Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
47% of households own their home with no mortgage. With 7,354 residents, it is a town in Essex, East of England.
A solid town with one catch. Residents are healthier than most: men here can expect to live to 82.3, women to 86.6. Add jobs & income to its strengths — mean household income £64,951; 2.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. It takes 5.3 years of household income in the Colchester council area to buy the median home, at £325,000. The trade-off is schools — primary results beat 40% of towns in England; secondary results beat 3% of towns in England. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, ranking #16 of 81 in Essex. That leaves it better than 86% of UK towns.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Wivenhoe 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 Wivenhoe is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 64 buildings inside Wivenhoe’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Wivenhoe. Best known first.
CastleColchester Castle4.1 km outside town, to the northwest
Abbey or priory · English HeritageSt. Botolph's Priory3.8 km outside town, to the northwest
FortBalkerne Gate4.6 km outside town, to the northwest
GardenBeth Chatto Gardens2.4 km outside town, to the northeast
Abbey or priory · English HeritageSt. John's Abbey Gatehouse3.9 km outside town, to the northwest
Art galleryFirstsite3.8 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wivenhoe.
At the census, 3.9% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. 85% of Wivenhoe’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Essex’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. One GP practice serves the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Wivenhoe | Essex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.9% | 4.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
60% of pupils at the town’s 2 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 3 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. Attainment 8 at the one secondary school within 3 km averages 35.3, and just over a quarter of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millfields Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 217 | B |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 44% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working from home was the norm for 44% of workers at the census. Of the commuters living in Wivenhoe, 10% work in the town itself. There are 0.6 jobs in Wivenhoe for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Wivenhoe’s listed buildings include the Old Garrison House, Grade I. Scaled to its population, Wivenhoe has 87 listed buildings per 10,000 people, higher than both Essex’s towns (51) and England’s towns (39). Homes from before 1919 make up 17% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Police figures for Wivenhoe’s built-up area: 356 crimes and 20 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes saw 8.1 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, lower than both Essex’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4). Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Wivenhoe has less crime per resident than nearly three quarters of them. Violence and sexual offences were just over a third 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.
4% of households live in social housing. Private rents average £1,197 a month across the Colchester council area. 305 standard sales inside Wivenhoe’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £325,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £414,000 | 101 |
| Semi-detached | £310,000 | 123 |
| Terraced | £280,000 | 57 |
| Flat or maisonette | £278,750 | 24 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
A quarter of residents have reached 65. Children under 15 make up 15%, lower than both Essex’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Wivenhoe are older than 47.1.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Wivenhoe | Essex | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Essex and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
64 listed buildings in Wivenhoe, 1 of them Grade I.
Old Garrison House: Photo: Maria · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Church of St Mary: Photo: Maria · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Black Bouy Public House: Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wivenhoe Water Tower: Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Wivenhoe.
John Martin-Harvey: Carl Vandyk, Public domain · John Hall: Gilbert Stuart, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wivenhoe | 7,354 | — | A | B+ | B+ | A |
| Rowhedge | 2,492 | 0.8 | — | B+ | A− | C− |
| Alresford | 2,462 | 1.7 | — | D− | B+ | B− |
| Elmstead Market | 1,767 | 2 | — | D− | C | B |
| Berechurch | 7,702 | 2.4 | C+ | A | D | D |
| Langenhoe and Abberton | 1,010 | 3 | — | B− | A | A− |
| Colchester | 130,259 | 3.3 | B | A− | D | C |
| Thorrington | 1,427 | 3.5 | — | D− | A+ | B− |
Rowhedge, Alresford, Elmstead Market, Langenhoe and Abberton and Thorrington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Old Garrison House.
Wivenhoe has 3 state schools; places are handled by Essex council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Essex, England
Wivenhoe is a built-up area of 7,354 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.