Listed Buildings

In all parts of the Spen Valley there are old buildings which are of special historic or architectural interest. Providing certain standards are met the Government, in the form of English Heritage, will designate a building as "Listed". This means the building cannot be altered or demolished without "Listed Building Consent" for which an application has to be made to the council's planning department.

Permission may well not be granted. Or it may be granted for special reasons. Such a reason could be that if permission is not granted there will be no use for the building and it may not be maintained. The price of this approach is that many listed buildings have been significantly altered and in some cases spoiled to make them useable. Conversely, some owners have saved dilapidated buildings and restored them to a high standard. A good example of this is Old Hall in Heckmondwike - the pub on New North Road.

As an observation,  although buildings can be listed as being of historic OR architectural interest, in practice it is mainly about architecture. For example the Society tried to have the Shears Inn listed in order to obstruct its demolition in late 2009. Despite being steeped in history English Heritage would not list the inn as (it said) all the original "architecture" had been altered at one time or another. Fortunately the new owners did not want to demolish the pub and instead have invested heavily in making it a success.

Another problem for listing as a means of protecting our heritage is that the buildings which are saved are largely those of the church and of wealthy people. The lists of protected buildings do not contain many examples of places associated with ordinary people. However it must be admitted that property built on the cheap has often proved unable to survive the ravages of time. Finally, the "setting" of many listed buildings has been spoiled by the council giving planning permission for new buildings which are too close.

But - all things considered - listing has helped maintain much of the richness of our built heritage. Listing has prevented the demolition of many buildings and owners have in many cases made a good job of renovation.

To view the list of Listed Buildings click here.   All buildings are Listed unless stated and all are Grade II Listed unless stated.