IChurch · listed 1967Church of St MichaelPhoto: Poliphilo · CC0
Photo: G Laird · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Smarden · Historic England
55 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Smarden’s built-up area, 828 for every 10,000 residents. 48 of Smarden’s listed buildings are Grade II. 42% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 7 of its listed buildings.
Listed buildings
55
828 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
6
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
42%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Smarden in 7 photos
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Church of St MichaelGrade I listed
Biddenden Green FarmhouseGrade II* listed
ChessendenGrade II* listed
Dragon Cottage Dragon HouseGrade II* listed
Hartnup HouseGrade 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.
The map
Where Smarden’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
55 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I6 Grade II*48 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 I
The Grade I listed building in Smarden
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The 6 Grade II* listed buildings in Smarden
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*House · listed 1967Biddenden Green FarmhousePhoto: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1952ChessendenPhoto: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1952Dragon Cottage Dragon HousePhoto: John Brown · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1952Hartnup HousePhoto: Julian P Guffogg · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Public · listed 1952The Cloth HallPhoto: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1967The Thatched HousePhoto: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0
What’s protected
Most of Smarden’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas41
Public & civic buildings5
Inns, shops & warehouses3
Walls, gates & bridges2
Churches, chapels & priories2
Street furniture2
41 entries (75%) are houses, terraces and villas. 2 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 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
48 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 48 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Amberstone the Cobbles the Old Post OfficeApple Tree CottageBaker's Bridge CottagesBardleden ManorBerries Maple and Berries Maple CottageCage Lane CottageCherry Tree HouseDreenagh Cottage Dreenagh HouseEast End CottagesFleet Farm OastFleet FarmhouseGillets HouseHadley Cottage Hadley House HomesideHalfwaysHeathfield Cottage Post Office SloaneJubilee HouseK6 Telephone KioskLibrary Cottage Library HouseLittle Biddenden GreenLuckhurstMenny's CottageMilitia HouseMill HouseOwlcroftParsonage House, West End House and Parsonage Cottage.Perrin HouseProsser Farm HouseProvidence House and The Pent HouseRegency CottageRemains of Windmill in Grounds of Mill HouseRiver CottageSquirrel CottageStanley HouseThe Brothers HouseThe Chequers InnThe Oast HouseThe Old School HouseThe Thatched BarnThe White CottageThe Zion ChapelThree Oasthouses and Granary to South West of Gilletts FarmhouseTown Bridge CottageVillage PumpVine CottageWalford HouseWallington HouseWaterside HouseWistaria Cottage
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 100% of Smarden
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 HE67 ha
67 hain conservation areas, of 67 ha inside the built-up area.
55 of the 55 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 Smarden’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1980
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1980 · 281967 · 181952 · 5
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 5 entries were listed in 1952. 28 came in 1980, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
42% of Smarden’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
41%
Before 1900
1.7%
1900–18
1.7%
1919–29
3%
1930s
8.9%
1945–54
3%
1955–64
1.7%
1965–72
6%
1973–82
6%
1983–92
7.6%
1993–99
1.7%
2000–08
3%
2009–15
15%
2016–25
SmardenEngland & Wales
41% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 2016–25, which added 15% 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 (4 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Smarden
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smarden | 664 | 55 | 1 | — |
| Headcorn | 3,293 | 40 | 1 | B+ |
| Biddenden | 1,345 | 40 | 3 | A− |
| Bethersden | 1,008 | 38 | 1 | A |
| Tenterden | 7,775 | 151 | 1 | A |
| Kingswood | 1,371 | 0 | 0 | D |
| Staplehurst | 6,181 | 59 | 1 | B+ |
| Sutton Valence | 1,457 | 60 | 0 | A |
In brief
Smarden in brief
More of Smarden’s homes are old than in most places: 42% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 55 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. A conservation area protects part of it. Most entries on the list, 75%, are houses, terraces and villas. The big year was 1980, when 28 of the 55 went on the list.
Questions about Smarden’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Smarden?
Historic England lists 55 buildings inside Smarden’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 6 Grade II* and 48 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Smarden?
One: Church of St Michael.
How many conservation areas are there in Smarden?
1, covering about 67 hectares of the town. The largest is No data available for publication by HE.
When were Smarden’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 28, in 1980.
How old are the homes in Smarden?
42% of homes were built before 1919 and 46% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Smarden has no History Grade.
© 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.