II*Memorials · listed 1984Statue of Queen VictoriaPhoto: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bridge over Railway · Photo: El Pollock · CC BY-SA 2.0B−History Grade
History of St Helens · Historic England
44 listed buildings, 5 of them Grade II*
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside St Helens’s built-up area, 4.1 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 4 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 5 of its listed buildings and 3 old views of the town. 17% of its homes were built before 1919. St Helens grades B− for history: #9 of 25 in Merseyside.
Listed buildings
44
4.1 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
0
exceptional interest
Grade II*
5
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
4
3 registered parks & gardens
Homes built before 1919
17%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
St Helens in 10 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.
Statue of Queen VictoriaGrade II* listed
Tank house, beside canal at Crown Glass WorksGrade II* listed
St Helens Junction StationGrade II listed
St Helens Quaker Meeting HouseGrade II listed
Borough Cemetery, St HelensGrade II park or garden+5See 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
St Helens from 1903 to 1903
3 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1903
1903
1903Public 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 St Helens’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
6 of 74neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 86% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
44 listed buildings by grade
0 Grade I5 Grade II*39 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 II*
The 5 Grade II* listed buildings in St Helens
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 2 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
II*Walls & gates · listed 1985Tank House, World of GlassOn the list as Tank house, beside canal at Crown Glass WorksPhoto: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0
House · listed 1971Adjacent Ruins at Scholes House
House · listed 1958Effigy Pedestal in Garden of Scholes House
House · listed 1958Scholes House
What’s protected
The largest group of St Helens’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas16
Churches, chapels & priories12
Walls, gates & bridges7
Public & civic buildings6
Memorials, crosses & tombs2
Inns, shops & warehouses1
16 entries (36%) are houses, terraces and villas. 12 are churches, chapels and priories.
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
39 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 39 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Beechams Clock Tower and officesBottle Shop at Former Ravenhead Glass Bottle WorksBridge over RailwayBridge over RailwayChrist ChurchChurch of All SaintsChurch of Holy Cross and Saint HelenChurch of Holy TrinityChurch of St HelenChurch of St John EvangelistChurch of St Mary ImmaculateChurch of St Mary, Lowe HouseChurch of St NicholasChurch of St PeterCockleshell CottageCowley High School, South BlockEccleston HallFormer Pilkingtons Headquarters complex: including the canteen block and link walkway, gatehouse, former chauffeur's house, car port, steps down to the lake, the north lake surrounds and concrete bridgeGrotto by Lake to North of Victoria Park HouseHome Farmhouse and Attached BarnNutgrove HallOffices of Pilkington's Ravenhead WorksOld Double LockPair of K6 Telephone Kiosks Flanking Steps to the Town HallPart of Numbers 96 and 98 Former Windmill Tower, RavenheadReflection Court, the former Pilkington's HQ offices, Grove Street & Canal Street, St HelensSherdley Hall FarmhouseSt Helens Junction StationSt Helens Quaker Meeting HouseSt Marks Gate LodgeSutton Oak Welsh ChapelThe MalthouseThe Mansion HouseThe Miner or The Anderton Mining Monument, St Helens Linkway, St HelensThe Wheatsheaf, including bowling green viewing terrace16 Hardshaw Street2, Lionel Street53 and 55, Rainford Road59, Rainford Road
Conservation areas
2 conservation areas in St Helens
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
George Street 20014 ha
Victoria Square 19763 ha
7 hain conservation areas, of 2,879 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Victoria Square, was designated in 1976; the newest, George Street, in 2001. 5 of the 44 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
19 of St Helens’s 44 listed buildings were added in 1985
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1985 · 19
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 3 entries were listed in 1951. 19 came in 1985, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 3 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.
4 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
St Helens 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 (60 points, 6 per 10,000 residents)More than 45% 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
26 notable people born in St Helens before 1900
The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.
John Rylands
John William Draper
Richard Pilkington
Richard Seddon
Rowland Pennington
Thomas Beecham
Leo Watson
John Molyneux
Albert Fairclough
Alf Basnett
Billy Murphy
David Mercer
Peter Fairclough
Harry Woods
John Green
James Lofthouse
Jack Bamber
Samuel Cheetham
Jack Woods
Herbert Mundin
1800182518501875190019251950
Thomas Beecham1879–1961 · British conductor and impresario (1879–1961)
John William Draper1811–1882 · British-American academic (1811-1882)
Richard Seddon1845–1906 · New Zealand politician and Prime Minister (1845–1906)
JB
Jack Bamber1895–1973 · English footballer (1895–1973)
Herbert Mundin1897–1939 · British actor (1898–1939)
AB
Alf Basnett1893–1966 · English footballer (1893-1966)
BM
Billy Murphy1893–1962 · English footballer (1895-1962)
Harry Woods1894–1956 · English footballer (1894-?)
Everyone born in St Helens → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
How St Helens compares with 100 towns its size
Places of 65,000–172,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around St Helens
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Helens | 107,684 | 44 | 0 | B− |
| Prescot | 39,227 | 45 | 1 | C+ |
| Haydock | 16,143 | 1 | 0 | D |
| Billinge | 4,963 | 7 | 0 | C− |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 1 | 0 | D |
| Cronton | 1,234 | 6 | 0 | C+ |
| Rainford | 5,573 | 8 | 0 | C |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 16 | 0 | C |
In brief
St Helens in brief
The official list counts 44 listed buildings in St Helens, including Statue of Queen Victoria. Its older streets lie in 2 conservation areas, the first designated in 1976. Thomas Beecham (1879), John William Draper (1811) and Richard Seddon (1845) are among the 26 people born here before 1900. Most towns its size have more Grade I buildings: the typical one has 2. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; it also has 4 scheduled monuments; and 17% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about St Helens’s history
How many listed buildings are there in St Helens?
Historic England lists 44 buildings inside St Helens’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 5 Grade II* and 39 Grade II.
Are there scheduled monuments in St Helens?
Yes, 4 scheduled monuments, including Cannington Shaw Bottle Shop, Sherdley Works, Micklehead Green moated site, Number nine Tank House: the Jubilee glassworks 100m south west of the Government Offices on Chalon Way and Standing cross south of the chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury in the cemetery at Windlehurst.
How many conservation areas are there in St Helens?
2, covering about 7 hectares of the town. The largest are George Street and Victoria Square.
When were St Helens’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 19, in 1985.
Are there old photos of St Helens?
Yes: 3 public-domain photos and postcards from 1903 to 1903, all on this page.
Who was born in St Helens?
Among people born before 1900: Thomas Beecham (1879), John William Draper (1811), Richard Seddon (1845), Jack Bamber (1895) and Herbert Mundin (1897).
How old are the homes in St Helens?
17% of homes were built before 1919 and 37% 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.