Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.3: Sewards End is older than 93% of UK towns
4.8% of households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Sewards End’s 209 households held 530 residents at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households without a car or van at 5.3% in the village. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 68%, more than in 99% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 27% in Sewards End, more than in 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 11% of residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. The usual figure: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.3%, a higher share than 87% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
52% of Sewards End’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 13% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier here. Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Fewer one-person households than 99% of UK towns: 17%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Essex’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Sewards End sits close to the norm on shared households of unrelated adults: 3.4%, about the same as across England’s towns. Higher than in 68% of UK towns: 29% of households have dependent children. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
0.5% of households live in a flat or apartment, below 99% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Detached houses are home to 70% of households, against 21% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Above 89% of UK towns: 99% of residents have English as their main language
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (2.8%) and in EU countries (1.9%). Set beside that, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born outside the UK: 7.2% here and 18% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 55% in Sewards End, more than in 82% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 93% of Sewards End · Essex’s towns 83% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 38%, Sewards End is behind 68% of UK towns on that count. Typically, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 93%.
Fewer adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns: 21%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
14 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. On average, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.1%, the share of unpaid carers is in line with the figure across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 44% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 44% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 15% hold no qualification (18%). 17% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
Every neighbour of Sewards End has a younger population
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sewards End | 530 | — | 52.3 | 27% | 29% |
| Saffron Walden | 16,609 | 1.6 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 29% |
| Newport | 2,945 | 3.9 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 32% |
| Great Chesterford | 1,775 | 4.7 mi | 42.2 | 19% | 35% |
| Thaxted | 3,111 | 5.2 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 29% |
| Linton | 4,452 | 5.5 mi | 46.7 | 25% | 28% |
| Henham | 1,046 | 6.4 mi | 48.1 | 22% | 31% |
| Steeple Bumpstead | 1,376 | 7.1 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 25% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Essex’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Essex (or England), summed the same way as Sewards End’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Sewards End’s residents
What is the population of Sewards End?
The 2021 Census counted 530 people in Sewards End’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sewards End?
The median age was 52.3 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sewards End?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 83% across Essex’s towns. 7.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sewards End?
38% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Sewards End good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sewards End’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067). 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.