The Deepdene (including Chart Park) · Photo: Thomas Allom · Public domain

History of Dorking · Historic England

151 listed buildings, 4 of them Grade II*

Historic England counts them inside Dorking’s built-up area, 86 for every 10,000 residents. Of the listed buildings in Dorking, 147 are Grade II. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings and 4 old views of the town. 23% of its homes were built before 1919. Dorking grades A− for history: #7 of 65 in Surrey.

4Grade II*22on High Street

Listed buildings

151

86 per 10,000 residents

Grade I

exceptional interest

Grade II*

more than special interest

Scheduled monuments

1 registered park or garden

Homes built before 1919

23%

typical UK town 15%

In pictures

Dorking in 11 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 MartinGrade II* listed

Pippbrook HouseGrade II* listed

AlmshousesGrade II listed

Pixham MillGrade II listed

The White Horse HotelGrade II listed+6See 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.

Through time

Dorking from 1646 to 1903

4 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.

GeorgianThe Old Pest House, Hampstead Lane, Dorking, SurreyPhoto: Samuel William Collins · Public domain

GeorgianSouth Street from Pump Corner, Dorking, SurreyPhoto: John Beckett · Public domain

VictorianView from Leith Hill, Dorking, SurreyPhoto: Frank Walton · Public domain

EdwardianPicturesque Surrey The Rookery near DorkingPhoto: Unknown photographer · Public domain

Public 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 Dorking’s history is

Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.

Grade II*Park or garden

Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+

1 of 12neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 54% were built before 1919.

Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.

151 listed buildings by grade

0 Grade I4 Grade II*147 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 II*

The 4 Grade II* listed buildings in Dorking

Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 3 are photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.

Church · listed 1973St Martin's ChurchOn the list as Church of St MartinPhoto: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0

House · listed 1973Pippbrook HousePhoto: MartynDavies · CC BY-SA 3.0

Church · listed 1973Pixham ChurchPhoto: The Voice of Hassocks · CC0

House · listed 195120 and 22, High Street

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 Street22 listed · 1 II*

West Street16 listed

South Street12 listed

Rose Hill6 listed

Dene Street4 listed

Of the 151 entries, 66 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.

What’s protected

Most of Dorking’s listed buildings are homes

Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.

Houses, terraces & villas109

Walls, gates & bridges15

Inns, shops & warehouses11

Churches, chapels & priories7

Public & civic buildings4

Street furniture4

Memorials, crosses & tombs1

109 entries (72%) are houses, terraces and villas. 7 are churches, chapels and priories.

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

147 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 147 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z

Almshouses Anglican Chapel at Dorking Cemetery Brookside Bull's Head Butter Hill House Rose Hill House Centre Cottage Ivy Cottages Nower Cottages Church of St John the Evangelist Church of St Paul Clarendon House Cotmandene House Cotmandene Lodge Old Cotmandene Lodge Rushwood House Dairy at Park Farm Deepdene icehouse Dorking Cemetery Lodge, Entrance Arch, Former Mortuary and Attached Walls Dorking War Memorial Folly Tower at Tower Cottage Former Bell Hotel Former Wheatsheaf Public House Garden Wall and Gate Piers to North West of Butter Hill House Garden Wall of No 77 to North West of House Garden Wall on North East Side of Rose Hill House Garden Wall on South East Side of Rose Hill House Garden Wall to Holly House Garden Wall to No 18 Garden Wall to No 22 Garden Wall to Nos 19 and 20 Garden Wall to Nos 21 Garden Walls to Nos 3 and 4 Garden Walls to Nos 5 and 6 Garden Walls to Numbers 7 and 8 Garden Walls to South Front of Goodwyns Place Goodwyns Place Granite Sets Along the Edge of the High Street Granite Setts Along the Edge of the High Street from Nos 108 to 140 Harrow Cottage Holly House Iron Railings and Gate Within Curtilage of No 227 Iron-Stone Setts and Cobbles in Carriageway of Hotel and Iron-Stone Setts Within Curtilage of White Horse Hotel on Northern Side Ivy Cottage K6 Telephone Kiosk Outside No 21, South Street Kent Cottage Lamp Standard Hand Rail and 10 Bollards Within Curtilage of Nos 128 to 142 Lesley Cottage Lesley House Little Dudley House Middle Lodge Milton Pound, Westcott Road, Dorking Mount House Nonconformist Chapel at Dorking Cemetery Nutcracker Cottage Old Castle Mill Old Castle Mill House Park Farmhouse Pear Tree Cottage Pippbrook Mill House Pixham Mill Pixham Mill Cottage Pixham Mill House Pump (Before Nos 2 to 6)Rest Harrow Rose Cottage Rose Cottage Rose Hill Lodge Rosehill Cottage Spotted Dog Public House Stables at the Vicarage Stone House Stoneroof Surrey Yeoman Public House The Beehive The Cottage The Highlands The King's Arms The Old House The Old Vicarage The Vicarage The White Horse Hotel Three Lamp Standards 54 Bollards and Handrail Within Curtilage of Nos 22 to 100 United Reformed Church West Lodge West Street House Western facade of former Dorking Hospital White Lodge 1 and 2, North Street 1, West Street 10, North Street 100-106, High Street 11, West Street 113 and 115, South Street 115 and 117, High Street 12 and 13, Cotmandene 12 and 14, South Street 12-15, West Street 13 and 15, High Street 132-138, High Street 140 and 142 High Street (part of the White Horse Hotel)150-156, High Street 155-161, High Street 16 and 18, South Street 162 and 164, High Street 163-171, High Street 168 and 170, High Street 16A, West Street 17 and 19, High Street 19 and 20, Rose Hill 196-218, High Street 2 to 6, South Street (including frontage on West Street as far west as No 1 West Street)2, West Street 2-9, Spring Gardens 20-26, South Street 22 and 23, West Street 22, Rose Hill 225-231, High Street 23 and 24, Rose Hill 24, West Street 29 and 31, High Street 3 and 11, High Street 3 and 4, Rose Hill 3 and 4, West Street 35-38, Dene Street 38 and 40, South Street 40-46, High Street 41 and 42, Dene Street 41-47, High Street 48-56, High Street 5 and 6, Rose Hill 5 and 6, West Street 50-52, West Street 51 and 53, High Street 54, West Street 55 and 56, West Street 58 and 60, High Street 58-61, West Street 62 and 64, High Street 63, Dene Street 7 and 8, Rose Hill 7, South Street 7, West Street 70 and 71, Dene Street 8 and 10, South Street 80 and 82, South Street 86, South Street 8A, West Street 9 and 10, West Street 9, South Street 90-98, High Street 94 and 96, South Street 97, South Street

