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Christchurch CathedralChristchurch Cathedral · Photo: Hans Musil · CC BY-SA 4.0
AHistory Grade
History of Canterbury · Historic England

Canterbury is home to a World Heritage Site: Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church

Historic England lists 913 buildings inside Canterbury’s built-up area, 166 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 22 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 86 of its listed buildings and 8 old views of the town. 17% of its homes were built before 1919. Canterbury grades A for history: #15 of 87 in Kent.

36Grade I49Grade II*1874old map22scheduled monuments36on Castle Street
Listed buildings
913
166 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
36
exceptional interest
Grade II*
49
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
22
1 registered park or garden
Homes built before 1919
17%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures

Canterbury in 107 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.

Canterbury CastleCanterbury CastleGrade I listedEastbridge HospitalEastbridge HospitalGrade I listedThe Brewer's Delight InnThe Brewer's Delight InnGrade II listedCanterbury East Signal BoxCanterbury East Signal BoxGrade II listedThe GuildhallThe GuildhallGrade II listed+102See 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

Canterbury from 1780 to 1905

An old map and 8 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

An Unfinished View of the West Gate, Canterburyc. 1780
GeorgianAn Unfinished View of the West Gate, CanterburyPhoto: Paul Sandby · Public domain
OS map of Canterbury 18741874
Old mapOS map of Canterbury 1874Map: Ordnance Survey · Public domain
West Gate, Canterbury, Englandc. 1890
VictorianWest Gate, Canterbury, EnglandPhoto: Photochrom Print Collection · Public domain
Errors of the Roman Catholic Church - and its insidious influence in the United States and other countries by the most profound thinkers of the present day, and1894
VictorianErrors of the Roman Catholic Church - and its insidious influence in the United…Photo: Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions
Archbishop's Palace, Canterbury Cathedral Precinctsc. 1900
VictorianArchbishop's Palace, Canterbury Cathedral PrecinctsPhoto: The British Mirror Series · Public domain
Denton Court in Denton near Canterbury, Kent England1900s
VictorianDenton Court in Denton near Canterbury, Kent EnglandPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
1904-12-03 front West Gate Canterburyc. 1904
Edwardian1904-12-03 front West Gate CanterburyPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
Tappington Hall 01, near Canterbury, Kent, England1905
EdwardianTappington Hall 01, near Canterbury, Kent, EnglandPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain
The Dairy or The Old Bakery at Denton, near Canterbury, Kent1905
EdwardianThe Dairy or The Old Bakery at Denton, near Canterbury, KentPhoto: 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 Canterbury’s history is

Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.

