A raft of island buildings are currently being considered for the special protected status.

Under consideration are 27 properties, including 13 war memorials and 14 maritime buildings.

These include five lighthouses, issued with a Proposal to Register Notice (PRN) due to their potential special architectural or historical interest.

More notices were handed out on Friday in a single day than in the past 10 years.

As part of an ongoing assessment of the island’s built heritage, buildings have been identified under themes and the maritime buildings include towers, lifeboat stations, and the boat house of Captain George Quayle in Castletown, which is now a nautical museum.

Five lighthouses are also under consideration including two on the Calf of Man, designed by the world renowned Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson.

The island’s earliest war memorial, from the Crimean War, is among 13 under consideration.

It commemorates Brig Gen Thomas Leigh Goldie, who fell at the Battle of Inkerman in 1854 and has been on display at the Nunnery in Douglas for 163 years.

There are currently 275 buildings, ranging from thatched cottages to churches, on the register.

Individual consultations will now be used to gather further information with a final decision made soon after.

If it’s decided that one or more of the buildings meet the criteria they will be protected from demolition, and any alteration or extension that affects their character without first receiving registered building consent.

Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, Geoffrey Boot MHK, said: ’As an island nation we have a rich and proud maritime history and a close relationship with the sea which is clearly visible in the architecture around our beautiful Biosphere’s coast.

’Our war memorials provide a vital connection and poignant reminder of the Manx lives lost in conflict.’