand inside Greenock’s locality, 26 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 31 of its listed buildings and 5 old views of the town.

15Category A66Category B1881old map1scheduled monument8on Union Street
Listed buildings
112
26 per 10,000 residents
Category A
15
national importance
Category B
66
regional importance
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
In pictures

Greenock in 37 photos and old views

Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square ( Wallace Place/Dalrymple Street)Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square ( Wallace Place/Dalrymple Street)Category A listedGreenock, James Watt Dock, Titan Cantilever CraneGreenock, James Watt Dock, Titan Cantilever CraneCategory A listedEldon Street, Former Torpedo Works at Fort Matilda Industrial EstateEldon Street, Former Torpedo Works at Fort Matilda Industrial EstateCategory B listedSt. Mary's R.C. Church and Presbytery House, 14 Patrick Street.St. Mary's R.C. Church and Presbytery House, 14 Patrick Street.Category B listedArdgowan Estate Office, Mansion House, Ardgowan Square.Ardgowan Estate Office, Mansion House, Ardgowan Square.Category B listed+32See 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.

Through time

Greenock from 1865 to 1903

An old map and 5 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

Zeegezicht met schepen (At the tail of the bank, Greenock)c. 1865
VictorianZeegezicht met schepen (At the tail of the bank, Greenock)Photo: Rijksmuseum · CC0
Admiralty Chart No 2006 Scotland west coast River Clyde from Greenock to Dumbarton, Published 1881c. 1881
Old mapAdmiralty Chart No 2006 Scotland west coast River Clyde from Greenock to Dumbar…Map: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office · Public domain
Prince's Pier, Greenock, Scotlandc. 1890
VictorianPrince's Pier, Greenock, ScotlandPhoto: Photochrom Print Collection · Public domain
Greenock, Union Street1903
EdwardianGreenock, Union StreetPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Greenock. Cathcart Street1903
EdwardianGreenock. Cathcart StreetPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Greenock. The Harbour1903
EdwardianGreenock. The HarbourPhoto: Unknown photographer · 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 Greenock’s history is

Every Category A and B building, monument and historic park.