Conservation areas

2 conservation areas cover 8.8% of Dorking

Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.

Dorking 197442 ha

Dorking, Pixham Lane 19743 ha

45 hain conservation areas, of 516 ha inside the built-up area.

The first, Dorking and Dorking, Pixham Lane, were designated in 1974; the newest, Dorking, Pixham Lane, in 1974. 124 of the 151 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 Dorking’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1973

The year each building now on the list was first listed.

1973 · 1211951 · 17

19501960197019801990200020102020

The first 17 entries were listed in 1951. 121 came in 1973, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 2 have 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 registered park or garden

The Deepdene (including Chart Park)Grade II*

History Grade

Dorking 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 (157 points, 90 per 10,000 residents)More than 80% of UK towns

Homes built before 1919 (23%)More than 68% 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.

Homes by age

23% of Dorking’s homes were built before 1919

Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).

20%

Before 1900

2.7%

1900–18

8.8%

1919–29

13%

1930s

1945–54

13%

1955–64

6.7%

1965–72

1973–82

12%

1983–92

2.5%

1993–99

5.8%

2000–08

2009–15

4.7%

2016–25

DorkingEngland & Wales

20% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was the 1930s, which added 13% 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 (220 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.

Born here

18 notable people born in Dorking before 1900

Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.

William Mullins

Christopher Hussey

Priscilla Alden

Frederick Wells

Henry Lancelot Holland

Francis Rusden

Thomas Rusden

William Taylor

Harry Jupp

Arthur Sanders Way

William Jupp

Walter Dendy Sadler

Edward English

Cameron Shute

Helen Hanson

Ivo Vesey

John Rickman

Ernie Dilley

155016001650170017501800185019001950

Priscilla Alden1602–1685 · Mayflower passenger and New World colonist (1602–1685)

Harry Jupp1841–1889 · Cricket player of England. (1841-1889)

Walter Dendy Sadler1854–1923 · British artist (1854-1923)

Edward English1864–1966 · English cricketer (1864-1966)

Frederick Wells1796–1849 · British cricketer (1796-1849)

Arthur Sanders Way1847–1930 · English scholar (1847-1930)

Cameron Shute1866–1936 · British Army general (1866-1936)

Ivo Vesey1876–1975 · British Army general

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

Neighbours

Listed buildings in the places around Dorking

Town	People	Listed	Grade I	History
Dorking	17,463	151	0	A⁻
Westcott	2,275	34	0	A
Brockham	2,206	43	0	A⁻
Box Hill	1,271	1	0	D
Beare Green	1,940	6	0	C
Great Bookham and Fetcham	21,655	85	1	B⁻
Leatherhead	11,482	61	0	B⁺
Gomshall	1,378	13	0	A⁻

In brief

Dorking in brief

Old houses are part of Dorking’s character: 23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 151 listed buildings, including St Martin's Church. Per resident, it has more listed heritage than 80% of UK towns. High Street alone has 22 listed buildings.

Its older streets lie in 2 conservation areas, the first designated in 1974. Most entries on the list, 72%, are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 18 people born here before 1900, the best known include Priscilla Alden (1602), Harry Jupp (1841) and Walter Dendy Sadler (1854). The rest is about typical: like most towns its size, it has no Grade I building.

Questions about Dorking’s history

How many listed buildings are there in Dorking?

Historic England lists 151 buildings inside Dorking’s built-up area: 0 Grade I, 4 Grade II* and 147 Grade II.

Which street in Dorking has the most listed buildings?

High Street (22), West Street (16) and South Street (12) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.

How many conservation areas are there in Dorking?

2, covering about 45 hectares of the town. The largest are Dorking and Dorking, Pixham Lane.

When were Dorking’s buildings listed?

The first in 1951; the most, 121, in 1973.

Are there old photos of Dorking?

Yes: 4 public-domain photos and postcards from 1646 to 1903, all on this page.

Who was born in Dorking?

Among people born before 1900: Priscilla Alden (1602), Harry Jupp (1841), Walter Dendy Sadler (1854), Edward English (1864) and Frederick Wells (1796).

How old are the homes in Dorking?

23% of homes were built before 1919 and 45% 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.