Conservation Areas

A Conservation Area is an area of special architectural or historic interest.

Conservation Areas were first introduced in England in 1967 in recognition that our appreciation of historic areas depends not only on the quality of individual buildings but also on the historic layout of properties, the use of characteristic building materials, public spaces, trees, views between buildings and along streets.

Although listed buildings are selected by English Heritage, Conservation Areas are normally designated by the National Park Authority.

There are 42 designated Conservation Areas in the North York Moors National Park.

Periodically the National Park will carry out reviews of Conservation Areas which may have changed over the years. If significant change has occurred or if additional areas of special interest come to light, then changes to the boundaries of Conservation Areas may be proposed and consulted on.

The Core Strategy and Development Policies Proposals Map and Inset Maps shows the boundaries of the Conservation Areas currently designated within the National Park. You can look at these on our Local Development Framework website or through a link to the Joint National Parks' Portal website which includes Geographic Information System (GIS) based conservation area information.