Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village, home to 841 people, lies in Essex, East of England.
Towns under 1,000 residents aren’t graded, so Fordham has no grades; its figures are still real. 7% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. It has 26 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I. Mortgage-free owners make up 50% of households.
The 3 things Fordham does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists them inside Fordham’s built-up area.
25% 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 Fordham.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.1%. The car took just over nine in ten commuters, above both Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%). Households take home £67K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Nearly three quarters of pupils at the 3 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its only school is listed below. The town’s primary school has 84 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fordham All Saints CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 84 | C+ |
Social housing holds 8% of households. 9% rent privately, below both Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £1,197 a month across the Colchester council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £515,000 | 10 |
| Semi-detached | £369,000 | 8 |
| Terraced | £315,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Police recorded 18 crimes inside Fordham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violent crime runs at 12.3 per 1,000 residents a year. There were 0.8 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Essex’s towns (4.6) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 61% of recorded 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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Asked at the census, 86% of residents of Fordham said they were in good or very good health. There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 2.7 miles off. The nearest A&E to Fordham is Colchester General Hospital, 4.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Fordham | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.1% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them, Grade I 1. Fordham’s listed buildings include the Church of All Saints, Grade I. A quarter of homes were built before 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The share aged 15 to 24 is 10%. At 49.1, the median resident of Fordham sits in the middle of the age range. 32% of adults hold a degree, about level with England’s towns (34%) and above Essex’s towns (27%).
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
| Fordham | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Fordham. Best known first.
GardenSergeants Orchard1.8 km outside town, to the northwestCastleCastleCastle Mound2.8 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumRestoration Shed2.9 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumHeritage Centre & Platforms 5 + 62.8 km outside town, to the westPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordham | 841 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eight Ash Green | 1,769 | 1.5 | — | B− | C+ | A |
| West Bergholt | 3,175 | 2.2 | A+ | B− | B+ | A |
| Copford | 1,794 | 2.9 | — | C+ | B | A− |
| Great Horkesley | 2,232 | 3.2 | — | B− | B+ | A |
| Marks Tey | 1,817 | 3.4 | — | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Bures | 1,183 | 3.8 | — | B− | B− | B+ |
| Earls Colne | 3,360 | 4.6 | C+ | B | C+ | B− |
Eight Ash Green, Copford, Great Horkesley, Marks Tey and Bures have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 12.7 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of All Saints.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £388,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £315,000, semi-detached houses £369,000 and detached houses £515,000.
Band D council tax in Fordham is £2,353 for 2026–27, less than in 66% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Village in Essex, England
Fordham is a built-up area of 841 people, in the Colchester 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.