Photo: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 59.6: Godshill is older than 99% of UK towns
With adults who have never married at 22%, Godshill is behind 98% of UK towns on that count. The 2021 Census put the village’s population at 431, in 206 households. The census found that 1.5% of households live in a flat or apartment locally. The village has fewer households without a car or van than 92% of UK towns, at 7.8%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 99% of UK towns: 40%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
5.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (England’s towns: 12%). On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 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.
3.5% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 95% 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%.
Where just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Godshill has 9.2%. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
11% of households have dependent children, below 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Hampshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults make up 5.3%, against 4.3% across England’s towns. Households with dependent children make up 29% across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.1 people on average.
Households in detached houses: 68%, a higher share than 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
1.5% of households live in a flat, less than in 98% of UK towns; 68% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Godshill ranks above 74% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 99%
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 Middle East and Asia (2.3%) and in EU countries (1.9%). Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Born outside the UK: 6.3% of residents, against 18% across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 83% of UK towns, at 96%
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: 96% of Godshill · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. The Muslim share of residents is 1.2%. Fewer residents with no religion than in three quarters of UK towns: 37%.
Unpaid carers: 12%, a higher share than 97% of UK towns
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 16. Godshill has more married adults and civil partners than 93% of UK towns, at 57%. The wider picture: 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 38% of adults in Godshill, 34% across England’s towns; 15% have no qualification, against 18%.
The towns around Godshill are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godshill | 431 | — | 59.6 | 40% | 11% |
| Fordingbridge | 4,947 | 1.8 mi | 50.1 | 29% | 23% |
| Sandleheath | 1,546 | 2.6 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 26% |
| Redlynch and Woodfalls | 2,446 | 3.6 mi | 53.4 | 31% | 24% |
| Alderholt | 2,868 | 3.9 mi | 50.4 | 25% | 27% |
| Downton | 2,952 | 4 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Ringwood | 12,789 | 6 mi | 47 | 26% | 26% |
| Hightown | 1,296 | 6.4 mi | 48.4 | 23% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Hampshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Hampshire (or England), summed the same way as Godshill’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 Godshill’s residents
What is the population of Godshill?
The 2021 Census counted 431 people in Godshill’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Godshill?
The median age was 59.6 at the 2021 Census. 5.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Godshill?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 6.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Godshill?
37% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Godshill good for families?
11% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Godshill’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.