Aberdare: 50% of homes built before 1919

St Elvan's ChurchGrade II* listedSt John the Baptist Parish ChurchGrade II* listedBandstand in Aberdare ParkGrade II listedHirwaun war memorial clock towerGrade II listedPedestal and Statue of "Caradog"Grade II listed+3See all photos

Photos 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.

c. 1813

c. 1861

Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.

Cadw lists buildings of special architectural or historic interest in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest, Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest, and Grade II for buildings of special interest. Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.

Every entry on Cadw’s register of listed buildings 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).

Cadw’s conservation areas via DataMapWales. Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.

The first 4 entries were listed in 1961. 46 came in 1991. Only 2 have been added in the last 15 years.

1 scheduled monument

Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Welsh Government (Cadw).

1 registered park or garden

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.

38% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1900–18, which added 11% 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.

Ieuan Ddu ap Dafydd ab Owain

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare

Rees Hopkin Rhys

Preston Austin

Griffith Rhys Jones

Dan Beddoe

William John Evans

Rosser Evans

Sir David Llewellyn, 1st Baronet

Teddy Morgan

Elizabeth Andrews

Rose Davies

William Llewellyn Morgan

S. O. Davies

George Prowse

Ezer Griffiths

Dai Nicholas

Hubert Rhys

Dai James

1500165018001950

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare1815–1895 · British nobleman and politician (1815–1895)

EA

Elizabeth Andrews1882–1960 · First woman organiser of the Labour Party in Wales (1882-1960)

S. O. Davies1886–1972 · British politician (1886-1972)

Dan Beddoe1863–1937 · British opera singer (1863-1937)

Teddy Morgan1880–1949 · Welsh Rugby union footballer. (1880-1949)

DN

Dai Nicholas1897–1982 · Welsh footballer (1897-1982)

HR

Hubert Rhys1897–1970 · English cricketer (1897-1970)

Griffith Rhys Jones1834–1897 · British conductor (1834-1897)

Everyone born in Aberdare → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.

More of Aberdare’s homes are old than in most places: 50% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 70 listed buildings, including St Elvan's Church. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1983.

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare (1815), Elizabeth Andrews (1882) and S. O. Davies (1886) are among the 19 people born here before 1900. The big year was 1991, when 46 of the 70 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has no Grade I building, where the middle town its size has 1; per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has a scheduled monument.