IChurch · listed 1966Church of St Peter, SowerbyOn the list as Church of St PeterPhoto: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0
52 and 54, Town Gate · Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0A−History Grade
History of Sowerby Bridge · Historic England
60 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Sowerby Bridge’s built-up area, 134 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 1 scheduled monument. We have photos of 6 of its listed buildings. 21% of its homes were built before 1919. Sowerby Bridge grades A− for history: #17 of 91 in West Yorkshire.
Listed buildings
60
134 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
3
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
1
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
21%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Sowerby Bridge in 6 photos
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Church of St PeterGrade I listed
Field HouseGrade II* listed
Railway Bridge with Wall to West and Coal Drops to EastGrade II listed
Cemetery ChapelGrade II listed
Workshop and barn range to west and north of Field House incorporating Nos 6-16 (even) Upper Field House LaneGrade 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.
The map
Where Sowerby Bridge’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument
2 of 5neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 68% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
60 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I3 Grade II*56 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 Sowerby Bridge
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 3 Grade II* listed buildings in Sowerby Bridge
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 2 are photographed.
II*House · listed 1966Field HousePhoto: Humphrey Bolton · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 196652 and 54, Town GatePhoto: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0
House · listed 1966Haugh End House
What’s protected
The largest group of Sowerby Bridge’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas26
Inns, shops & warehouses12
Walls, gates & bridges11
Churches, chapels & priories7
Public & civic buildings3
Memorials, crosses & tombs1
26 entries (43%) are houses, terraces and villas. 7 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
56 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 56 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Barn adjoining Lane Ends and Nos 2 and 3 to north-eastBlock Adjoining Unit One to South West and Partly Occupied by Woodcraft, Mill House EstateBlock Approximately One Metre to North West of Units 17 and 18, Mill House EstateBrock Well GateBrockwell House and Brockwell CottageBullace Trees CottageCaretaker's Cottage, Mill House EstateCastle HillCemetery ChapelChurch TerraceChurch of St GeorgeChurchyard Wall with 3 Pairs of Gate Piers, 2 with Gates, To Church of St PeterDob CottageField House Old HallFormer Mill Building Occupied by G and F Engineering and Fabrication Company, Mill House EstateFormer Royal HotelFountain Approximately 25 Metres to North East of Field HouseGas Works Bridge, Over River CalderGate Piers to Back Yard at Field HouseGatepiers to South of Field HouseGateway in Grounds of Calderdale Borough Sowerby Bridge Area OfficeHaugh End FarmhouseLane Ends and 2 and 3 Spark House LaneLea family tomb, approximately 43 metres to north of sanctuary of Church of St PeterLongfield House and Fairfield HouseMiddle Harper Royd Cottages Middle Harper Royd FarmhouseMilepost to West of Junction with Lane Running Behind ChurchyardMill Chimney Approximately 25 Metres to North East of Junction with Lower Brock Well LaneNumber 192 with Attached Railings and Gate Piers Porter LodgeNumbers 1 and 2 Mill House LodgeOld Haugh End Old Haugh End CottageOrangery Approximately 50 Metres to North of Workshop and Barn Range at Field HousePollard Family Tomb, Approximately 37 Metres to North North West of Sanctuary of Church of St PeterRailings, gates and gate piers to north west, north east, south east and west of Church of St GeorgeRailway Bridge with Wall to West and Coal Drops to EastSmith Family Tomb, Approximately 30 Metres to North of Sanctuary of Church of St PeterStable range to north east of Field HouseStation SurgeryStirk BridgeStump CottageUnit 10, Mill House EstateUnit 30, Mill House EstateUnit 5, Mill House EstateUnit One, Mill House EstateUnits 17 and 18, Mill House EstateVictoria BridgeWalls and Railings, Gates and Gate Piers Enclosing Station Surgery Walls and Railings, Gates and Gatepiers Enclosing Station SurgeryWell Approximately 5 Metres to North West of Number 190 (Porter Lodge)White Windows, Cheshire HomeWorkshop and barn range to west and north of Field House incorporating Nos 6-16 (even) Upper Field House Lane1, 2 and 10, Sowerby Hall40 and 42 (The Royd), Town Gate50, Sowerby Street54, Sowerby Street80 and 82, Dob Lane84, Dob Lane
Conservation areas
1 conservation area covers 1.1% of Sowerby Bridge
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Sowerby Bridge 19842 ha
2 hain conservation areas, of 153 ha inside the built-up area.
3 of the 60 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 Sowerby Bridge’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1988
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1988 · 401966 · 18
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 18 entries were listed in 1966, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 40 came in 1988, in the national resurvey of the 1970s and 80s. Only 0 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 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
Sowerby Bridge 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 (67 points, 149 per 10,000 residents)More than 80% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (21%)More than 64% 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
Sowerby Bridge has the 88th most Grade I buildings of 985 towns its size
Places of 3,000–7,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Sowerby Bridge1
#167 of 985for listed buildings per resident (134 per 10,000). Sandwich, Tenby and Arundel lead.
87 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Sowerby Bridge
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sowerby Bridge | 4,483 | 60 | 1 | A− |
| Luddenden Foot | 2,148 | 21 | 1 | A− |
| Halifax | 88,111 | 337 | 3 | A |
| Ripponden | 4,775 | 48 | 0 | A |
| Holywell Green and Stainland | 2,799 | 32 | 0 | A |
| Mytholmroyd | 3,852 | 46 | 0 | A |
| Elland | 15,788 | 58 | 2 | A− |
| Outlane | 1,172 | 34 | 0 | A |
In brief
Sowerby Bridge in brief
Measured per resident, Sowerby Bridge has more listed heritage than 80% of UK towns. In all there are 60 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Church of St Peter, Sowerby. Only 87 of the 985 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings.
A conservation area has protected part of it since 1984. The big year was 1988, when 40 of the 60 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: Arthur Southern (1883) and Joe Riley (1876) were born here before 1900; it also has a scheduled monument; and 21% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Sowerby Bridge’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Sowerby Bridge?
Historic England lists 60 buildings inside Sowerby Bridge’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 3 Grade II* and 56 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Sowerby Bridge?
One: Church of St Peter.
Are there scheduled monuments in Sowerby Bridge?
Yes, 1 scheduled monument, including Castle Hill motte castle 270m north east of Rosemary Hall.
How many conservation areas are there in Sowerby Bridge?
1, covering about 2 hectares of the town. The largest is Sowerby Bridge.
When were Sowerby Bridge’s buildings listed?
The first in 1966; the most, 40, in 1988.
How old are the homes in Sowerby Bridge?
21% of homes were built before 1919 and 49% 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.