Listed Buildings

A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building which has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest and must be a man-made structure that survives close to its original state. It may not be demolished, extended or altered without special permission from the local planning authority. Although named Listed ‘Buildings’, the list also includes other structures such as bridges, monuments, sculptures, war memorials, milestones and mileposts.

In England and Wales, listed buildings are classified in three grades:

  • Grade I buildings are of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
  • Grade II buildings are particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
  • Grade III buildings are nationally important and of special interest.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/

Scotland and Northern Ireland also use three grades of classification: A, B and C categories. The assessment criteria differs from the English and Welsh system, therefore listed buildings within these countries do not share the same categorization and are not equivalent.
https://canmore.org.uk/
http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designations

British listed buildings provides information on listed structures in England, Wales and Scotland
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/

Heritage Australia

Under the Heritage Places Act, places are determined to be worthy of listing if they satisfy one or more of the following criteria found in Section 16 of the Act:

  • It demonstrates important aspects of the evolution or pattern of the State’s history.
  • It has rare, uncommon or endangered qualities that are of cultural significance.
  • It may yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the State’s history, including its natural history.
  • It is an outstanding representative of a particular class of places of cultural significance.
  • It demonstrates a high degree of creative, aesthetic or technical accomplishment or is an outstanding representative of particular construction techniques or design characteristics.
  • It has strong cultural or spiritual associations for the community or a group within it.
  • It has a special association with the life or work of a person or organisation or an event of historical importance.