Larkfield Battery, anti-aircraft battery 175m ESE of 1 Hilltop Road, scheduled monument'Bagatelle' 47 Eldon Street, Category BArdgowan Estate Office, Mansion House, Ardgowan Square., Category BBearhope/Roxburgh Street, Mcewing Building Contractors, Category BBellevue, 8 Johnston Street., Category BBirnam, 88, 90 Newark Street., Category BCedars School of Excellence, 31 Ardgowan Square (Formerly the Greenock Club), Category BClarence Street, Tobacco Warehouse, Category BConvent, Little Sisters of the Poor, Union Street (Western Block Only)., Category BEldon Street, Former Torpedo Works at Fort Matilda Industrial Estate, Category BEsplanade, Cast-Iron Navigation Light, Category BEsplanade, Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club, Category BFormer Church of Scotland, 25, 27 Madeira Street., Category BFormer Clydesdale Bank, Cathcart Square and 130, 132 and 134 Cathcart Street., Category BFormer Greenock Provident Bank, 11 William Street, Category BFormer Royal Bank, 96 Cathcart Street and Cross Shore Street., Category BFormer St. Columba's Gaelic Church, Grey Place and Patrick Street., Category BFort Matilda Railway Station, Category BGreenock Cemetery, Including Highland Mary (Mary Campbell Monument), James Watt Cairn, Cemetery Gates and Boundary Walls, Category BGreenock Crematorium, 1 South Street, Summerhouse Tempietto (Formerly of Caddle Hill House Now to North of Greenock Crematorium), Category BGreenock Elim Church (former Greenbank Institute), including church hall and boundary wall, Kelly Street, Greenock, Category BGreenock Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, including boundary wall, gatepiers and railings, and excluding single-storey extension to north and 2-storey extension to east, Nelson Street, Greenock, Category BGreenock West United Reformed Church, George Square (Formerly George Square Congregational Church), Category BHarbour Light and Clock, Custom House, Category BKeir Hardie House, 4 Brougham Street, Category BKer Street, Glebe Sugar Refinery, Category BLindon Mansions, 48 Forsyth Street, (Former Glenpark Teachers Centre and Former Glenburn Special School), Category BLyle Kirk, Union Street Building, (former Ardgowan Parish Church), Union Street, Greenock, Category BOld Toll House, 293 Eldon Street., Category BSt. George's North Church of Scotland, George Square, Category BSt. John the Evangelist's Episcopal Church, Union Street., Category BSt. Mary's R.C. Church and Presbytery House, 14 Patrick Street., Category BWatt Memorial School, Dalrymple Street, Category B1 Shaw Place., Category B12 Newark Street, Category B13, 14, 15 and 16 Seafield Cottage Lane, Seafield Cottage, Category B14 William Street, Category B15 Esplanade and 64 Eldon Street, Category B153, 153A and 155 Finnart Street, Category B16 Ardgowan Square and 11 Robertson Street, Category B16 Esplanade and 68 Eldon Street, Category B2 Brougham Street and 12 Patrick Street, Category B2 Shaw Place., Category B20, 22 Margaret Street., Category B21 Madeira Street., Category B23 and 24 Ardgowan Square., Category B24 and 26 Margaret Street, Category B26, 27 and 28 Ardgowan Square, Category B3 Shaw Place., Category B30 West Stewart Street, Category B31 Margaret Street., Category B34 Esplanade and 134 Eldon Street, Category B37 Ardgowan Street., Category B4 Shaw Place, Category B44 Ardgowan Street., Category B49-55 West Blackhall Street and 1, 3, 5 Argyle Street, Category B5 Shaw Place., Category B5, 7 Bank Street, Former Premises of Renfrewshire Bank, Category B6 Brougham Street, Category B6 Cathcart Square, Cathcart House (Formerly the Carrick Building), Category B62 Union Street/32 Margaret Street, Category B64, 66 and 66A Union Street, Category B72 Union Street/27 Fox Street, Category B8 Brougham Street, Category B80-92 Cathcart Street, Former Post Office Building, Category B9 William Street, Category B98,100 Newark Street, Category BCustom House, Custom House Place, Category AGreenock, James Watt Dock, Titan Cantilever Crane, Category AKilmalcolm Road, St Laurence's Rc Church and Presbytery, Category ALyle Kirk, Esplanade Building (former Old West Kirk) including memorials, boundary walls, railings and gatepiers, Campbell Street, Greenock, Category ALyle Kirk, Newark Street Building, (former Finnart St Paul’s Church), Newark Street, Greenock, Category AMunicipal Buildings, Clyde Square ( Wallace Place/Dalrymple Street), Category AScott's Dry Dock with Outer Basin, Category ASir Gabriel Wood's Mariners' Home, Newark Street (Including Front Wall Gate Etc), Category ASt Patrick's Rc Church and Presbytery, Orangefield and Holmscroft Street, Category ATontine Hotel, 5 Ardgowan Square, Category AWarehouse (Clyde Port Authority) East Hamilton Street, Cartsdyke, Category AWatt Institution including Watt Library and McLean Museum and Art Gallery, 15 Kelly Street, Greenock, Category AWell Park: Well, Category AWellpark Mid Kirk, Cathcart Square, Category AWestburn Church, Nelson Street (Formerly the Old Kirk and St Lukes Church of Scotland), Category A
Category ACategory BScheduled monument400 m from Custom House, Custom House Place
4 of 15Category A buildings stand within 400 m of Custom House, Custom House Place, a five-minute walk. So do 14 of the 112 listed buildings.

