IChurch · listed 1959Church of St Peter and St PaulPhoto: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Corn Mill Offices and Store Building (Premises of Dewing and Kersley Limited · Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0A−History Grade
History of Fakenham · Historic England
94 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Fakenham’s built-up area, 112 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 2 old views of the town. 14% of its homes were built before 1919. Fakenham grades A− for history: #10 of 51 in Norfolk.
Listed buildings
94
112 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
1
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
14%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Fakenham 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.
Church of St Peter and St PaulGrade I listed
Red Lion HotelGrade II* listed
Bridge over River WensumGrade II listed
Fakenham Conservative ClubGrade II listed
Central CinemaGrade II listed+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
Fakenham from 1806 to 1946
An old map and 2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1806
c. 1810
1946Public 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 Fakenham’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 monument
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
0 of 7neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 43% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
94 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I1 Grade II*92 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 Grade I listed building in Fakenham
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The Grade II* listed building in Fakenham
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*Inns & shops · listed 1951Red Lion HotelPhoto: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0
Historic streets
Market Place has the most listed buildings
Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.
Market Place15 listed
Oak Street13 listed
Norwich Street9 listed
Wells Road6 listed
Bridge Street3 listed
Of the 94 entries, 59 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of Fakenham’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas76
Inns, shops & warehouses7
Walls, gates & bridges4
Public & civic buildings3
Churches, chapels & priories2
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
Street furniture1
76 entries (81%) are houses, terraces and villas. 2 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 1 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
92 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 92 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Baron's HallBorrisokaneBridge over River WensumCentral CinemaChurch of the Holy TrinityConnaught HouseCorn Mill (Premises of R.A.Picken)Corn Mill Offices and Store Building (Premises of Dewing and Kersley LimitedCrinkle Crankle and Other Walls Surrounding Youth and Community Centres (Not Included)Crown HotelDunsterFakenham Conservative ClubFakenham War MemorialGarden Boundary Wall (Approximately 120 Metres) and Gate Piers South of Grove House Along Tunn Street and Mill LaneGrove HouseHeath FarmhouseLamp Post Imediately North of Number 20Manor HouseNo 17. Wall Abutting No 17 to SouthOriginal Building of Main Block of Fakenham Grammar SchoolPenny WiseRed HouseRidleysStar InnThe Bell InnThe GreenThe Old Fire StationThe Rampant Horse InnThe Womens Institute CottageThe Wooden HorseTower HouseWensum HouseWoodspring1 and 3, Bridge Street1 and 3, Oak Street1 and 3, Wells Road1, Hall Staithe1, Market Place1, Old Post Office Street10, Market Place11, Bridge Street11, Oak Street11, Wells Road12, Market Place13 and 15, Wells Road14, Market Place15 and 17, Norwich Street16, Market Place17 and 19, Wells Road18, Market Place18, Oak Street19, Market Place2 K6 Telephone Kiosks2 and 3, Market Place2, Oak Street21 and 23, Norwich Road21, Oak Street21, Tunn Street23, Market Place24 and 26, Market Place27, Market Place28 and 29, Market Place3, Nelson Road3, Old Post Office Street3, Quaker Lane3, Swan Street30 and 32, Norwich Street30, Market Place32 and 34, Oak Street33 and 35, Oak Street33, Norwich Street34, Norwich Street35, Norwich Road35, Norwich Street36, Oak Street37, Bridge Street4 and 5, Market Place4, Norwich Street4, Oak Street4-8, Cattle Market Street44 and 46, Wells Road5 and 7, Oak Street5, Norwich Street5, Wells Road5-11, Swan Street52 and 54, Oak Street6, Oak Street7 and 9, Tunn Street7, Norwich Street7-9, Market Place8 and 10, Oak Street9, Norwich Street
Conservation areas
2 conservation areas cover 9% of Fakenham
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Fakenham 197525 ha
Hempton 19744 ha
29 hain conservation areas, of 322 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Hempton, was designated in 1974; the newest, Fakenham, in 1975. 91 of the 94 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
More than half of Fakenham’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1979
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1979 · 721951 · 12
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 12 entries were listed in 1951. 72 came in 1979, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has 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.
1 scheduled monument
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
History Grade
Fakenham grades A− for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (99 points, 118 per 10,000 residents)More than 80% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (14%)More than 42% 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.
Towns its size
Fakenham has the 91st most Grade I buildings of 729 towns its size
Places of 5,000–13,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Fakenham1
#125 of 729for listed buildings per resident (112 per 10,000). Brecon, Dartmouth and Malmesbury lead.
90 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Fakenham
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fakenham | 8,390 | 94 | 1 | A− |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 15 | 2 | A− |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 28 | 1 | A |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 3 | 0 | B− |
| Wells-next-the-Sea | 2,151 | 185 | 0 | A+ |
| Briston | 1,983 | 10 | 0 | B− |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 7 | 1 | C+ |
| Holt | 4,014 | 112 | 0 | A− |
In brief
Fakenham in brief
Measured per resident, Fakenham has more listed heritage than 80% of UK towns. In all there are 94 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Church of St Peter and St Paul. Only 90 of the 729 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Market Place alone has 15 listed buildings.
Its older streets lie in 2 conservation areas, the first designated in 1974. Of the whole list, 81% are houses, terraces and villas. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1979: 72 of 94. The rest is about typical: Jim Syder Sr. (1880) was born here before 1900; it also has a scheduled monument; and 14% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Fakenham’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Fakenham?
Historic England lists 94 buildings inside Fakenham’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II* and 92 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Fakenham?
One: Church of St Peter and St Paul.
Which street in Fakenham has the most listed buildings?
Market Place (15), Oak Street (13) and Norwich Street (9) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
Are there scheduled monuments in Fakenham?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Fakenham gasworks.
How many conservation areas are there in Fakenham?
2, covering about 29 hectares of the town. The largest are Fakenham and Hempton.
When were Fakenham’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 72, in 1979.
Are there old photos of Fakenham?
Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1806 to 1810, and an old map from 1946, all on this page.
How old are the homes in Fakenham?
14% of homes were built before 1919 and 19% 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.