Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 1,483: a village in Somerset, South West.
Police record less crime here than in most towns (A): police record 15.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 1.4 home and vehicle crimes. School results trail most towns: primary results beat 9% of towns in England. Homes are dear: the median home sold for £290,000, 5.9 years of area income. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for health, C+ for jobs & income and B for walkability.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021. Below 2,500 residents there is no overall grade, so Nether Stowey 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 Nether Stowey 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 Nether Stowey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Nether Stowey’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
23% 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 Nether Stowey.
Nether Stowey has a median age of 52.6. People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.2% of the town. Nearly a third of adults hold a degree, close to Somerset’s towns (32%) and below England’s towns (34%).
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Nether Stowey | Somerset | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.2% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 6.1% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below. At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 50% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 144 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nether Stowey Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 144 | C |
Reported offences in Nether Stowey came to 25 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 2. For its size, Nether Stowey records less crime per resident than 79% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 2.3 reports per 1,000, below Somerset’s towns (7.3) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Violence and sexual offences were just over three quarters of the crimes.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. Historic England’s list names 30 listed buildings in Nether Stowey: 3 Grade II*. 23% of its homes were built before 1919, above Somerset’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
72% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 13% of households, lower than both Somerset’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (18%). 122 standard sales inside Nether Stowey’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £290,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 53 |
| Semi-detached | £263,750 | 38 |
| Terraced | £260,000 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest A&E to Nether Stowey is Musgrove Park Hospital, 9.8 miles away. One GP practice serves the town; 97% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 18% of people here had a disability, close to both Somerset’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%).
| Census 2021 | Nether Stowey | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
16% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below Somerset’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (27%) alike. About 10% of its commuters stay in Nether Stowey for work. There are 0.4 jobs in Nether Stowey for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Nether Stowey. Best known first.
CastleStogursey Castle2.6 km outside town, to the north
CastleStowey Castle100 m outside town, to the southwestPhotos: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nether Stowey | 1,483 | — | — | C | A | B |
| Cannington | 2,315 | 4 | — | C | B+ | B |
| Wembdon | 1,772 | 5.9 | — | D | A | B+ |
| Bishops Lydeard | 2,050 | 6.5 | — | C | B− | B+ |
| Williton | 2,433 | 7 | — | C+ | D− | C+ |
| Bridgwater | 47,846 | 7.1 | D− | C+ | D− | C− |
| North Petherton | 3,180 | 7.5 | C− | C | C− | C+ |
| Watchet | 3,643 | 7.6 | D | C+ | C | C |
Cannington, Wembdon, Bishops Lydeard and Williton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 8.3 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
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 Somerset council.
Village in Somerset, England
Nether Stowey is a built-up area of 1,483 people, in the Sedgemoor 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.