Rhondda: 77% of homes built before 1919

Bethesda Welsh Independent ChapelGrade II* listedFormer Engine House at Llwynypia Colliery SiteGrade II listedMaindy and Eastern Workmen's Institute and HallGrade II listedStatue of Sir Archibald HoodGrade II listedThe Star PHGrade II listed+7See 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. 1850

1905

1905

1905

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1931

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).

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.

54% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1900–18, which added 23% 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.

Tom Williams

May John

John Morgan Lloyd

Ellen Evans

Philip Archibald Gibbs

Dai Collier

John Evans

18501875190019251950

Ellen Evans1891–1953 · Principal of the Glamorgan Training College, Barry (1891-1953)

DC

Dai Collier1894–1972 · British association football player (1894-1972)

Tom Williams1859–1913 · Welsh rugby union forward, born 1859

May John1874–1962 · Soprano singer

PG

Philip Archibald Gibbs1893–1960 · Canadian politician (1893-1960)

JL

John Morgan Lloyd1880–1960 · Welsh musician

JE

John Evans1897–1940 · Welsh rugby league footballer and coach

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

Old houses are part of Rhondda’s character: 77% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 8 listed buildings, including St Peter's Church. Of the 7 people born here before 1900, the best known include Ellen Evans (1891), Dai Collier (1894) and Tom Williams (1859). For its size the list is short: per resident, it has more listed heritage than only 25% of UK towns. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building; and the list grew between 1991 and 1997.