Religion in Cheshire, and, in particular, Christianity, has a long history. In the 2001 census, however 1 in 5 people either were recorded as no religion or religion not stated.[1] The boundary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester currently follows most closely the pre-1974 county boundary of Cheshire, so it includes all of Wirral, most of Stockport, and the Cheshire panhandle, that included Tintwistle Rural District council area.[2] In terms of Roman Catholic church administration, the majority of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.[3] Cheshire still has a slightly higher proportion of Christians than the rest of the North West of England.[1]

There is an Islamic organisation in Cheshire called Islamic Forum Cheshire it is affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain.[4]

In Cheshire there were number of Jewish congregations some of which were set up by World War II evacuees [5] the only remaining is Chester Hebrew Congregation.[6] In Cheshire there is also a Jewish Primary School called North Cheshire Jewish Primary School.[7]

There are a number of Buddhist centres in Cheshire, including Kagyu Buddhism Cheshire,[8] and Odiyana Buddhist Meditation Centre which provides classes in Buddhism throughout the county.[9]

In Warrington there is a Sikh Gurdwara called Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sikh Temple built by the Indian community in Cheshire.[10]

Religious group breakdown

edit

According to the 2001 Census, the religious group breakdown in Cheshire was:[1]

Religion Chester Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Ellesmere Port and Neston Macclesfield Vale Royal Total
Christian 92,377 (78.1%) 73,844 (81.5%) 89,080 (80.2%) 67,396 (82.5%) 119,508 (79.6%) 100,208 (82.1%) 542,413 (80.5%)
Buddhist 236 (0.2%) 107 (0.1%) 151 (0.1%) 108 (0.1%) 292 (0.2%) 200 (0.2%) 1,091 (0.2%)
Hindu 206 (0.2%) 97 (0.1%) 129 (0.1%) 65 (0.1%) 391 (0.3%) 123 (0.1%) 1,010 (0.1%)
Jewish 132 (0.1%) 52 (0.1%) 48 (0.0%) 40 (0.0%) 459 (0.3%) 52 (0.0%) 798 (0.1%)
Muslim 630 (0.5%) 154 (0.2%) 459 (0.4%) 212 (0.3%) 767 (0.5%) 211 (0.2%) 2,433 (0.4%)
Sikh 65 (0.1%) 34 (0.0%) 46 (0.0%) 27 (0.0%) 86 (0.1%) 73 (0.1%) 333 (0.0%)
All other religions 197 (0.2%) 141 (0.2%) 165 (0.1%) 62 (0.1%) 283 (0.2%) 176 (0.1%) 1033 (0.2%)
No religion 15,342 (13.0%) 10,389 (11.5%) 13,222 (11.9%) 8,340 (10.2%) 19,146 (12.8%) 13,315 (10.9%) 79,754 (11.8%)
Religion not stated 9,024 (7.6%) 5,828 (6.4%) 7,707 (6.9%) 5,407 (6.6%) 9,225 (6.1%) 7,732 (6.3%) 44,923 (6.7%)

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Religious Group Breakdown". Cheshire County Council. 6 December 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  2. ^ Chester Diocese (Church of England). Official website. Retrieval Date: 30 September 2007.
  3. ^ Diocese of Shrewsbury (Roman Catholic). Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine Official website. Retrieval Date: 30 September 2007.
  4. ^ "MCB Affiliates". www.mcb.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  5. ^ "Cheshire". www.jewishgen.org. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Chester Hebrew Congregation". www.jewishgen.org. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Prospectus". www.ncjps.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Kagyu Buddhism Cheshire". www.dechen.org. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Odiyana Buddhist Meditation Centre". www.meditationincheshire.org. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Gurudwaras in United Kingdom". Retrieved 28 June 2008.