IChurch · listed 1966St Bartholomews ChurchPhoto: gary radford · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: nick macneill · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Orford · Historic England
Orford: 45% of homes built before 1919
Against 15% in the typical town, Orford has 3 times the share. Historic England lists 46 buildings inside Orford’s built-up area, 776 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Listed buildings
46
776 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
0
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
45%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Landmarks of Orford
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. 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.
Through time
Orford in old photos and maps
An old map and 0 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1588Public 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 Orford’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IScheduled monument
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
46 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I0 Grade II*45 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.
Grade I
The Grade I listed building in Orford
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.
What’s protected
Most of Orford’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas33
Public & civic buildings5
Inns, shops & warehouses3
Churches, chapels & priories2
Street furniture2
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
33 entries (72%) 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
45 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 45 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Bell House Conniston LismoreBroadview GwelforButley Orford OysterageCastle AntiquesCastle CottageChantry FarmhouseCorner HouseCrown and Castle HotelDaphne HouseDolphin HouseHigh House High House CottageHill HouseK6 Telephone KioskKings Head Public HouseManor HouseMartleyNumber 29 Smithy Tea Rooms and Number 28Old Brewery HouseOrford War MemorialRose CottageSaham CottageThe ChestnutsThe CottageThe Great HouseThe HolliesThe Jolly Sailor Public HouseThe Old FriaryThe Post OfficeTown HallUnicornsWater Pump111, Church Street112-115, Church Street117, Castle Hill20, High Street21, 23 and 24, High Street37-47, Daphne Road50, 51, 53 and 54, Church Street55 and 57, Church Street58, Church Street64 and 65, Quay Street66 and 67, Quay Street76, Broad Street84 and 83, Market Hill87 and 88, Pump Street
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 59% of Orford
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Orford27 ha
27 hain conservation areas, of 45 ha inside the built-up area.
46 of the 46 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 Orford’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1984
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1984 · 351966 · 8
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 8 entries were listed in 1966, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 35 came in 1984, 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.
Homes by age
45% of Orford’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
44%
Before 1900
0.8%
1900–18
0.8%
1919–29
4.4%
1930s
5.2%
1945–54
4.4%
1955–64
4.4%
1965–72
5.2%
1973–82
9.6%
1983–92
5.2%
1993–99
5.2%
2000–08
4.4%
2009–15
6.3%
2016–25
OrfordEngland & Wales
44% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1983–92, which added 9.6% 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 (3 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Orford
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orford | 593 | 46 | 1 | — |
| Aldeburgh | 2,423 | 63 | 1 | A |
| Rendlesham | 3,185 | 2 | 1 | D |
| Sutton Common | 1,262 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 22 | 0 | B+ |
| Wickham Market | 2,231 | 37 | 0 | A− |
| Saxmundham | 4,778 | 47 | 0 | B+ |
| Melton | 1,608 | 22 | 0 | B |
In brief
Orford in brief
More of Orford’s homes are old than in most places: 45% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 46 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. A conservation area protects part of it.
Of the whole list, 72% are houses, terraces and villas. More than half went on the list in a single year, 1984: 35 of 46. Beyond that, Ben Barrell (1885) and Arthur Aldrich (1840) were born here before 1900; and it also has a scheduled monument.
Questions about Orford’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Orford?
Historic England lists 46 buildings inside Orford’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 0 Grade II* and 45 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Orford?
One: St Bartholomews Church.
Are there scheduled monuments in Orford?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Orford Castle with adjoining quarry and remains of 20th century look-out post.
How many conservation areas are there in Orford?
1, covering about 27 hectares of the town. The largest is Orford.
When were Orford’s buildings listed?
The first in 1966; the most, 35, in 1984.
How old are the homes in Orford?
45% of homes were built before 1919 and 50% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Orford has no History Grade.
© 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.