What does the 2021 Census say about religion in Norfolk?

But, despite being surrounded by medieval churches and two magnificent cathedrals, data from the last census shows increasing numbers of people in Norwich are turning their back on religion.

The percentage of people in the city who responded to the 2021 Census stating they had no religion jumped to 53.5pc (76,973) from 42.5pc (56,268) a decade ago - making the city the second least religious in England.

St Peter Mancroft in Norwich (Image: Archant Norfolk Photographic © 2006)

However, Norwich has surrendered its status from 2011 as the country's least religious city, as Brighton and Hove now has a higher percentage (55.2pc) of people declaring they had no religion.

The number of people in Norwich who said they were Christian also dropped sharply, from 44.9pc (59,515) in 2011 to 33.6pc (48,399) in 2021.

And that decline could have repercussions when it comes to the future of Norwich's medieval churches - of which 31 remain today.

That is the largest concentration of urban medieval churches north of the Alps, but dwindling congregations have made it harder to source the money or resources to maintain places of worship and tackle expensive backlogs of repairs.

The Bishop of Norwich (Image: Archant)

Earlier this year, The Right Reverend Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, warned "tough decisions" over the future of churches across Norfolk could have to be made.

A Church Buildings Commission, chaired by former Norwich City Council chief executive Laura McGillivray, was set up to make recommendations about the fate of churches.

Nationally, the proportion of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian fell below 50pc for the first time.

Some 46.2pc of the population described themselves as Christian on the day of the 2021 census - down from 59.3pc a decade earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Nationally, the percentage of people saying they had no religion went up from 25.2pc in 2011 to over a third in 2021 (37.2pc).

There were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim nationally (up from 4.9pc to 6.5pc) and Hindu (from 1.5pc to 1.7pc).

In Norwich 3pc (4,289) people stated they were Muslim, up on 2,612 a decade ago, while 1,719 said they were Hindu, an increase from 1,017 in 2011.

The city also had more Buddhists than anywhere else in Norfolk, with 1.6pc saying that was their religion.

But Bishop Graham said: "God is present everywhere; nowhere is absent from God’s love, so there is no such thing as a Godless city.

"The census figures are always complex, nuanced by the questions asked and the number of responses.

"While the statistics show that more people in Norwich identify as not religious than Christian, this isn’t the case in the rest of Norfolk.

"What the census did not explore was the range of belief and unbelief amongst the ‘not religious’.

"They are not Godless – many will pray or be spiritual in another way, but do not describe themselves as Christian.

"It is the Church of England’s privilege to serve everyone in our communities including those who share our Christian faith, those belonging to other faiths and those who say they have no religion."

RELIGION IN NORFOLK

King's Lynn was the part of Norfolk where Christianity and religion overall remained strongest.

There were 52.4pc of people in the borough council area who stated they were Christian, while 39.5pc people said they had no religion.

North Norfolk was not far behind, with 52.3pc of those who took part in the census saying they were Christian and 39.5pc saying they had no religion.

In Great Yarmouth, 45.2pc said they had no religion, while 46.7pc identified as Christian.

In Great Yarmouth, 45.2pc of people told the 2021 Census they had no religion (Image: Archant Norfolk Photographic © 2010)

At 0.7pc the town and its surroundings had the second highest proportion of Muslims outside of Norwich.

Half of people within Breckland said they were Christian, while 42.1pc said they had no religion.

In South Norfolk, 47.4pc of people stated they were Christian, while 44.4pc said they had no religion, similar figures to Broadland, where 47.7pc said they were Christian and 44.5pc had no religion.