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

112 listed buildings by grade
15 Category A66 Category B31 Category C

Historic Environment Scotland lists buildings in three categories: Category A for buildings of national or international importance (about 7.5% of listed buildings), Category B for buildings of regional importance (about 50%), and Category C for buildings of local importance (about 43%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on Historic Environment Scotland’s designations whose point lies inside the NRS 2022 locality boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings.

Category A

The 15 Category A listed buildings in Greenock

Buildings of national or international importance, about 7.5% of all listed buildings; 4 of these stand within 400 m of Custom House, Custom House Place. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Category B

The 66 Category B listed buildings in Greenock

Buildings of regional importance. 16 are photographed.

Show the other 54
Historic streets

Union Street has the most listed buildings

Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.

Union Street8 listed · 1 II*
Ardgowan Square5 listed · 1 II*
Ardgowan Square.4 listed · 1 II*
Shaw Place.4 listed · 4 II*

Of the 112 entries, 57 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Greenock’s listed buildings are homes

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

Houses, terraces & villas76
Churches, chapels & priories12
Public & civic buildings10
Walls, gates & bridges8
Inns, shops & warehouses5
Memorials, crosses & tombs1

76 entries (68%) are houses, terraces and villas. 12 are churches, chapels and priories, including 4 of the 15 Category A buildings.

Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.

Category C

31 Category C listed buildings

This category covers buildings of local importance. Open any building to read its official list entry.

All 31 Category C listed buildings, A to Z
Ardgowan Square, Ardgowan Club Including Boundary Walls, Railings and GatepiersBaptist Church, George Square.Inverkip Street Burial Ground.Lindores, 61 and 61a Newark Street, 158, 160, 162, 164 and 166 Finnart Street, GreenockMadeira Lodge 16 Newark StreetPirrie Hall excluding extension to west corner, at Lyle Kirk, Esplanade Building (former Old West Kirk), Campbell Street, GreenockSteamboat Quay, Former Harbour Trust OfficesWell Park: Walls and Gates1 South Street, Greenock Crematorium12 Union Street.14 Union Street16 Union Street189 Eldon Street19, 20 & 21 Ardgowan Square2 Ardgowan Square20 Union Street21 Union Street22 Union Street/23 Patrick Street22B, 22C and 22D Esplanade and 90 Eldon Street, Firth House, With Boundary Walls and Gatepiers27 Union Street29 Ardgowan Square29 Union Street3, & 4 Ardgowan Square30 Ardgowan Square.32 Ardgowan Square.34, 36 Union Street.38, 40 Union Street5 George Square6 George Square84 Eldon Street and Madeira Lodge, 4 Madeira Street9 Ardgowan Square.
Conservation areas

2 conservation areas cover 9.7% of Greenock

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Greenock West End 1970121 ha
William Street1 ha
122 hain conservation areas, of 1,250 ha inside the locality.

75 of the 112 listed buildings stand in one.

Historic Environment Scotland’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the locality.

How the list grew

More than half of Greenock’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1971

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

1971 · 571979 · 34
19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 57 entries were listed in 1971, 10 of the 15 Category A buildings among them. 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 Historic Environment Scotland.

Born here

76 notable people born in Greenock before 1900

The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.

James Watt
John Dunmore Lang
Macgregor Laird
John Caird
Donald Currie
Sir Andrew Noble, 1st Baronet
Edward Caird
David Boyle
William Brymner
James Guthrie
William Bridges
John Henry Mackay
Robert Neill
Thomas Neill
Hamish MacCunn
Jimmy Oswald
John Mackenzie
Alastair Denniston
Henry Robertson Bowers
George Blake
170017501800185019001950
James Watt
James Watt1736–1819 · British engineer (1736–1819)
John Henry Mackay
John Henry Mackay1864–1933 · German writer (1864–1933)
Edward Caird
Edward Caird1835–1908 · British philosopher (1835–1908)
Henry Robertson Bowers
Henry Robertson Bowers1883–1912 · Royal Navy officer and explorer (1883–1912)
William Brymner
William Brymner1855–1925 · Canadian artist (1855-1925)
Hamish MacCunn
Hamish MacCunn1868–1916 · Scottish romantic composer, conductor and teacher (1868–1916)
JM
John Mackenzie1876–1949 · Scottish competitive sailor (1876–1949)
James Guthrie
James Guthrie1859–1930 · Scottish artist (1859–1930)

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

Towns its size

Greenock has the 6th most Category A buildings of 38 towns its size

Scottish towns of 17,000–107,000 people, by Category A listed buildings.

