II*House · listed 1989Carnforth MPDOn the list as Carnforth: engine shed and associated facilities including the locomotive turntablePhoto: David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England · CC BY-SA 2.0
Carnforth: engine shed and associated facilities including the locomotive turntable · Photo: David Ingham from Bury, Lancashire, England · CC BY-SA 2.0BHistory Grade
History of Carnforth · Historic England
16 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade II*
Historic England counts them inside Carnforth’s built-up area, 27 for every 10,000 residents. Grade II covers 15 of Carnforth’s listed buildings. 29% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 4 of its listed buildings. Carnforth grades B for history: #24 of 65 in Lancashire.
Listed buildings
16
27 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
29%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Carnforth
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Former signal box, north end of platform at Carnforth Station, NGR SD 49692 70834Grade II listed
Shovel InnGrade II listed
Christ ChurchGrade 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 Carnforth’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade II*
0 of 6neighbourhoods 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.
16 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I1 Grade II*15 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 Carnforth
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II
15 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 15 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Carnforth HouseCarnforth Station Junction Signal BoxCarnforth: the former Selside signal boxCarnforth: the former wagon repair workshopChrist ChurchFormer signal box, north end of platform at Carnforth Station, NGR SD 49692 70834Hall GowanHodgson's CroftKeer Bridge HouseLancaster Canal Hodgson's Bridge (Number 129)Milestone 150 Metres South of the Junction with Alexandra Road at Ngr Sd 495 701Nos 1 and 2 Hagg Cottages and Hagg FarmhousePlane Tree HouseShovel Inn10, North Road
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 9.2% of Carnforth
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Carnforth 201117 ha
17 hain conservation areas, of 184 ha inside the built-up area.
9 of the 16 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
8 of Carnforth’s 16 listed buildings were added in 1983
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1983 · 8
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 4 entries were listed in 1949. 8 came in 1983, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
History Grade
Carnforth 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 (17 points, 29 per 10,000 residents)More than 44% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (29%)More than 81% 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
29% of Carnforth’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
26%
Before 1900
2.9%
1900–18
0.8%
1919–29
5.1%
1930s
15%
1945–54
2.7%
1955–64
7.3%
1965–72
13%
1973–82
9.6%
1983–92
5.4%
1993–99
5%
2000–08
1%
2009–15
7.1%
2016–25
CarnforthEngland & Wales
26% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1945–54, 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 (0 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
3 notable people born in Carnforth before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
William Cowherd
Robert Wilson
Albert Halton
175017751800182518501875190019251950
William Cowherd1763–1816 · Christian minister and vegetarianism activist (1763–1816)
RW
Robert Wilson1879–1916 · English rugby league footballer (1879-1916)
AH
Albert Halton1893–1971 · Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1893-1971)
Everyone born in Carnforth → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Carnforth
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnforth | 5,852 | 16 | 0 | B |
| Warton (Lancaster) | 1,801 | 22 | 2 | A− |
| Bolton-le-Sands | 6,728 | 47 | 0 | B |
| Halton | 2,652 | 21 | 0 | B |
| Silverdale | 1,056 | 15 | 0 | A− |
| Caton | 2,552 | 21 | 0 | B |
| Burton-in-Kendal | 1,341 | 25 | 1 | A− |
| Morecambe | 32,745 | 43 | 0 | B |
In brief
Carnforth in brief
Old houses are part of Carnforth’s character: 29% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 16 listed buildings, including Carnforth MPD. A conservation area has protected part of it since 2011. William Cowherd (1763), Robert Wilson (1879) and Albert Halton (1893) were all born here before 1900. Beyond that, like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; and per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.
Questions about Carnforth’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Carnforth?
Historic England lists 16 buildings inside Carnforth’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 15 Grade II.
How many conservation areas are there in Carnforth?
1, covering about 17 hectares of the town. The largest is Carnforth.
When were Carnforth’s buildings listed?
The first in 1949; the most, 8, in 1983.
Who was born in Carnforth?
Among people born before 1900: William Cowherd (1763), Robert Wilson (1879) and Albert Halton (1893).
How old are the homes in Carnforth?
29% of homes were built before 1919 and 35% 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.