IChurch · listed 1949St Edmund's ChurchOn the list as Church of St EdmundPhoto: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Bill Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
History of Southwold · Historic England
142 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
On the Historic England list, all of them stand inside Southwold’s built-up area, 1,495 for every 10,000 residents. 137 of Southwold’s listed buildings are Grade II. 38% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 4 of its listed buildings and 1 old view of the town.
Listed buildings
142
1,495 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
4
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
0
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
38%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Southwold in 5 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 EdmundGrade I listed
Lloyds BankGrade II* listed
Manor House and Manor Gate Including Forecourt WallsGrade II* listed
Sutherland HouseGrade II* listed+1See 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
Southwold in old photos
1 old photo or postcard, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1920Public 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 Southwold’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
142 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I4 Grade II*137 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 Southwold
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 4 Grade II* listed buildings in Southwold
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 3 are photographed.
II*Inns & shops · listed 1949Lloyds BankPhoto: Basher Eyre · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1949Manor House and Manor Gate Including Forecourt WallsPhoto: David Kemp · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1949Sutherland HousePhoto: Richard Law · CC BY-SA 2.0
House · listed 1949Buckenham House
Historic streets
High Street 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.
High Street13 listed
Market Place8 listed
Park Lane7 listed
Queen Street6 listed
South Green4 listed
Bartholomew Green3 listed
East Cliff3 listed
East Green3 listed
Of the 142 entries, 60 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of Southwold’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas118
Churches, chapels & priories10
Inns, shops & warehouses6
Street furniture3
Walls, gates & bridges2
Public & civic buildings2
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
118 entries (83%) are houses, terraces and villas. 10 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
137 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 137 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Adnams Wine MerchantsBack to Front Cottage East Cliff HouseBardwell Monument Approximately 15 Metres South of the Chancel of Church of St EdmundBarnaby CottageBay View (Number 14) and East Cliff (Number 15) and Railings Attached to FrontBradwell House (Number 6)Cannon LodgeCentre CliffCentre CliffChest Tomb Approximately 5 Metres South East of Church of St EdmundChurch of the Sacred Heart, and attached PresbyteryChurchyard Gates Approximately 15 Metres South of Church of St Edmund'sCliff House and Shrimp CottageCoachman's CottageCrown HotelDartmouth CottageEvingtonFerndale CottageGordon HouseGreyfriars North and Greyfriars South and Regency HouseGun Hill PlaceHeadstone Approximately 10 Metres South of Porch of Church of St EdmundHeadstone Approximately 7 Metres South of Porch of Church of St EdmundHeadstone to a Nolloth Approximately 15 Matres South of Chancel of Church of St EdmundHill House and WoldsideHolmwoodHoneysuckle Cottage (Number 17)IonaIona Cottage and Iona FlatKing's Head HotelLantern Cottage (Number 52)Lydstep House and CoignMay Place May Place Cottage (Number 7A)Montague House and Railings Attached at FrontOak CottageOlde Banke HousePair of Headstones Approximately 5 Metres South of Porch of Church of St EdmundPark Lane Cottage Park Lane Cottage WestPark Lane Cottage Park Lane Cottage WestPrimrose Cottage and Dolphin CottageProvidence CottageReading Room CottageRed Lion InnRosemary CottagesRowan CottageRutland HouseSailors' Reading RoomSalt Works CottageSole Bay CottageSole Bay InnSouth Green CottageSouth Green HouseSouth HouseSouthwold MuseumSouthwold War MemorialSpindriftStone HouseStrickland HouseSwan HotelThe Bolt Hole and Wayside CottageThe Elms (Number 1)The LighthouseThe Old ChapelThe Old House (Number 49)The Retreat and Pin CottageThe StudioTown HallTown PumpTrafalgar CottageTrinity CottageTudor CottageUnited Reformed ChurchVanessa VillaWatch HouseWellesley CottageWhite Horse CottageWhitehall and Guardship1 and 2, Bartholomew Green1-19, Church Street10 and 12, Park Lane10, East Green10, Market Place10, Queen