144 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I

George HotelGrade II* listedThe ChantryGrade II* listedGreenfylde SchoolGrade II listedBarclays BankGrade II listedToll HouseGrade II listed+1See 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.

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).

Of the 144 entries, 64 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

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.

The first 24 entries were listed in 1950, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 101 came in 1976, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.

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.

Stukeley Westcott

John Edward Taylor

John Baker

John Henry Bryant

C. H. Collins Baker

Colin Callander

155016001650170017501800185019001950

John Edward Taylor1791–1844 · British journalist and publisher (1791–1844)

John Baker1813–1872 · Australian politician (1813-1872)

Colin Callander1897–1979 · British Army general (1897-1979)

SW

Stukeley Westcott1592–1677 · British colonist in North America (1592–1677)

JB

John Henry Bryant1867–1906 · British physician (1867–1906)

CB

C. H. Collins Baker1880–1959 · English art historian and painter (1880-1959)

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

Few towns are as rich in listed heritage as Ilminster: per resident it has more than 91% of UK towns. All told, the list holds 144 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Church of St Mary. Only 90 of the 886 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Silver Street alone has 19 listed buildings.

A conservation area has protected part of it since 1973. Of the whole list, 56% are houses, terraces and villas. John Edward Taylor (1791), John Baker (1813) and Colin Callander (1897) are among the 6 people born here before 1900. The rest is about typical: 20% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.