What is local listing?
Local listing helps us recognise buildings and other structures in Wirral that are important to local people. These places help tell the story of our area. They include buildings, artworks, and objects such as village pumps, old walls, and other features that help give Wirral its character.
A place may be locally listed because it has a link to a historic event or person, shows early ideas or technology, or gives us clues about how people lived in the past. Local listing helps us understand and protect these places so that we can pass them on to future generations.
When an asset is added to the local list, its importance is recognised. This means it can be considered as part of future planning decisions. Local listing helps us learn about our shared heritage and understand what makes Wirral a special place.
View guidance on local listings on the Historic England website
Local listing update
Nominations for local listing closed on 1 September 2025. We are now reviewing all suggested buildings and structures as part of a borough-wide project to support conservation. Each nomination will be assessed to see if it should be included under Article 4 Directions. Article 4 Directions can give extra planning protection to important places.
We will prepare a draft list, which will be shared for public consultation. We aim to adopt the final list in 2026. This work supports Wirral Council’s commitment to protecting our historic places and giving residents a say in their future.
Local listing criteria
Local listing is only for assets that have real local importance. As the Government states, in the National Planning Policy Framework (2021), most buildings do not meet this level of significance. Careful checks are needed at each stage to make sure the list stays meaningful.
To decide if an asset should be locally listed, we look at the contribution it makes to the character of an area and how it is valued by local people. Conservation area appraisals can help with this because they identify buildings and features that make a positive contribution.
What types of assets can be included?
A wide range of places and structures can be considered. At first, the local list will focus on buildings, built structures, and landmarks across Wirral including:
- buildings in towns or rural areas, such as homes, industrial buildings, transport buildings, leisure buildings, religious buildings, or military buildings
- buildings that are complete or partly complete, depending on how much of the original structure and materials survive
- monuments that have strong community or visual value
- street furniture and structures such as milestones, boundary stones, post boxes, lamp posts, statues, cobbled roads, old walls, gates, railings, and bridges
Structures that are damaged or without roofs may still be included if they show rare construction methods or have strong historic or community value. Statues or landmarks that are well known locally may also be considered.
Find out more about the selection criteria for buildings and structures
As the project develops, we may widen the types of assets we assess.
How we will assess proposals in conservation areas
Buildings in conservation areas can be nominated for the local heritage list. Some will be strong candidates. However, it is not appropriate to add every building that contributes to the special history or appearance of a conservation area. The list will only include assets that require extra protection (Article 4 direction). Buildings within conservation areas are already protected from demolition.
We will take a careful approach. Only include the very best local heritage assets in the area will be included. Each one will be judged on its own merits.
Any building proposed for local listing in or near a conservation area will be assessed using the selection criteria. This helps us make sure the list is fair and consistent.
View the proposed local list for Wirral
The document below contains a list of all nominated assets. The list is categorised by:
- approved assets (shown as 'locally listed')
- rejected assets (shown as 'rejected')
- deleted assets which are either duplicate or were missing information (shown as 'deleted')
The CSV file below may not be easy to use for people with disabilities, people who use assistive technology, or people using a mobile phone. If you need the information in a different format please email heritage@wirral.gov.uk.