Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,156 in Cornwall, South West.
Rock has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is safety (B+): 20.1 violent and sexual offences and 4.4 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £752,500, 16.4 years of area income; rent £1,000 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Rock does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Rock is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Rock’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
15% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Rock.
On this, Rock is above both Cornwall’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). Children under 15 make up 14% of residents. Half the people of Rock are older than 53.9.
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Rock | Cornwall | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 36% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cornwall and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Minver SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 175 | B |
Half the homes sold went for more than £753K, above both Cornwall’s towns (£275K) and England’s towns (£308K). Social housing holds 20% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £865,000 | 46 |
| Semi-detached | £460,000 | 5 |
| Terraced | £389,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Police recorded 37 crimes inside Rock’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 0 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 51% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
17% of Rock’s commuters walked, cycled or took public transport at the 2021 Census, against 27% across England’s towns; 79% drove.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Rock has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2 miles away. 23% of residents have a disability, above both Cornwall’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (17%). Women here live to 85.3 on average and men to 81.3 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Rock | Cornwall | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7% | 6.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Rock comes above both Cornwall’s towns (52) and England’s towns (39). Rock has 15 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Rock. Best known first.
Fort · National TrustThe Rumps4 km outside town, to the north
Historic housePrideaux Place1.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumThe National Lobster Hatchery1000 m outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumPadstow Museum1000 m outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumPadstow Museum1000 m outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | 1,156 | — | — | D− | B+ | B+ |
| Padstow | 2,351 | 2 | — | D− | B− | B− |
| Wadebridge | 5,626 | 3.8 | D | D− | C− | B |
| Egloshayle | 1,185 | 4.1 | — | D− | B | B |
| St Merryn | 1,344 | 4.1 | — | D− | B+ | B− |
| St Columb Major | 3,663 | 8.3 | D | D | C− | C+ |
| Delabole | 1,779 | 9.2 | — | D | B | B− |
| Bodmin | 16,904 | 9.6 | D− | D | D | C− |
Padstow, Egloshayle, St Merryn and Delabole have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
By type: terraced houses £389,000, semi-detached houses £460,000 and detached houses £865,000. Private rents in the Cornwall council area averaged £1,000 a month in August 2026.
That is 5.3 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Village in Cornwall, England
Rock is a built-up area of 1,156 people, in the Cornwall council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.