York’s heritage is measured at several scales: designated buildings and landscapes, archaeological records, museum visits, tourism activity and the work of major institutions. The figures below cover 2013 to 2024/25, with current-page figures retained as reported rather than treated as measurements from a single year. Because the sources use different definitions and geographies, the totals should be read as separate indicators, not added together.
Contents
- York’s designated heritage stock
- York’s archaeological record
- Historic core and conservation areas
- Heritage museums and collections
- Heritage visitor demand and tourism
- York Minster and institutional impact
York’s designated heritage stock
York’s 2013 heritage inventory recorded 1,581 listed buildings. Within that total were 70 Grade I listed buildings, 170 Grade II* buildings and 1,341 Grade II buildings. The three grades sum to the inventory’s listed-building total, showing how strongly the city’s designated stock is concentrated in the Grade II category. Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013)
The same 2013 inventory recorded 22 scheduled ancient monuments, 35 designated conservation areas and 4 registered parks and gardens. It also identified 1 Area of Archaeological Importance divided into 7 polygons. These are different designation types: a listed building protects a building or structure of special architectural or historic interest, while scheduled monuments, conservation areas and registered parks and gardens describe other kinds of heritage significance. The figures therefore indicate the breadth of York’s designated heritage stock rather than a single count of sites. Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013)
The council’s current listed-buildings page says York has over 1,500 listed-building entries. Those entries represent over 2,000 individual listed buildings because some entries cover multiple buildings. This current-page description is not directly interchangeable with the 1,581-building figure in the 2013 inventory: the sources use different wording and reporting points, and the council explicitly distinguishes entries from individual buildings. Listed buildings
| Heritage measure | Reported figure | Measurement period or status |
|---|---|---|
| Listed buildings in the 2013 inventory | 1,581 | 2013 |
| Grade I listed buildings | 70 | 2013 |
| Grade II* listed buildings | 170 | 2013 |
| Grade II listed buildings | 1,341 | 2013 |
| Scheduled ancient monuments | 22 | 2013 |
| Designated conservation areas | 35 | 2013 inventory |
| Registered parks and gardens | 4 | 2013 inventory |
York’s archaeological record
The archaeological record is larger than the number of designated assets. York’s 2013 Historic Environment Record inventory contained 2,272 monument records. These included buried archaeology, upstanding buildings and ruins. It also contained 4,296 event records, such as excavations and surveys, plus 1,210 source records including books, articles and reports. The three counts describe records in an information system, not three separate sets of physical sites. Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013)
The same inventory listed 4 vertical aerial surveys for York, with coverage dated 1936, 1965, 1971 and 1971–73. These dates describe the surveys represented in the inventory; they are not a count of all aerial imagery ever made of the city. Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013)
York’s Deposit Model dataset consists of 2,796 individual records. The current York Historic Environment Record map says the York HER includes information from 1,000s of archaeological projects across the city. The deposit-model count and the HER project description should be kept separate: they refer to different parts or descriptions of York’s archaeological information. York Deposit Model Data; York Historic Environment Record map
The record also reflects York’s Roman history. The York HER says the Roman civilian settlement was probably built from the early 2nd century AD. A probable visit by Hadrian in AD 122 may have stimulated rapid growth and public-building construction at York’s Roman settlement. The settlement had certainly been promoted to colonia status by AD 237. “Probably” and “may” are important qualifications: these are historical interpretations reported by the HER, not measurements with the same certainty as an inventory count. York Historic Environment Record map
Historic core and conservation areas
York currently has 35 conservation areas, according to the council’s conservation-areas page. That current figure matches the number recorded in the 2013 heritage inventory, but the two statements come from different reporting contexts and should not be assumed to be a single continuously updated series. Conservation areas; Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013)
The Central Historic Core Conservation Area appraisal, adopted in 2011, divides the area into 24 character areas and identifies 12 main elements of its character and appearance. These are analytical subdivisions and appraisal categories, not additional conservation areas. They help explain why the historic centre is assessed through multiple urban environments, building groups, spaces and views rather than as one uniform place. Conservation areas
York is one of only 5 historic centres in England designated as an Area of Archaeological Importance. A 2014 baseline counted 22 scheduled monuments, including the city walls, York Castle, Clifford’s Tower and St Mary’s Abbey. The 22 scheduled-monument figure belongs to that 2014 baseline, while the 35-conservation-area figure is a current council-page statement; they measure different designations. Appendix D: Baseline and Context