Dane John Gardens, registered park or gardenAbbot's Mill and sluice at Blackfriars Street, scheduled monumentBlackfriars, scheduled monumentCanterbury Castle, scheduled monumentCanterbury city walls, scheduled monumentChristchurch Priory and Archbishop's Palace, scheduled monumentCity wall (site) and ditch on Rheims Way, scheduled monumentCity wall and bastion in Westgate Gardens, scheduled monumentConduit House, NE of Victoria married quarters, Military Road, scheduled monumentDane John Mound and Roman and medieval remains in Dane John Garden, scheduled monumentGreyfriars, Canterbury, scheduled monumentHospital of St John the Baptist, scheduled monumentMedieval wall of Black Prince's Chantry, scheduled monumentRoman remains on Marlowe car park, scheduled monumentRoman site, Butchery Lane, scheduled monumentSite of St Radigund's Hospice, scheduled monumentSite of church and graveyard of St Mary de Castro, scheduled monumentSt Augustine's Abbey, scheduled monumentSt Augustine's monastic conduit house, King's Park, scheduled monumentSt George's Church tower, scheduled monumentThe Guildhall, scheduled monumentTower of St Magdalene's Church, scheduled monumentVacant land within Roman walls in Adelaide Place, scheduled monumentChapel to St John's Hospital, Grade II*Church of St Alphege with St Margaret, Grade II*Church of St Margaret, Grade II*Church of St Nicholas, Grade II*Church of St Paul Without the Walls, Grade II*Cockyns Hospital Cogan House Cogans Hospital, Grade II*Conquest House, Grade II*County of Kent War Memorial Cross, Grade II*Former Church of the Holy Cross, Grade II*Gatehouse to St John's Hospital, Grade II*House of Agnes Hotel, Grade II*King's Bridge, Grade II*Lullingstone House, Grade II*Manwood's Hospital, Grade II*Old Huguenot Weaver's House, Grade II*Pilgrims Entry or Pentise Attached to Number 29, Grade II*Queen Elizabeth's Guest Chamber, Grade II*Refectory Hall and Kitchen to St John's Hospital, Grade II*St Radigund Hall, Grade II*The Hoystings, Grade II*The King's School Shop, Grade II*The Presbytery, Grade II*The Roper Gate, Grade II*The Weavers, Grade II*Tudor House, Grade II*Tyler Hill Railway Tunnel, Including North and South Portals, Under Tyler Hill (Former Canterbury and Whitstable Railway), Grade II*Walpole House, King's School, Grade II*Westgate House, Grade II*Wincheap House, Grade II*1 and 2, High Street, Grade II*1-8, Mercery Lane, Grade II*16, Watling Street, Grade II*17, The Cathedral Precincts, Grade II*2, Castle Street, Grade II*3, Best Lane, Grade II*30, Northgate, Grade II*37, Burgate, Grade II*4, Best Lane, Grade II*40, Burgate, Grade II*41, Burgate, Grade II*41-45 Palace Street, Grade II*42, Burgate, Grade II*42-45, Ivy Lane, Grade II*43, Burgate, Grade II*62, Burgate, Grade II*68 and 68A, Castle Street, Grade II*69, Castle Street, Grade II*77, 78 and 79, St Dunstan's Street, Grade II*8, Palace Street, Grade II*Blackfriars Monastery Guest House, Grade ICanterbury Castle, Grade ICathedral Choir School, Grade IChapel of St Pancras Ruins Remains of St Augustine's Abbey, Grade IChapter House to Christchurch Cathedral, Grade IChristchurch Cathedral, Grade IChristchurch Gateway, Grade IChurch of St Martin, Grade IChurch of St Mildred, Grade IChurch of St Nicholas, Grade IChurch of St Peter, Grade IChurch of St Stephen, Grade ICloister to Christchurch Cathedral, Grade IDark Entry, Grade IEastbridge Hospital, Grade IGreyfriars Monastery, Grade ILavatory Tower, Grade ILibrary to Christchurch Cathedral, Grade IMeister Omers, Grade INorman Staircase, Grade IPoor Priests Hospital, Grade IPrior Sellinge Gate, Grade IPrior's Chapel, Grade IRemains of Cellarer's Hall in Archbishop's Palace Garden, Grade IRemains of Roman Town House, Grade IThe Archbishop's Palace or the Old Palace, Grade IThe Archdeacon of Canterbury's House, Grade IThe Cathedral Appeal Fund Office the Deanery, Grade IThe Cemetery Gateway at St Augustine's College, Grade IThe Church of St Dunstan's Without the West Gate, Grade IThe Former Blackfriars Monastery, Grade IThe Great Gateway, or Fyndon's Gateway, at St Augustine's College, Grade IThe West Gate, Grade IWolfson Library, Grade I22-26, The Cathedral Precincts, Grade I27 and 28, The Cathedral Precincts, Grade I
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden400 m from Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
28 of 36Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral, a five-minute walk. So do 471 of the 913 listed buildings.
2 of 32neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 60% were built before 1919.

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

913 listed buildings by grade
36 Grade I49 Grade II*828 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. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).

Grade I

The 36 Grade I listed buildings in Canterbury

Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 28 of these stand within 400 m of Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

House · listed 1949Canterbury CathedralOn the list as Christchurch CathedralPhoto: Hans Musil · CC BY-SA 4.0
Church · listed 1949St Martin's ChurchOn the list as Church of St MartinPhoto: Oosoom · CC BY-SA 3.0
House · listed 1949GreyfriarsOn the list as Greyfriars MonasteryPhoto: Randi Hausken from Bærum, Norway · CC BY-SA 2.0
Public · listed 1967Old PalaceOn the list as The Archbishop's Palace or the Old PalacePhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Walls & gates · listed 1949St. Dunstan'sOn the list as The Church of St Dunstan's Without the West GatePhoto: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Walls & gates · listed 1949WestgateOn the list as The West GatePhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grade II*

The 49 Grade II* listed buildings in Canterbury

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 47 are photographed.

