What we protect and why
As the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, Cadw has responsibility for looking after the most important historic sites and places in Wales.
Some of these we manage ourselves, and are open as visitor attractions. However, the vast majority are not owned by Cadw, but by private individuals or public bodies. There are two main types of protected site in Wales — scheduled monuments and listed buildings.
Scheduled monuments are archaeological sites which are nationally significant.
They can range from grand castles to small earthworks — humps and bumps in the ground. They represent all aspects of the lives of our ancestors; places where they lived, worked and played as well as places of worship, ritual or conflict. Scheduled sites can be from thousands of years ago to structures built in the 20th century. They all have legal protection, it is a criminal offence to damage or disturb a scheduled monument without permission.
Listed buildings are those of special architectural or historic interest.
They may be houses, factories, religious buildings, shops, hospitals, or schools — in fact, they can be absolutely any kind of built structure and they range from the medieval period to those built in the last 30 years. Listed buildings are all legally protected and you are likely to need special permission to do any works to them. This can include repair works and things which will benefit the building.
Cadw keeps information about scheduled monuments and listed buildings, as well as other types of historic sites, which can be accessed through Cof Cymru, our online mapping system. You can use Cof Cymru to check whether there are any protected sites near you, and to find out more about them.
As we find out more about our listed buildings and scheduled monuments, we try to update their descriptions. You will see that some have been updated to include information about ethnic minority individuals associated with them, or individuals who were part of, or profited from, the slave trade. As our understanding changes, we will keep adding to the historical record.
We know that there are more monuments and buildings in Wales which are significant but which are not yet recognised and protected. This may be because their significance isn’t understood by our researchers. If you know of a site or building which you think should have legal protection, please let us know. Further information is available at:
