The district of Adur, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex, has 119 buildings with listed status. The urbanised southern part of the district forms part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation, and most listed structures are in the three main centres of population: Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea and Lancing. The towns have grown residentially and industrially in the 20th century, but all three have ancient origins as villages and manors on the banks of the River Adur and the English Channel coast. The rest of Adur district's territory is remote downland countryside with scattered farms and hamlets; some of their buildings also have listed status.