Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This village in Essex, East of England has a population of 1,824.
Schools do well (A−): primary results beat 79% of towns in England. The median home sold for £335,000, 5.7 times what households in the Braintree council area earn in a year. Where it falls short is walkability: on the way to work, 7% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Hazards are a real consideration (D): 3.7% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Great Yeldham is graded subject by subject only.
The 3 things Great Yeldham 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 Great Yeldham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Great Yeldham’s built-up area.
13% 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 Great Yeldham.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 92% of commuters, above Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Of the commuters living in Great Yeldham, 4% work in the town itself. A household here earns £61K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
There is one school here; it is shown below. Key Stage 2 results at the 4 primary schools within 3 km: 67% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Its one primary school teaches 139 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Great YeldhamLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 139 | A+ |
Great Yeldham has a median age of 45.6. People 65 and over make up a fifth of the town, near Essex’s towns (20%) and higher than England’s towns (18%). The share of residents under 15 is 17%.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Great Yeldham | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
There is no GP practice in Great Yeldham: the nearest is 3.1 miles off. At the census, 19% of people here had a disability, higher than both Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). Also worth knowing: the nearest A&E to Great Yeldham is Colchester General Hospital, 16 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Great Yeldham | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
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. Great Yeldham’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Andrew, Grade I. It has 154 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, above Essex’s towns (51) and England’s towns (39) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Great Yeldham has more crime per resident than nearly three quarters of them. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 94 crimes and 12 reports of anti-social behaviour inside the town’s built-up area. 57% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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.
Owners make up 70% of households, above both Essex’s towns (67%) and England’s towns (61%). The median sale, £335,000, comes from 58 standard sales inside Great Yeldham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,213 a month across the Braintree council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £435,000 | 29 |
| Semi-detached | £293,750 | 12 |
| Terraced | £255,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Great Yeldham. Best known first.
CastleHedingham Castle3 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumColne Valley Railway1.8 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumAlderford Water Mill4.3 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Yeldham | 1,824 | — | — | B− | B− | A− |
| Castle Hedingham | 1,045 | 2.3 | — | B− | A− | B+ |
| Sible Hedingham | 4,261 | 2.8 | B− | B | B− | B+ |
| Clare | 2,278 | 4.5 | — | C− | B+ | A− |
| Steeple Bumpstead | 1,376 | 5.4 | — | C | A− | A |
| Gosfield | 1,453 | 5.7 | — | C− | A+ | B |
| Halstead | 13,902 | 6 | C+ | B | C+ | C+ |
| Kedington | 1,778 | 6.1 | — | C | A | B+ |
Castle Hedingham, Clare, Steeple Bumpstead, Gosfield and Kedington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Parish Church of St Andrew.
At the 2021 Census, 11% of Great Yeldham’s 1,824 residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Primary results beat 79% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Essex council.
Village in Essex, England
Great Yeldham is a built-up area of 1,824 people, in the Braintree 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.