Stirling24
Paisley24
Dumfries22
Perth20
Ayr16
Greenock15
Inverness14
Elgin13
Hamilton13
Musselburgh11
Kirkcaldy and Dysart10
Dunfermline10
#18 of 38for listed buildings per resident (26 per 10,000). Stirling, Elgin and Dumfries lead.

Only Stirling, Paisley, Dumfries, Perth and Ayr have more. The typical town its size has 4.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Greenock

TownPeopleListedCategory AHistory
Greenock42,87011215—
Gourock10,072630—
Port Glasgow14,260193—
Inverkip3,54250—
Helensburgh14,12820413—
Dunoon7,982271—
Kilmacolm3,876162—
Alexandria6,260242—
In brief

Greenock in brief

Greenock has 112 listed buildings, 15 of them in the top category, including Watt Institution including Watt Library and McLean Museum and Art Gallery, 15 Kelly Street, Greenock. Its Category A buildings cluster together: 4 of them stand within 400 m of Custom House, Custom House Place. Only 5 of the 38 towns nearest its size have more Category A buildings. On Union Street alone there are 8 listed buildings.

Its older streets lie in 2 conservation areas, the first designated in 1970. Most entries on the list, 68%, are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 76 people born here before 1900, the best known include James Watt (1736), John Henry Mackay (1864) and Edward Caird (1835). The rest is about typical: it also has a scheduled monument.

Questions about Greenock’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Greenock?

Historic Environment Scotland lists 112 buildings inside Greenock’s locality: 15 Category A, 66 Category B and 31 Category C.

What are the Category A listed buildings in Greenock?

15, including Custom House, Custom House Place, Greenock, James Watt Dock, Titan Cantilever Crane, Kilmalcolm Road, St Laurence's Rc Church and Presbytery, Lyle Kirk, Esplanade Building (former Old West Kirk) including memorials, boundary walls, railings and gatepiers, Campbell Street, Greenock, Lyle Kirk, Newark Street Building, (former Finnart St Paul’s Church), Newark Street, Greenock and Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square ( Wallace Place/Dalrymple Street).

Which street in Greenock has the most listed buildings?

Union Street (8), Ardgowan Square (5) and Ardgowan Square. (4) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

Are there scheduled monuments in Greenock?

Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Larkfield Battery, anti-aircraft battery 175m ESE of 1 Hilltop Road.

How many conservation areas are there in Greenock?

2, covering about 122 hectares of the town. The largest are Greenock West End and William Street.

When were Greenock’s buildings listed?

The first in 1971; the most, 57, in 1971.

Are there old photos of Greenock?

Yes: 5 public-domain photos and postcards from 1865 to 1903, and an old map from 1881, all on this page.

Who was born in Greenock?

Among people born before 1900: James Watt (1736), John Henry Mackay (1864), Edward Caird (1835), Henry Robertson Bowers (1883) and William Brymner (1855).

Greenock has no History Grade.

Listed buildings, scheduled monuments, gardens and designed landscapes, battlefields, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites: Historic Environment Scotland, Open Government Licence v3.0. Check an entry on Historic Environment Scotland’s portal before relying on it.

Sources: Historic Environment Scotland designations (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, gardens and designed landscapes, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the NRS 2022 locality boundary · Historic Environment Scotland conservation areas (compiled from councils; 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.