IChurch · listed 1951Croydon MinsterOn the list as Parish Church of St John the BaptistPhoto: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Parish Church of St John the Baptist · Photo: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0B+History Grade
History of Croydon · Historic England
168 listed buildings, 14 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Croydon’s built-up area, 4.3 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 6 scheduled monuments. 29% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 17 of its listed buildings and 3 old views of the town. Croydon grades B+ for history: #20 of 33 in London.
Listed buildings
168
4.3 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
14
exceptional interest
Grade II*
8
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
6
3 registered parks & gardens
Homes built before 1919
29%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Croydon in 25 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.
Old Palace Croydon: Great HallGrade I listed
Church of St Mary AddingtonGrade I listed
Leslie Arms Public HouseGrade II listed
Kenley Station House (Original 1856 Building)Grade II listed
Group of four World War II fighter pens at the former airfield of RAF KenleyScheduled monument+20See 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.
Through time
Croydon from 1871 to 1894
3 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1871
1894
1894Public 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 Croydon’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden400 m from Croydon Palace
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
10 of 14Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Croydon Palace, a five-minute walk. So do 27 of the 168 listed buildings.
54 of 230neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 100% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
168 listed buildings by grade
14 Grade I8 Grade II*146 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 14 Grade I listed buildings in Croydon
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 10 of these stand within 400 m of Croydon Palace. 7 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
IPublic · listed 1951Croydon PalaceOn the list as Old Palace Croydon: Great HallPhoto: Eagleash · CC BY-SA 3.0
IChurch · listed 1951Church of St Mary, AddingtonOn the list as Church of St Mary AddingtonPhoto: Ross Burgess · CC BY-SA 3.0
IChurch · listed 1954Church of All SaintsPhoto: Nigel Freeman · CC BY-SA 2.0
IChurch · listed 1954Church of St John the EvangelistPhoto: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0
IPublic · listed 1951Hospital of the Holy Trinity (Whitgift Hospital)Photo: Eagleash · CC BY-SA 3.0
IChurch · listed 1954Parish Church of St Michael and All AngelsPhoto: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: Chapel
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: east range of the north court
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: east range of the south court
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: great chamber and undercroft range
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: southern range including long gallery
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: west range of the south court
Public · listed 2025Old Palace Croydon: western range
Grade II*
The 8 Grade II* listed buildings in Croydon
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*House · listed 1978Airport HousePhoto: John Murrell · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*Church · listed 1976Church of St AugustinePhoto: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1976Church of St JamesPhoto: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*Church · listed 1976St John the Evangelist, Upper NorwoodOn the list as Church of St JohnPhoto: Philip Talmage · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1976Church of St Mary MagdalenePhoto: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1976Church of the Holy InnocentsOn the list as Church of the Holy Innocents, And Boundary WallPhoto: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Memorials · listed 1973Croydon War MemorialPhoto: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*House · listed 1951Wrencote HouseOn the list as WrencotePhoto: hahnchen at Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
What’s protected
The largest group of Croydon’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas75
Churches, chapels & priories35
Public & civic buildings26
Memorials, crosses & tombs13
Walls, gates & bridges10
Inns, shops & warehouses6
Street furniture3
75 entries (45%) are houses, terraces and villas. 35 are churches, chapels and priories, including 5 of the 14 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
