Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village, home to 1,300 people, lies in Northumberland, North East.
Heddon-on-the-Wall’s best grade is for health — life expectancy is 84.7 for men and 89 for women. Schools do well: primary results beat 97% of towns in England; secondary results beat 74% of towns in England. Most journeys need a car: on the way to work, 8% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Cost of living is weaker too (C+) — homes sell for a median £318,750, about 6.8 times local household income.
Figures: life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Heddon-on-the-Wall has subject grades but no overall one.
Northumbria Police published 34 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Heddon-on-the-Wall 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 Heddon-on-the-Wall is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Heddon-on-the-Wall’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
15% 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 Heddon-on-the-Wall.
The 15-to-24 age group: 7.1%, lower than both Northumberland’s towns (9.4%) and England’s towns (12%). The median resident of Heddon-on-the-Wall is 58.2 years old. Graduates make up just over two in five adults.
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.
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | Northumberland | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.1% | 9.4% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 14% | 22% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 37% | 25% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 7.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 42% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Northumberland and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Heddon-on-the-Wall, St Andrew's Church of England Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. There is one school here; it is shown below. At the 4 primary schools within 3 km, 76% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heddon-on-the-Wall, St Andrew's Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 220 | A− |
79% of Heddon-on-the-Wall’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Northumberland’s towns (78%) but below England’s towns (82%). There is no GP practice in the town: the nearest is 1.3 miles off. The nearest A&E to Heddon-on-the-Wall is Royal Victoria Infirmary, 6.9 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Heddon-on-the-Wall | Northumberland | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Burglary and damage add up to 6.5 per 1,000 residents each year. Police recorded 41 crimes inside Heddon-on-the-Wall’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 6 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Heddon-on-the-Wall has less crime per resident than 76% of them. There were 5.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), lower than both Northumberland’s towns (16.9) and England’s towns (7.8).
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working from home was the norm for 37% of workers at the census. Nine in ten commuters drove, above Northumberland’s towns (79%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Also worth knowing: households take home £67K a year before tax, on average. Of the commuters living in Heddon-on-the-Wall, 7% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private renters make up 8% of households, below both Northumberland’s towns (15%) and England’s towns (21%). The social rented sector houses nearly one in ten households. The £318,750 median rests on 48 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £466,000 | 18 |
| Semi-detached | £310,000 | 23 |
| Terraced | £263,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
15% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than Northumberland’s towns (21%) and near England’s towns (16%). Heddon-on-the-Wall’s listed buildings include the Church of St Andrew, Grade I. For its size, Heddon-on-the-Wall has 77 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Heddon-on-the-Wall. Best known first.
Castle · English HeritagePrudhoe Castle4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Museum · National TrustGeorge Stephenson's Birthplace1.4 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumNewburn Hall Motor Museum2.9 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumRailway Museum2 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumPath Head Watermill4.8 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | 1,300 | — | — | C+ | A | A+ |
| Throckley | 6,207 | 1.4 | C | C− | C− | C− |
| Wylam | 1,661 | 1.7 | — | C+ | A+ | B+ |
| Newburn | 1,475 | 2.2 | — | C | D− | D |
| Ryton | 8,804 | 2.2 | B− | C | C+ | C+ |
| Crawcrook and Greenside | 7,544 | 2.3 | B+ | B− | B | C |
| Ovingham | 1,155 | 3.4 | — | A− | B− | B |
| Ponteland | 10,149 | 3.4 | A | C− | B+ | A |
Wylam, Newburn and Ovingham have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 3.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Andrew. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Secondary results beat 74%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Northumberland council.
Police recorded 41 crimes inside Heddon-on-the-Wall’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 27% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Village in Northumberland, England
Heddon-on-the-Wall is a built-up area of 1,300 people, in the Northumberland 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.