Show the other 37
Walls & gates · listed 2007Tyler Hill TunnelOn the list as Tyler Hill Railway Tunnel, Including North and South Portals, Under Tyler Hill (Former Canterbury and Whitstable Railway)Photo: Dan Bartlett · CC BY-SA 2.0
Historic streets

The Castle Street and St Dunstan's Street have 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.

Castle Street36 listed · 3 II*
2, Castle Street68 and 68A, Castle Street69, Castle Street
St Dunstan's Street36 listed · 1 II*
77, 78 and 79, St Dunstan's Street
Northgate31 listed · 1 II*
30, Northgate
Burgate29 listed · 6 II*
37, Burgate40, Burgate41, Burgate
St Peter's Street29 listed
Broad Street27 listed
Palace Street27 listed · 2 II*
41-45 Palace Street8, Palace Street
High Street20 listed · 1 II*
1 and 2, High Street
London Road18 listed
St Margaret's Street18 listed
Wincheap17 listed
North Lane16 listed

The Cathedral Precincts holds 12 entries, 2 of them Grade I: more of the top grade than any other street. Of the 913 entries, 584 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Canterbury’s listed buildings are homes

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

Houses, terraces & villas723
Public & civic buildings59
Walls, gates & bridges55
Inns, shops & warehouses33
Churches, chapels & priories27
Street furniture8
Memorials, crosses & tombs8

723 entries (79%) are houses, terraces and villas. 27 are churches, chapels and priories, including 8 of the 36 Grade I 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.

Grade II

828 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.

The first 150 of 828 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Abbot's Mill footbridge and sluiceAll Saints Cottage All Saints CourtAnnexe to No 12Arch in Grounds of Tower House to North East of the HouseArnett HouseAucher CloseBailey HouseBarn (Opposite All Saints Court)Barn Adjoining Hothe Court on the NorthBarn to Harbledown FarmBarton CourtBell HotelBeverley FarmhouseBlack Horse InnBlack Princes ChantryBlue Anchor InnBollards and Railings Outside Nos 10 to 28 (Even)Bollards on a Raised Bank in Front of Nos 11 to 17 (Odd)Broad Street HouseBuilding Adjoining All Saints Court to the South WestBuilding Adjoining Green Court to Left Gateway from CourtBuilding Adjoining No 1 to the LeftBuilding Adjoining to North of Roper GatewayBuilding to Rear of No 3Building to Rear of No 44Buildings on West, North and East Sides of Mint YardCanterbury City Cemetery Joseph Conrad MemorialCanterbury East Signal BoxCanterbury War Memorial, Buttermarket, CanterburyCanterbury West StationCarolean CottageCherry Garden FarmhouseCherry Tree InnChestnut Cottage and RosemountChrist Church University Music Centre (Former Church of St Gregory the Great)Church Hill HouseChurch of All SaintsChurch of St MichaelCity ArmsClaveringsColeridge HouseCottages Situated to South West of Main Eastbridge Hospital BuildingCounty HotelCricket Field HouseCromwell HouseCross Keys InnCumberland Cottage Pear Tree CottageDane John Mound PinnacleDane John WorksDiocesan and Payne Smith Church of England Primary School, including attached boundary wall and school houseDon Jon HouseDucking Stool in Grounds of No 1Duke CottageDuke HouseDuke's Head Public HouseEast Kent Sessions HouseEntrance Lodge, Octagonal Perimeter Wall, Octagon and A, B and C Wings, former Her Majesty's Prison CanterburyExtension to No 6Father CourageFolly Farm including attached garden wall and former stablesForecourt to Methodist ChurchForge CottageFormer Headmaster's House, St Edmund's SchoolFormer Mitre InnFormer Municipal BuildingsFormer Stable Adjoining No. 79Formerly No 1Garden Wall and Gate Piers to No 87Garden Wall and Gatepiers to No 3Garden Wall to No 136Garden Wall to St Martin's PrioryGate Public HouseGatepier and Wall to north side of Longport and west side of North Holmes Road, former Her Majesty's Prison CanterburyGatepiers and Remains of a WallGlebe CottageGoods Shed at Canterbury West Railway StationGothic Cottage Shakespear CottageGrove CottageHales Place Jesuit Cemetery ChapelHall Place CottagesHall and Chapel of St Augustine's CollegeHarbledown CourtHarbledown PlaceHarbledown and Rough War Memorial, including steps and gateHarfleteHighbury CottagesHolly Tree CottageHopebourneHothe CourtHouse of the White SwanIndustrial Building to South East of No 13Jesus HospitalJohn Smith's HospitalK6 Telephone KioskK6 Telephone KioskK6 Telephone KioskK6 Telephone KioskK6 Telephone Kiosk Adjacent to No 3 BurgateK6 Telephone Kiosk Adjacent to Precincts of Christ Church CathedralK6 Telephone Kiosk Adjacent to the WestgateK6 Telephone Kiosk Adjacent to the WestgateK6 Telephone Kiosk Outside St Dunstan's ChurchKent Music SchoolKent and Canterbury ClubKing William IV Public HouseLatchmere HouseLesser KnowlesthorpeLibrary of King's SchoolLinden HouseLittle Barton FarmhouseLloyd's BankLongport HouseLychgate to St Martin's ChurchMaltingsMargaret's HouseMaynard and Cotton's HospitalMemorial to Christopher MarloweMessrs Cozens (Adjoining No 93 to the Right)Methodist ChurchMicawber'sMonastery CottageMonument to 41 Kentish MartyrsNo 13 and Attached Boundary WallNo 63 (The Chaucer Hotel) North Side Only the Chaucer HotelNumbers 7, 7A and 8 North LaneOast Cottage the CottageOasthouseOasthouseOaten Hill HouseOddfellows HallOld City of Canterbury Public HouseOld ManorOld St Stephen's SchoolOld Stained Glass Factory Factory to the Rear of Number 5, Including 5AOrchard HouseOrchard HouseOrchard LodgeOverhead Signal BoxPair of K6 Telephone KiosksPark CottagesPaving and Cobbles in Front of Nos 1 to 15Paving in Front of Number 18Pennyless BenchPiece of wall belonging to the original St Nicholas's HospitalPier of Bridge in Grounds of Tower House Situated Behind ArchPiers of Bridge in Grounds of No 1Post OfficePublic Library and Museum at Beaney InstituteQuerns WindmillRailings and Gate Piers to No 2