The resulting picture is compact but unusually layered: 35 conservation areas, one Area of Archaeological Importance divided into 7 polygons in the 2013 inventory, and 22 scheduled monuments in the 2014 baseline. These figures should not be summed because the categories overlap in geography and purpose. Heritage Topic Paper Update (2013); Appendix D: Baseline and Context
Heritage museums and collections
York Museums Trust’s three museums and galleries recorded 393,912 visits in 2024/25. The reported institution-level figures were 214,056 visitors at York Castle Museum, 63,149 at the Yorkshire Museum and 116,707 at York Art Gallery. These figures are visits or visitors as reported by the named institution, not a harmonised York-wide heritage attendance measure. York Museums Trust Statutory Accounts March 2025
For comparison, the same three venues recorded 406,014 visits in 2023/24: 209,235 at York Castle Museum, 75,749 at the Yorkshire Museum and 121,030 at York Art Gallery. The reported total was therefore lower in 2024/25 than in 2023/24, while York Castle Museum’s reported figure was higher. The figures are presented as reported annual attendance, without treating changes as a like-for-like causal trend. York Museums Trust Statutory Accounts March 2025
| York Museums Trust venue or total | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| York Castle Museum | 209,235 | 214,056 |
| Yorkshire Museum | 75,749 | 63,149 |
| York Art Gallery | 121,030 | 116,707 |
| Three museums and galleries | 406,014 | 393,912 |
The Trust’s 2024/25 impact figures add audience detail beyond the annual accounts. It recorded 56,000 child visitors, excluding school visits, and 33,000 visitors aged 17–24. It also recorded 1.3 million free visits to its gardens. The garden figure is a free-visit measure and should not be combined with paid or museum attendance as though all were the same type of visit. In Numbers
Heritage visitor demand and tourism
Tourism contributed £2.01 billion to York’s economy in 2024, and the tourism economic impact increased by 5.4% compared with 2023. York welcomed 9.4 million visitors in 2024, 5% more than in 2023. These are tourism estimates reported by Visit York, not a count limited to visits to heritage attractions. York’s Tourism Economy Continues to Thrive: 2024 Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact Revealed
York recorded 1.7 million staying visitors in 2024, with an average stay of 3.3 nights. Serviced accommodation and hotels hosted 54% of York’s overnight visitors. The distinction between the 9.4 million total visitors and the 1.7 million staying visitors matters: the larger number includes day visitors, while the staying-visitor figure describes people who spent nights in the city. York’s Tourism Economy Continues to Thrive: 2024 Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact Revealed
Overseas visitors made up 14% of York’s total visitors in 2024. Among York’s overseas visitors, 43% stayed overnight in the city. Day-visitor numbers rose by 6% compared with 2023. Together, these figures show three different dimensions of demand: origin, overnight behaviour and year-on-year movement in day visits. They are not attendance figures for individual heritage sites. York’s Tourism Economy Continues to Thrive: 2024 Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact Revealed
Tourism supported 16,788 full-time-equivalent jobs directly and indirectly in York in 2024. Because this is a full-time-equivalent employment measure, it should not be read as a headcount of individual workers. It also covers tourism’s direct and indirect contribution, rather than employment solely inside museums, historic buildings or archaeological services. York’s Tourism Economy Continues to Thrive: 2024 Visitor Numbers and Economic Impact Revealed
York Minster and institutional impact
York Minster’s current visitor information says the Minster welcomes about 550,000 visitors each year and about 150,000 worshippers each year. The same page reports a team of 200 staff members and more than 400 volunteers. These are current-page annual or organisational figures, not all measurements from 2026. Working at York Minster
The Minster’s land in its care covers 7 hectares. Its visitor income was £5.268 million in 2023, an increase of £1.390 million compared with 2022. Visitor income is a financial measure and should not be interpreted as the same thing as the number of visitors or the total economic impact of tourism in York. Our Mission statement, accounts and policies
Reported Minster visitor figures also vary by year. The annual report recorded 620,591 visitors for worship and tourism in 2022, compared with 266,183 visitors in 2021. A separate Minster page reported a visitor record of 706,484 people in 2019. The descriptions and periods are retained as reported by the Minster, so these figures should not be treated as a single harmonised series without further methodological work. York Minster Annual Report and Accounts 2022; York Minster makes the UK’s Top 50 Visitor Attractions list for 2022
Across York’s heritage landscape, the statistics describe different kinds of scale: more than 1,500 current listed-building entries, 2,272 monument records in the 2013 inventory, 393,912 visits to three Museums Trust venues in 2024/25, 9.4 million total visitors in York in 2024 and about 550,000 annual visitors to York Minster. The sources use different definitions, dates and geographies, so these indicators are most useful when kept alongside their measurement periods and source labels.