Gazetteers and databases of buildings by area in the British Isles
- For official gazetters see Inventories.
- For gazetteers of a specific type of building see the page for that type.
- Archer, L., Architecture in Britain and Ireland 600-1500 (1999). Includes gazetteer.
- Pevsner, N.B. (founding editor), The Buildings of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. By county.
- Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project aims to catalogue every piece of public sculpture and every public monument in the British Isles. It includes sculpture on buildings. So far it covers much of England, all of Wales, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
United Kingdom
The government lists buildings of special architectural or historic interest. They are graded according to their perceived level of importance. The listing gives a description with at least an estimate of date by style. All except those for Wales are available online - see below for details by country. Local authorities have lists for their areas and copies are usually available in local libraries and/or archives.
Information on standing buildings investigated or recorded by archaeologists can be found in the Sites and Monuments Record or Historic Environment Record for each county, generally held by the county archaeologist. Those for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are online both through their own web-sites (see below) and via the Archaeology Data Service, which also has records for London and some English counties, which may also have a separate web-site (see below).
England
- Heritage Gateway aims to provides a searchable database of England's national and local historic environment records.
- Images of England makes available online the official description for every listed building, together with a photograph in most cases.
- The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (now amalgamated with English Heritage) published inventories of historical buildings and sites by county and city. The records of this body are held by the NMR and many are online at PastScape.
- The Victoria History of the Counties of England covers monasteries in an early volume in each county series. Later volumes are topographical, giving detailed accounts of parishes, boroughs and cities. The scheme is complete for some counties. Most volumes are available online at British History Online. The online place index by Medieval English Genealogy covers all volumes.
- Buckinghamshire: Unlocking Buckinghamshire's Past: the Sites and Monuments Record for the county.
- Durham and Northumberland: Keys to the Past: the Sites and Monuments Record for the counties.
- Essex: Unlocking Essex's Past: a database of information on historic buildings, monuments and archaeological sites in Essex.
- Hampshire:
- Hampshire Treasures, 13 vols (1979-1986) was a survey of all natural or man-made features of the county deemed of aesthetic, archaeological, historic, scenic, scientific, sociological or traditional interest. Full text available online.
- Hantsweb Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record Search.
- Herefordshire: Historic Herefordshire On Line: The Herefordshire Sites and Monuments Record.
- London:
- Survey of London (1900-). Detailed, sourced gazetteer by street or building. Online index. Full text is online at British History Online.
- London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre: Searchable online catalogues of fieldwork projects in Greater London and related publications. Includes some buildings.
- Norfolk: Norfolk Heritage Explorer: The Norfolk Historic Environment Record.
- Shropshire: Discovering Shropshire's History links the sites and monuments record with information from museum and archive catalogues.
- Somerset: Somerset Historic Environment Record: a database of information on archaeological sites, monuments and buildings in the current county of Somerset.
- Surrey: Exploring Surrey's Past: Surrey Heritage mixes the Historic Environment Record with other material related to hocal history.
- Tyne and Wear: SiteLines: The Historic Environment Record for Tyne and Wear.
- Warwickshire: Warwickshire Museum Timetrail: Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record.
Ireland
Northern Ireland comes within legislation for the UK and thus maintains lists of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. The Republic of Ireland has a comparable system. Each local authority maintains a Record of Protected Structures, which may be included for their architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, technical or social interest. Unlike the system for the UK, no grading is involved.
- The Environment and Heritage Service of Northern Ireland provides online listed building descriptions and the Sites and Monuments Database for Northern Ireland.
- National Inventory of Architectural Heritage of the Republic of Ireland is building an illustrated online gazetteer. It is also publishing surveys by county.
- National Monuments Service of the Republic of Ireland provides an online sites and monuments database.
- Williams, J., A Companion Guide to Architecture in Ireland 1837-1921 (1994). Gazetteer by county.
Isle of Man
On the Isle of Man, the goverment registers buildings and structures identified as having special architectural or historical interest, and maintains a list of Registered Buildings (without descriptions.)
Scotland
- Gazetteer for Scotland: this huge resource includes historic buildings. It has been developed by the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
- Listed building and monument descriptions for Scotland can be searched online through Historic Scotland.
- The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland publishes inventories of historical buildings and sites, listed here, and provides an online database of the National Monuments Record of Scotland.
Wales
- The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales publishes inventories of historical buildings and sites by county and city, listed here. More recent publications are described on the RCAHMW web-site.
- Coflein is the online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales (created by RCAHMW) and contains some additional donated material.
- An index of archaeological sites including some buildings is online as part of CARN (Core Archaeological Record iNdex). Registration is required.