TEN historic sites and buildings have been added to North Somerset Council's Local Heritage List.

Whilst these sites are important to local people and their history, they are not protected as listed buildings or scheduled monuments.

Members from North Somerset Council say that the list is a great way for communities to "celebrate the unique history that makes an area special."

When a planning application is made concerning one of these sites, additional scrutiny around the heritage and significance of the site and area is made.

The ten sites were nominated by local interest groups, town and parish councils, and members of the public.

A building can be nominated based on aesthetic, communal, historical or evidential value.

The sites adopted from the latest round of nominations, submitted between January and November 2023, include the following:

  • Kewstoke Convalescent Home – an art deco building originally opened as a hospital for women in 1935 and later a military hospital in World War II. It was more recently used for psychiatric care;
  • Portishead Lido – one of only 100 Lidos surviving in the UK, now restored and run by a community trust;
  • Bracken Hill House, Leigh Woods – built in 1895 for the influential Wills family;
  • 21 1930s Modernist and Art Deco homes in Neva Road and Station Road, Weston-super-Mare;
  • Yatton Library;
  • The former United Reform Church, Portishead;
  • The former Post Office, Portishead;
  • Upper Lodge, Portishead;
  • Mariner’s Cottage, Portishead;
  • Woodlands Villas, Portishead.

John Crockford-Hawley, Heritage and Regeneration champion, from North Somerset Council, said: “A Local Heritage List is a way for communities to celebrate the unique history that makes an area special.

"It’s therefore vital that people continue to use their voice to help us identify key sites that require protection. It’s so encouraging to know that we now have more than 40 entries on the list. I encourage people to send in their nominations now for other places they feel should be added.”

The local listing scheme was created in 2021 as part of  Weston-super-Mare’s Heritage Action Zone programme and was supported by Historic England.

The first Local Heritage List in the region contained 14 properties, including a World War II anti-aircraft battery in Sheepway, Portishead.