Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 1,988 people, this village lies in Gloucestershire, South West.
Welsh Bicknor is a safe place by the numbers: 17.1 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 7.5 home and vehicle crimes. Its schools fall short: primary results beat 9% of towns in England. Homes sell for a median £290,000, about 5.9 years of what households in the Forest of Dean council area earn. Most journeys need a car: 6% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS. An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Welsh Bicknor is graded subject by subject only.
Gloucestershire Police published 29 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Welsh Bicknor 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 Welsh Bicknor is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
An overall grade needs 2,500 residents, so Welsh Bicknor is graded subject by subject only.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Welsh Bicknor’s built-up area, along with 6 scheduled monuments.
42% 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 Welsh Bicknor.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
3% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, higher than both Gloucestershire’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). By car: that was how 93% of commuters travelled at the census. Before tax, the average household brings in £53K a year.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the 5 primary schools within 3 km, just over half of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. The town’s primary school has 83 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lydbrook Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 83 | D |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Scaled to its population, that is 30 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Welsh Bicknor. Historic England’s list names 6 listed buildings locally: 1 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 4% lies in conservation areas, below Gloucestershire’s towns (9%) and England’s towns (7%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 29 crimes and 7 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Welsh Bicknor’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences made up 55% of the total.
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.
10% rent privately, below both Gloucestershire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £828 a month across the Forest of Dean council area. From September 2023 to August 2026, 73 homes sold inside Welsh Bicknor’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £290,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £375,000 | 35 |
| Semi-detached | £220,000 | 28 |
| Terraced | £185,250 | 10 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Just over four fifths of Welsh Bicknor’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Gloucestershire’s towns (83%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.2% of the town. There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 2.9 miles off.
| Census 2021 | Welsh Bicknor | Gloucestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.2% | 4.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
People 65 and over make up 22% of the town, above both Gloucestershire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Welsh Bicknor are older than 50.2. A third of adults hold a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Welsh Bicknor | Gloucestershire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 36% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 5.8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gloucestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Welsh Bicknor. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritageGoodrich Castle2.5 km outside town, to the northwest
Heritage railwayLea Bailey Light Railway4.8 km outside town, to the northeastArt galleryArt galleryForest of Dean Sculpture Trail3.1 km outside town, to the southeastZooZooCoppett Hill Butterfly Site1.3 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welsh Bicknor | 1,988 | — | — | B | B+ | B− |
| Ruardean | 1,195 | 1.6 | — | A− | B+ | C+ |
| Berry Hill | 2,211 | 2.7 | — | B− | C | C+ |
| Drybrook | 2,572 | 2.9 | C | B | C+ | C+ |
| Broadwell and Coalway | 3,304 | 3.1 | C+ | B | B− | C |
| Coleford | 5,023 | 3.6 | C | B+ | D | C |
| Cinderford | 8,778 | 3.7 | C | A− | C− | C− |
| Ruspidge | 2,431 | 4 | — | A− | B− | C− |
Ruardean, Berry Hill and Ruspidge have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.2 times the typical UK town for its size.
Primary results trail 91% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Gloucestershire council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Gloucestershire, England
Welsh Bicknor is a built-up area of 1,988 people, in the Forest of Dean 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.