IChurch · listed 1952Parish Church of St Peter and St PaulPhoto: Glen · CC BY 2.0
Sir John Franklin · Photo: canalandriversidepubs co uk · CC BY-SA 2.0B−History Grade
History of Swanscombe · Historic England
29 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Swanscombe’s built-up area, 19 for every 10,000 residents. Of the listed buildings in Swanscombe, 27 are Grade II. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings. 17% of its homes were built before 1919. Swanscombe grades B− for history: #56 of 87 in Kent.
Listed buildings
29
19 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
17%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Swanscombe in 5 photos
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Parish Church of St Peter and St PaulGrade I listed
Former Church of All SaintsGrade II* listed
Ingress AbbeyGrade II listed
Church of St MaryGrade II listed+1See 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 Swanscombe’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
0 of 10neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 42% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
29 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I1 Grade II*27 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 Grade I listed building in Swanscombe
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 Grade II* listed building in Swanscombe
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*Church · listed 1982Church of All SaintsOn the list as Former Church of All SaintsPhoto: David Anstiss · CC BY-SA 2.0
What’s protected
The largest group of Swanscombe’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas10
Churches, chapels & priories9
Walls, gates & bridges8
Street furniture2
10 entries (34%) are houses, terraces and villas. 9 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
27 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 27 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Brick Lined Tunnel at Ingress AbbeyChurch of St MaryChurchyard Wall, Gates and Gatepiers to North of Church of St Peter and St Paul, Fronting Swanscombe Street and Small Section to Manor RoadFlint Cave in the Grounds of Ingress Abbey at Tq 5898 5904Flint Walled Garden Tunnel at Ingress AbbeyGarden Bridge, Ingress ParkIngress AbbeyK6 Telephone KioskLodge to Ingress AbbeyLovers Arch in the Grounds of Ingress Abbey at Tq 593 750Milestone Situated at Junction with Knockhall ChaseOctagonal Tower in the Grounds of the WarrenOrigin and Berberry CottageSir John FranklinStable Block to East of Ingress AbbeyTerrace Wall to North of Ingress AbbeyThe Cave of the Seven Heads in the Grounds of Ingress Abbey at Tq 5898 7508The Grange (Including Attached Tunnels and Garden Arch) in the Grounds of Ingress Abbey at Tq 592 750The Monks Well in the Grounds of Ingress Abbey at Tq 592 750The WoodlandsWall, Gate Piers and Railings to Ingress Abbey Fronting London Road and Turning Into the AvenueWalmer1, Knockhall Road17, 19 and 21, High Street18, High Street28-34, High Street45 and 47, High Street
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 2% of Swanscombe
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Greenhithe 19756 ha
6 hain conservation areas, of 275 ha inside the built-up area.
9 of the 29 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
13 of Swanscombe’s 29 listed buildings were added in 1982
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1982 · 131997 · 5
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 3 entries were listed in 1952, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 13 came in 1982, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
History Grade
Swanscombe 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 (32 points, 21 per 10,000 residents)More than 49% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (17%)More than 51% 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.
Towns its size
Swanscombe has the 100th most Grade I buildings of 531 towns its size
Places of 9,000–25,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Swanscombe1
#279 of 531for listed buildings per resident (19 per 10,000). Ludlow, Bridport and Monmouth lead.
99 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Swanscombe
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanscombe | 15,462 | 29 | 1 | B− |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Stone | 6,438 | 2 | 1 | D |
| Bean | 1,633 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Northfleet | 29,892 | 29 | 1 | B− |
| Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock | 23,589 | 13 | 2 | C− |
| Darenth | 2,588 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Grays | 44,340 | 11 | 0 | C− |
In brief
Swanscombe in brief
The official list counts 29 listed buildings in Swanscombe, 1 of them Grade I, including Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. Only 99 of the 531 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1975. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; Charles Blackburn (1874) was born here before 1900; and 17% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Swanscombe’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Swanscombe?
Historic England lists 29 buildings inside Swanscombe’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 27 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Swanscombe?
One: Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul.
How many conservation areas are there in Swanscombe?
1, covering about 6 hectares of the town. The largest is Greenhithe.
When were Swanscombe’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 13, in 1982.
How old are the homes in Swanscombe?
17% of homes were built before 1919 and 25% 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.