146 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 146 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Addington HouseAddington War MemorialAddiscombe Farm CottageBaptist Church of West CroydonBarclays BankBarn Cottage the BarnBeech CottageBeulah VillaBoswell CottagesBoswell HouseBradmore FarmhouseCherry Tree CottageChurch Hall United Reformed Church of St PaulChurch of All SaintsChurch of All SaintsChurch of All SaintsChurch of St AlbanChurch of St AndrewChurch of St AndrewChurch of St GeorgeChurch of St JohnChurch of St LukeChurch of St MarkChurch of St MarkChurch of St Mildred, AddiscombeChurch of St PeterChurch of St SaviourChurch of St StephenCircular Drinking Trough in Norbury ParkClock TowerCoal Tax Post on the Junction Between King Henry's Drive and Boundary LineCoombe House (St Margaret's School)Coombe LodgeCoulsdon Methodist ChurchCroham Hurst HouseCroydon Quaker Meeting HouseDavidson LodgeDiving stage at former Purley Way LidoElectricity Showrooms and OfficesElis David Almshouse Including Railings and Gates to StreetElm Grove FarmhouseEntrance Lodge to Davidson LodgeFlint CottageFormer Auxiliary Fire Service Drill TowerFormer Grant's Department StoreFormer Lodge to Croydon Airport TerminalFox Farm HouseGatepiers to Gates to Number 23Haling Cottage (Whitgift School Headmaster's House)Havelock HallHeathfieldHeron's CroftHouse and OutbuildingsIce House in Grounds of Geoffrey Harris HouseInnisfailKenley Station House (Original 1856 Building)Kennedys SausagesLeslie Arms Public HouseLion Lodge, Including Gate Piers (Addington Palace Lodges)Lodge to Combe House (St Margaret's School)Milestone 13, on the southeast side of Brighton Road (A23) by Milestone DriveMilestone 14, on the west side of Brighton Road (A237), opposite Coulsdon South Station northern entranceMilestone Outside Number 362Monument to Members of the Preston Family in North West Corner of Churchyard of St JohnMonument to Parents of John Ruskin in South East Corner of Churchyard of St JohnMonument to Vice Admiral Robert Fitzroy in All Saints' ChurchyardMunicipal Buildings, comprising the clock tower, public library, and Corn Exchange, and including the area balustrade which incorporates a war memorial and a statue of Queen VictoriaNat West BankNorbury HallNorwood Grove, Including Terrace Steps to GardenNumbers 2 to 8 (Even) with Boundary Wall and Entry Arches and PiersOld Ballards CottageOld Coulsdon War MemorialOld Tithe Barn, WaddonPark Hill Water Tower (In Park Hill Recreation Ground)Promenade de Verdun War MemorialPurley BuryPurley Council Offices Including Attached RailingsPurley Library Including Forecourt WallPurley United Reformed Church, Formerly Purley Congregational ChurchQueen's Road Hospital (Entrance Block)RedcourtRiddlesdown War MemorialRockmountRose and Crown Public HouseRosebankRuskin HouseRussell Hill Schools (Thomas More School for Boys), Main BuildingSanderstead War MemorialSegas OfficesSelhurst War MemorialShirley VicarageShirley WindmillSt ValeryStanley Technical High School and Stanley HallsSurrey Street Drinking Fountain and wallSurrey Street Pumping StationTaunton FarmhouseThe Adult School Hall, CroydonThe Dog and Bull Public HouseThe GrangeThe Old CottageThe Old ForgeThe Ship Public HouseThe Thatched CottageThe White HouseTivoli LodgeUnion Bank ChambersWall Enclosing Churchyard of Church of St SaviourWalls Along South Boundary of Churchyard of Church of St MaryWalls and Four Piers at Entrance to Davidson LodgeWar Memorial at Croydon MinsterWar Memorial at St John the Evangelist Church, Upper NorwoodWar Memorial at Westow StreetWar Memorial at the Church of All SaintsWar Memorial at the Church of Holy InnocentsWar Memorial at the Church of St Alban the MartyrWar Memorial at the Church of St AndrewWest Croydon United Reformed ChurchWestow LodgeWhitehorse Manor School War MemorialWhitgift School War MemorialWindmill CottageWoodcote War MemorialWoodside CottageWoodside War Memorial11, Crown Hill110 and 112, Upper Shirley Road120, Church Street13 and 13A, Crown Hill14, Hook Hill17, Canning Road2, Woodside Green226-228, Sydenham Road237 and 239, Sydenham Road335-347, Purley Way351, Purley Way46, South End61, 63, 65, Church Street71, Beulah Hill75, Beulah Hill75, Fairdene Road77, Beulah Hill88, Southbridge Road9-12 Doble Court91 and 93, Church Street
Conservation areas
23 conservation areas cover 5% of Croydon
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
The Webb Estate75 ha
Church Road, Upper Norwood34 ha
East India Estate30 ha
South Norwood29 ha
Kenley Aerodrome 200624 ha
Harold Road23 ha
Norwood Grove 200820 ha
No data available for publication by HE15 ha
Addington Village13 ha
Norbury Estate 200811 ha
Chatsworth Road 200810 ha
Central Croydon10 ha
Bradmore Green9 ha
Upper Norwood Triangle9 ha
Upper Woodcote Village7 ha
The Waldrons5 ha
Church Street 20085 ha
Parish Church5 ha
Beulah Hill 20083 ha
Chapman Houses, Croham Manor Road 20083 ha
Wellesley Road North 20081 ha
Streatham Lodge Estate 20091 ha
St Bernards 20081 ha
343 hain conservation areas, of 6,919 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Kenley Aerodrome, was designated in 2006; the newest, Streatham Lodge Estate, in 2009. 71 of the 168 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
42 of Croydon’s 168 listed buildings were added in 1983
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1983 · 421976 · 162017 · 16
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 14 entries were listed in 1951, 4 of the 14 Grade I buildings among them. 42 came in 1983, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 31 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.