Street10, Trinity Street10A, 10B, 10C and 10D, South Green11 and 13, Market Place12, Queen Street13 and 15, High Street13 and 15, Park Lane14 and 14A, South Green14, Park Lane14, Queen Street15 and 16, Barnaby Green15, Market Place16 and 18, Park Lane16, Queen Street17, Barnaby Green18, Queen Street19, Market Place2 Headstones Approximately 12 Metres South East of Church of St Edmund2 Headstones Approximately 15 Metres East South East of Church of St Edmund2, East Street20, High Street20, Park Lane21 and 23, Park Lane21, Market Place22, High Street23, Market Place24 and 26, Church Street24, South Green25, High Street25, Market Place3 and 4, Bartholomew Green3, Market Place3-6, East Green38 and 40, High Street4 and 6, Queen Street5 and 6, Bartholomew Green5 and 6, East Cliff54 and 54A, High Street55-63, High Street6, Pinkney's Lane6, Queen's Road66, High Street7, East Cliff7, South Green71, High Street75 and 77, Victoria Street8 East Cliff8 and 9, East Green8, Queen's Road8, Trinity Street82, 84 and 86, High Street9, Park Lane94, High Street96, High Street98, 98A and 100, High Street
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 71% of Southwold
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Southwold 197144 ha
44 hain conservation areas, of 62 ha inside the built-up area.
142 of the 142 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 Southwold’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1971
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1971 · 1091949 · 172000 · 15
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 17 entries were listed in 1949, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 109 came in 1971, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Homes by age
38% of Southwold’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
29%
Before 1900
8.1%
1900–18
5.1%
1919–29
6.6%
1930s
2%
1945–54
8.6%
1955–64
6.1%
1965–72
11%
1973–82
5.6%
1983–92
2%
1993–99
5.6%
2000–08
5.6%
2009–15
4.1%
2016–25
SouthwoldEngland & Wales
29% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was 1973–82, which added 11% 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 (5 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
4 notable people born in Southwold before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Edward Killwick Calver
David Chaplin Sterry
Reg Carter
Stephen Southwold
1800182518501875190019251950
EC
Edward Killwick Calver1813–1892 · 6 December 1813 - 28 October 1892
RC
Reg Carter1886–1949 · British cartoonist (1886–1949)
SS
Stephen Southwold1887–1964 · British writer (1887–1964)
DS
David Chaplin Sterry1832–1904 · Australian politician (1832-1904)
Everyone born in Southwold → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Southwold
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwold | 950 | 142 | 1 | — |
| Reydon | 2,369 | 6 | 0 | B− |
| Kessingland | 4,242 | 6 | 1 | C |
| Halesworth | 4,924 | 118 | 0 | A− |
| Worlingham | 3,618 | 3 | 0 | D |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 149 | 6 | A |
| Leiston | 5,919 | 22 | 0 | B+ |
| Lowestoft | 71,308 | 119 | 2 | B+ |
In brief
Southwold in brief
More of Southwold’s homes are old than in most places: 38% were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. All told, the list holds 142 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. High Street alone has 13 listed buildings. A conservation area has protected part of it since 1971.
Most entries on the list, 83%, are houses, terraces and villas. Edward Killwick Calver (1813), Reg Carter (1886) and Stephen Southwold (1887) are among the 4 people born here before 1900. The big year was 1971, when 109 of the 142 went on the list.
Questions about Southwold’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Southwold?
Historic England lists 142 buildings inside Southwold’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 4 Grade II* and 137 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Southwold?
One: Church of St Edmund.
Which street in Southwold has the most listed buildings?
High Street (13), Market Place (8) and Park Lane (7) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
How many conservation areas are there in Southwold?
1, covering about 44 hectares of the town. The largest is Southwold.
When were Southwold’s buildings listed?
The first in 1949; the most, 109, in 1971.
Are there old photos of Southwold?
Yes: 1 public-domain photo or postcard from 1920 to 1920, all on this page.
Who was born in Southwold?
Among people born before 1900: Edward Killwick Calver (1813), Reg Carter (1886), Stephen Southwold (1887) and David Chaplin Sterry (1832).
How old are the homes in Southwold?
38% of homes were built before 1919 and 50% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
Southwold 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.