Penuel Calvinistic Methodist Chapel · Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0Old homes in Ferndale: 90% built before 1919
For Ferndale, that is 6 times the typical town’s share, 15%. Cadw lists 3 buildings inside Ferndale’s built-up area, 7 for every 10,000 residents. We have photos of 3 of its listed buildings and 3 old views of the town. Ferndale grades C+ for history: #19 of 32 in Mid Glamorgan.
Ferndale in 6 photos and old views
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
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.
Ferndale from 1905 to 1905
3 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1905
1905
1905Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
Where Ferndale’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
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.
3 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 3 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Ferndale grades C+ for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all 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.
90% of Ferndale’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
84% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1900–18, which added 8.2% 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.
Listed buildings in the places around Ferndale
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferndale | 4,301 | 3 | 0 | C+ |
| Tylorstown and Pontygwaith | 3,551 | 1 | 0 | C |
| Maerdy | 2,843 | 0 | 0 | C |
| Rhondda | 13,271 | 8 | 0 | B− |
| Wattstown | 1,105 | 1 | 0 | C+ |
| Treorchy | 7,645 | 5 | 0 | C+ |
| Tonypandy | 17,209 | 7 | 0 | B− |
| Mountain Ash | 13,002 | 10 | 0 | B− |
Ferndale in brief
More of Ferndale’s homes are old than in most places: 90% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 3 listed buildings, including Penuel Calvinistic Methodist Chapel. For its size the list is short: per resident, it has more listed heritage than only 14% of UK towns. Beyond that, Edgar Watkins (1887) was born here before 1900; and the list grew between 1994 and 1996.
Questions about Ferndale’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Ferndale?
Cadw lists 3 buildings inside Ferndale’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II* and 3 Grade II.
Are there old photos of Ferndale?
Yes: 3 public-domain photos and postcards from 1905 to 1905, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Ferndale?
90% of homes were built before 1919 and 91% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Listed buildings, scheduled monuments and historic parks and gardens: Cadw, © Crown copyright, via DataMapWales.
Sources: Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, 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. 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.