II*Church · listed 1967Church of St GeorgePhoto: Poliphilo · CC0
Photo: David M Clark · CC BY-SA 2.0A+History Grade
History of Benenden · Historic England
56 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade II*
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Benenden’s built-up area, 397 for every 10,000 residents. 55 of Benenden’s listed buildings are Grade II. 39% of its homes were built before 1919. Benenden grades A+ for history.
Listed buildings
56
397 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
39%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Benenden
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
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.
The map
Where Benenden’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade II*Park or garden
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
56 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I1 Grade II*55 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England 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 Benenden
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
What’s protected
Most of Benenden’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas33
Public & civic buildings8
Churches, chapels & priories7
Inns, shops & warehouses3
Walls, gates & bridges3
Street furniture1
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
33 entries (59%) are houses, terraces and villas. 7 are churches, chapels and priories.
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.
Grade II
55 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 55 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
AshlawnAstrolabe at Benenden SchoolBaldwins General Stores Kingsford CottageBarn at West Pullington Approximately 15 Metres North of Pullington HouseBeech HouseBenenden C P Primary SchoolBenenden PlaygroupBrick KilnBull InnBurnt HouseChest Tomb Approximately 5 Metres South of South Chapel at St George's ChurchChest Tomb Approximately 8 Metres South of Turret to South Chapel at St George's ChurchChest Tomb South East of St Georges ChurchChestnut HouseChurch CottagesCleveland CottageClevelandsCorner CottagesFeoffee CottagesFir Tree Cottage Ward and Sons ButchersFormer Oasthouse to West of Yew Tree HouseGable Cottage the GablesGarden Cottage, Benenden SchoolGateway to the Old Manor HouseGibbon's SchoolHemsted House Benenden School Including Attached Terrace WallHurstdeneIce House at Benenden SchoolIvydene Mersham Cottage the Beauty BoxK6 Telephone KioskKingsford CottagesLaurel CottagesLaurel HouseLittle WalkhurstLychgate to St George's Church and Churchyard WallsMemorial HallMonument to Thomas Neve Approximately 15 Metres North of West Tower at St George's ChurchMonument to William Spencer Approximately 8 Metres South of East Corner of South Chapel at St George's ChurchMounts Farm BarnMounts Farm CottageNos 3 4 5 Outbuilding to RearScribbinsSouth Lodge, Benenden SchoolStable and Hayloft Approximately 20 Metres to South West of Bull InnStaplehurst LodgeThe Kitty FisherThe Old Manor HouseThe Queen's WellThe Sweet ShopThe Walled Garden, Benenden SchoolTudor CottageWall and Gatepiers to Staplehurst LodgeWar MemorialWeald Property Management, Dunroamin, Oakdene, Madle Cottage, Forge Cottage and Dolphin CottageYew Tree House
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 100% of Benenden
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
No data available for publication by HE113 ha
113 hain conservation areas, of 113 ha inside the built-up area.
56 of the 56 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’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 built-up area.
How the list grew
More than half of Benenden’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1993
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1993 · 401967 · 7
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 2 entries were listed in 1952. 40 came in 1993. 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.
1 registered park or garden
BenendenGrade II
History Grade
Benenden 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 (58 points, 412 per 10,000 residents)More than 87% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (39%)More than 93% 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
39% of Benenden’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
36%
Before 1900
3.7%
1900–18
12%
1919–29
2.5%
1930s
6.3%
1945–54
10%
1955–64
3.7%
1965–72
7.6%
1973–82
1.2%
1983–92
6.3%
1993–99
3.7%
2000–08
0%
2009–15
6.3%
2016–25
BenendenEngland & Wales
36% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1919–29, which added 12% 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 (42 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Benenden
In brief
Benenden in brief
More of Benenden’s homes are old than in most places: 39% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 56 listed buildings. For its size, it has more listed heritage than 87% of UK towns. A conservation area protects part of it.
Of the whole list, 59% are houses, terraces and villas. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1993: 40 of 56. Beyond that, like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; and Richard Mills (1798) and Ned Wenman (1803) were born here before 1900.
Questions about Benenden’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Benenden?
Historic England lists 56 buildings inside Benenden’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 55 Grade II.
How many conservation areas are there in Benenden?
1, covering about 113 hectares of the town. The largest is No data available for publication by HE.
When were Benenden’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 40, in 1993.
How old are the homes in Benenden?
39% of homes were built before 1919 and 54% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), 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 · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; 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.