6 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.
3 registered parks and gardens
History Grade
Croydon 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 (219 points, 6 per 10,000 residents)More than 53% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (29%)More than 82% 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 Croydon’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
19%
Before 1900
9.4%
1900–18
6.1%
1919–29
18%
1930s
3.9%
1945–54
8.9%
1955–64
7%
1965–72
6%
1973–82
4.3%
1983–92
2.4%
1993–99
3.3%
2000–08
3.9%
2009–15
7.9%
2016–25
CroydonEngland & Wales
19% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was the 1930s, which added 18% 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 (1,088 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
107 notable people born in Croydon before 1900
The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.
Alfred Comyn Lyall
Dora Montefiore
Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare
Havelock Ellis
Henry Herbert La Thangue
Amanda Aldridge
C. B. Fry
G. E. Moore
Frederick Sykes
Joseph Holbrooke
Barindra Kumar Ghosh
Harcourt Williams
Lionel Atwill
Miles Malleson
Archibald Low
Basil Dean
Bertram Brooker
Horace Alexander
Dora Russell
Cicely Mary Barker
1800182518501875190019251950
G. E. Moore1873–1958 · English philosopher (1873–1958)
Havelock Ellis1859–1939 · British physician, writer, and social reformer (1859-1939)
Dora Russell1894–1986 · British writer, feminist and socialist campaigner (1894-1986)
Lionel Atwill1885–1946 · English and American actor (1885-1946)
C. B. Fry1872–1956 · English cricketer and rugby union footballer (1872-1956)
Cicely Mary Barker1895–1973 · British artist (1895-1973)
Barindra Kumar Ghosh1880–1959 · Indian revolutionary and journalist
MM
Miles Malleson1888–1969 · English actor (1888–1969)
Everyone born in Croydon → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Croydon
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croydon | 389,242 | 168 | 14 | B+ |
| Sutton | 208,858 | 201 | 1 | B− |
| Warlingham | 8,918 | 10 | 0 | C− |
| Whyteleafe | 3,174 | 4 | 0 | C− |
| Merton | 214,931 | 231 | 3 | B+ |
| Chipstead and Woodmansterne | 4,523 | 14 | 0 | C |
| Bromley | 325,469 | 339 | 4 | B |
| Caterham | 22,757 | 17 | 1 | C |
In brief
Croydon in brief
More of Croydon’s homes are old than in most places: 29% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 168 listed buildings, 14 of them Grade I, including Croydon Minster. Its Grade I buildings cluster together: 10 of them stand within 400 m of Croydon Palace. Its older streets lie in 23 conservation areas, the first designated in 2006.
G. E. Moore (1873), Havelock Ellis (1859) and Dora Russell (1894) are among the 107 people born here before 1900. It also has 6 scheduled monuments, the archaeology and ruins the law protects. The rest is about typical: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns.
Questions about Croydon’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Croydon?
Historic England lists 168 buildings inside Croydon’s built-up area: 14 Grade I, 8 Grade II* and 146 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Croydon?
14, including Church of All Saints, Church of St John the Evangelist, Church of St Mary Addington, Hospital of the Holy Trinity (Whitgift Hospital), Old Palace Croydon: Chapel and Old Palace Croydon: Great Hall.
Are there scheduled monuments in Croydon?
Yes, 6 scheduled monuments, including Croham Hurst round barrow, Group of four World War II fighter pens at the former airfield of RAF Kenley, Group of seven World War II fighter pens at the former airfield of RAF Kenley and Newe (or Wide) Ditch, Riddlesdown.
How many conservation areas are there in Croydon?
23, covering about 343 hectares of the town. The largest are The Webb Estate and Church Road, Upper Norwood.
When were Croydon’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 42, in 1983.
Are there old photos of Croydon?
Yes: 3 public-domain photos and postcards from 1871 to 1894, all on this page.
Who was born in Croydon?
Among people born before 1900: G. E. Moore (1873), Havelock Ellis (1859), Dora Russell (1894), Lionel Atwill (1885) and C. B. Fry (1872).
How old are the homes in Croydon?
29% of homes were built before 1919 and 52% 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.