An Edwardian redbrick semi-detached house on the outskirts of Shrewsbury that was the last home of Wilfred Owen has been given a Grade II listing by English Heritage. Owen spent his last two days of leave there in 1918, before returning to France and death in the trenches on 4 November, just days before the armistice.

His family moved to the newly built 69 Monkmoor Road in 1910, when he was 17. Roger Bowdler, director of designation at English Heritage, said: “The house is little altered, and he would still feel at home in his attic bedroom. It was his last real home and is a tangible link to one of one of our greatest war poets.”

The heritage minister, Ed Vaizey, said the house deserved the listing, as Owen’s last home before his  death.  “Wilfred Owen was one of the most profound and distinct voices of the first world war. His bleak and candid accounts of the horrors of war have shaped our understanding of life on the western front.”