Search the rest on Historic England’s list →

Conservation areas

23 conservation areas cover 21% of Canterbury

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

Canterbury City 1996122 ha
Canterbury Old Dover Road, Oaten Hill and St Lawrence 199824 ha
Harbledown 197421 ha
Canterbury New Dover Road and St Augustine's Road 199816 ha
Canterbury Nunnery Fields 199814 ha
Canterbury West Station 199614 ha
Canterbury Whitstable Road 199613 ha
Canterbury Martyrs' Field 199810 ha
St Martin's Hospital 199010 ha
Canterbury St Martin's 19967 ha
Canterbury Ethelbert Road 19985 ha
Canterbury London Road 19965 ha
Canterbury St Stephen's 19745 ha
1937 Kent and Canterbury Hospital 19983 ha
Hothe Court 19943 ha
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (St Stephen's) 19982 ha
Tyler Hill 19952 ha
Fordwich 19972 ha
Canterbury Alma, Clyde and Notley Street 19961 ha
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (Hackington) 19961 ha
Mount Hospital 19901 ha
Little Barton Farm 19901 ha
Blean 19941 ha
284 hain conservation areas, of 1,360 ha inside the built-up area.

The first, Harbledown and Canterbury St Stephen's, were designated in 1974; the newest, Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (St Stephen's), in 1998. 889 of the 913 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 Canterbury’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1973

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

1973 · 4941967 · 2351949 · 114
19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 114 entries were listed in 1949, 23 of the 36 Grade I buildings among them. 494 came in 1973, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 9 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

Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's ChurchUNESCO World Heritage Site, partly or wholly inside the town

22 scheduled monuments

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.

Abbot's Mill and sluice at Blackfriars Street
Blackfriars
Canterbury Castle
Canterbury city walls
Christchurch Priory and Archbishop's Palace
City wall (site) and ditch on Rheims Way
Dane John Mound and Roman and medieval remains in Dane John Garden
Site of church and graveyard of St Mary de Castro
St Augustine's Abbey
St Augustine's monastic conduit house, King's Park
St George's Church tower
The Guildhall
Tower of St Magdalene's Church

1 registered park or garden

Dane John Gardens
History Grade

Canterbury 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 (1,079 points, 196 per 10,000 residents)More than 93% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (17%)More than 53% 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.

