Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,050 people live in this village in Somerset, South West.
Health is a strength: life expectancy is 81.5 for men and 84.3 for women. Schools are its weak spot (D) — primary results beat 16% of towns in England. It lags on walkability as well: 9% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £311,250, about 6.2 years of what households in the Somerset West and Taunton council area earn.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. Below 2,500 residents there is no overall grade, so Bishops Lydeard has its subject grades alone.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Somerset, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Bishops Lydeard 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 Bishops Lydeard is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Bishops Lydeard’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
14% 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 Bishops Lydeard.
Aged 15 to 24: one in ten residents. Children under 15 make up 14%, below Somerset’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Bishops Lydeard has a median age of 50.9. Graduates make up 36% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Bishops Lydeard | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Below is its only school. 53% of pupils at the 2 primary schools within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). 196 pupils attend Bishops Lydeard’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishops Lydeard Church SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 196 | C+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 27% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
2.7% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, higher than both Somerset’s towns (2.1%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried 88% of commuters at the census. Work in town: 7% of resident commuters. The average household earns £60K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
11% live in social housing, lower than both Somerset’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £311,250: 126 standard sales inside Bishops Lydeard’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £1,016 a month across the Somerset council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £415,000 | 61 |
| Semi-detached | £275,000 | 38 |
| Terraced | £240,000 | 27 |
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.
The top grade, Grade I, goes to 1 of them. Bishops Lydeard’s listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. Of the town’s 32 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 2. 14% of its homes were built before 1919, below Somerset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.4% of the town. The nearest A&E to Bishops Lydeard is Musgrove Park Hospital, 4.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Bishops Lydeard | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Police figures for Bishops Lydeard’s built-up area: 98 crimes and 16 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences made up 47% of the total. Also worth knowing: among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Bishops Lydeard has more crime per resident than 72% of them.
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bishops Lydeard. Best known first.
MuseumThe Mill Housein townMuseumMuseumGauge Museum Bishops Lydeard300 m outside town, to the southwestGardenGardenCooks Barton2.8 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishops Lydeard | 2,050 | — | — | C | B− | B+ |
| Cotford St Luke | 2,411 | 1.3 | — | C+ | C+ | B+ |
| Norton Fitzwarren | 3,770 | 2.8 | B− | B | C | C |
| Milverton | 1,112 | 3.8 | — | C− | A− | B |
| Taunton | 61,667 | 4.6 | C− | C | D | C |
| Trull | 1,427 | 5.3 | — | D | A | A |
| Wiveliscombe | 2,316 | 5.6 | — | B− | C+ | B |
| Wellington | 13,815 | 5.8 | D | C | C− | C+ |
Cotford St Luke, Milverton, Trull and Wiveliscombe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.4 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I building is Church of St Mary. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Primary results trail 84% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Somerset council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in Somerset, England
Bishops Lydeard is a built-up area of 2,050 people, in the Somerset West and Taunton 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.