Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,046 in Essex, East of England.
Henham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is schools (A+): primary results beat 98% of towns in England. The median home sold for £595,000 in the last three years, 8.5 times what households in the Uttlesford council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Henham 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 Henham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Henham’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
20% 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 Henham.
78% of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town has one school, shown below. Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery School’s results beat 92% of schools in England like it.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henham and Ugley Primary and Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 213 | A |
There is no GP practice in Henham: the nearest is 1.3 miles off. Asked at the census, 88% of residents of Henham said they were in good or very good health. Just over one in ten residents have a disability, below both Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Henham is The Princess Alexandra Hospital, 12.9 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Henham | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 88% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Homes saw 5.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below both Essex’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4). Per 1,000 residents, 11.2 violent crimes are recorded each year. The 12 months to August 2026 brought 11 recorded crimes inside Henham’s built-up area, and 1 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 45% of the crimes.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Henham has 58 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 44% of the town’s land, above Essex’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%) alike. Homes built before 1919 account for 20% of the housing.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 8% of households. 9% rent privately, lower than both Essex’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). 27 standard sales inside Henham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £595,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £722,500 | 16 |
| Semi-detached | £515,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 51% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Among 16 to 64s, 3.9% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. 84% of commuters drove, higher than both Essex’s towns (74%) and England’s towns (70%). Household income averages £71K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Henham, 4% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Children under 15 make up 17%, below Essex’s towns (18%) and close to England’s towns (18%). 22% of residents are 65 or over. The median resident of Henham is 48.1 years old.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Henham | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 33% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 8.4% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 3.4% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 44% | 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 Henham. Best known first.
CastleStansted Mountfitchet Castle4 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumPrior's Hall Barn3.1 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumHouse on the Hill Museum3.9 km 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henham | 1,046 | — | — | B− | A | A+ |
| Elsenham | 3,414 | 1.3 | A | B+ | B | A |
| Stansted Mountfitchet | 8,629 | 2.9 | A+ | B+ | B+ | A |
| Newport | 2,945 | 4 | A+ | B | B | A+ |
| Takeley and Little Canfield | 5,553 | 4.4 | A− | B+ | C− | B+ |
| Thaxted | 3,111 | 4.6 | B+ | B+ | C+ | A |
| Bishop's Stortford | 40,916 | 5.8 | A | C+ | C | A |
| Saffron Walden | 16,609 | 6.2 | A+ | A− | B | A |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results beat 98% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Essex council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £595,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: semi-detached houses £515,000 and detached houses £722,500. Household incomes are higher than in 91% of UK towns, so cost of living still grades B−.
That is 22.8 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary the Virgin. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Village in Essex, England
Henham is a built-up area of 1,046 people, in the Uttlesford 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.