There are hundreds of Grade I listed buildings and structures in London. We're not going into all of them here — because frankly none of us have the time for that — but we've picked out some less obvious highlights from each borough and the City, mapped them and given you a bit of detail. Apart from Waltham Forest, which doesn't have a single Grade I listed building to its name. Sorry.
What is a listed building?
There's a list of buildings, monuments, gardens, etc that are considered noteworthy and/or of historic interest, and shouldn't be altered in a way that affects that significance. The list is managed by Historic England (formerly part of English Heritage).
There are three categories of listed buildings:
- Grade I, for exceptional examples. 2.5% of all listed buildings are Grade I
- Grade II*, for important buildings that are of more than special interest. 5.5% of all listed buildings are Grade II*
- Grade II, for buildings of special interest. The remainder of listed buildings are Grade II.
An easy way to tell if something's listed is its age. All buildings built before 1700, in anything like their original condition, are listed, as are many built between 1700-1840.
It's not just buildings that get listed. As you can see from our map, statues, railings, dock and even water features get listed as well. You can search the database for all listed structures — for yucks, try searching 'bollard'. 89 results.