Born here

56 notable people born in Canterbury before 1900

The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.

Christopher Marlowe
Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork
John Ward
Aphra Behn
George Rooke
Stephen Gray
George Sale
William Flackton
John Sims
Charles Abbott, 1st Baron Tenterden
Richard Harris Barham
Isaac Nathan
Thomas Sidney Cooper
James Parton
Maxwell Tylden Masters
Ethelbert William Bullinger
Mary Tourtel
William Sealy Gosset
F. W. Jordan
Ralph Eastwood
155016001650170017501800185019001950
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe1564–1593 · English dramatist, poet and translator (1564–1593)
Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn1640–1689 · British playwright, poet and spy (1640–1689)
SG
Stephen Gray1666–1736 · British chemist, physicist, astronomer
William Sealy Gosset
William Sealy Gosset1876–1937 · British statistician (1876–1937)
George Rooke
George Rooke1650–1709 · Royal Navy admiral (1650-1709)
John Sims
John Sims1749–1831 · English physician and botanist (1749–1831)
Maxwell Tylden Masters
Maxwell Tylden Masters1833–1907 · British botanist (1833-1907)
Richard Harris Barham
Richard Harris Barham1788–1845 · British writer and priest (1788-1845)

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

Towns its size

Canterbury has the 4th most Grade I buildings of 205 towns its size

Places of 33,000–88,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.

Winchester41
Durham40
Salisbury37
Canterbury36
Bury St Edmunds26
Carlisle22
Rochester21
Bridgwater17
Shrewsbury15
Warwick13
King's Lynn13
Derry City12
#2 of 205for listed buildings per resident (166 per 10,000). Bury St Edmunds, Canterbury and Salisbury lead.

Only Winchester, Durham and Salisbury have more. The typical town its size has 1.

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Canterbury

TownPeopleListedGrade IHistory
Canterbury55,10791336A
Rough Common1,29130C
Blean1,32740C−
Sturry4,857764A−
Bridge1,539410A
Chartham3,569321A−
Littlebourne1,596512A
Hersden2,11820D
In brief

Canterbury in brief

Part of Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church, a World Heritage Site, lies in Canterbury. In all there are 913 listed buildings, 36 of them Grade I, including Canterbury Cathedral. Per resident, it has more listed heritage than 93% of UK towns. Its Grade I buildings cluster together: 28 of them stand within 400 m of Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral.

Only 3 of the 205 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Castle Street alone has 36 listed buildings. Its older streets lie in 23 conservation areas, the first designated in 1974. Beyond that, 17% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.

Questions about Canterbury’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Canterbury?

Historic England lists 913 buildings inside Canterbury’s built-up area: 36 Grade I, 49 Grade II* and 828 Grade II.

What are the Grade I listed buildings in Canterbury?

36, including Blackfriars Monastery Guest House, Canterbury Castle, Cathedral Choir School, Chapel of St Pancras Ruins Remains of St Augustine's Abbey, Chapter House to Christchurch Cathedral and Christchurch Cathedral.

Which street in Canterbury has the most listed buildings?

Castle Street (36), St Dunstan's Street (36) and Northgate (31) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

Are there scheduled monuments in Canterbury?

Yes, 22 scheduled monuments, including Abbot's Mill and sluice at Blackfriars Street, Blackfriars, Canterbury Castle and Canterbury city walls.

Is Canterbury a World Heritage Site?

Canterbury is home to part or all of Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church, inscribed by UNESCO.

How many conservation areas are there in Canterbury?

23, covering about 284 hectares of the town. The largest are Canterbury City and Canterbury Old Dover Road, Oaten Hill and St Lawrence.

When were Canterbury’s buildings listed?

The first in 1949; the most, 494, in 1973.

Are there old photos of Canterbury?

Yes: 8 public-domain photos and postcards from 1780 to 1905, and an old map from 1874, all on this page.

Who was born in Canterbury?

Among people born before 1900: Christopher Marlowe (1564), Aphra Behn (1640), Stephen Gray (1666), William Sealy Gosset (1876) and George Rooke (1650).

How old are the homes in Canterbury?

17% of homes were built before 1919 and 27% 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.