Photo: Nick Smith · CC BY-SA 2.00.7% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up 7.9% of residents, against 12% across England’s towns. For Lydden, the census puts households in terraced houses at 6.4%. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns. There were 284 households in the village at the 2021 Census, home to 687 residents.
Older than 90% of UK towns: half of Lydden is over 51.2
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 25%, against 18% across England’s towns. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Lydden, 6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 97% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 7.9% of adults are full-time students; in Lydden, 4.1%. On average, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
20% of households are one person living alone, below 97% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Kent’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
At 3.5%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns. There are 2.4 people in the average household. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are scarce here: 26%, fewer than in 65% of UK towns.
A lower share of households without a car or van than 87% of UK towns, at 9.1%
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, 45% of households live in a detached house in Lydden. By way of comparison, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Above 97% 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
Set against 18% across England’s towns, 3.5% of residents were born outside the UK in Lydden. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 94%, a higher share than 69% 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: 94% of Lydden · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up 50% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Behind White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.4%).
Lydden ranks above 94% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 58%
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
22 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Higher than in 75% of UK towns: 10% of residents give unpaid care. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 29%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
29% of Lydden’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 16% have none (18%).
Of the 7 towns nearest Lydden, 3 are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lydden | 687 | — | 51.2 | 25% | 26% |
| Sibertswold | 1,619 | 1.8 mi | 54.3 | 32% | 23% |
| Whitfield | 6,509 | 2.4 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 28% |
| Eythorne | 1,487 | 2.8 mi | 51.6 | 25% | 22% |
| Dover | 36,349 | 3.1 mi | 40 | 18% | 28% |
| Guston | 1,684 | 3.9 mi | 25.5 | 6.9% | 49% |
| Capel-le-Ferne | 1,962 | 4.3 mi | 59.8 | 40% | 14% |
| Hawkinge | 8,499 | 4.8 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 37% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Kent’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Kent (or England), summed the same way as Lydden’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 Lydden’s residents
What is the population of Lydden?
The 2021 Census counted 687 people in Lydden’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Lydden?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lydden?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lydden?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Lydden good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Lydden’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.