There is no other area which is consistently over 60% saying they have no religion.

Certainly it is true that areas which are more white Welsh or white English are less religious, but this is not replicated in similar areas of England or Wales which have similar levels of homogeneity.

by TwyningA

26 comments

  2. Is it possible that they’re quite intelligent there and have the ability to see the bible for what it is?

  3. God has forsaken the valleys, and thus the valleys have forsaken God. (/j)

    I find the dark spot around Aberystwyth interesting.

  4. I think there’s a deep-rooted generational apathy in the south Wales valleys as a result of the collapse of industry over the last 40+ years. People lost their jobs, their livelihoods, their hope, and even their faith, and nothing significant has replaced it.

  5. It is interesting as a few generations ago the Welsh valleys stereotype was probably one of a strong religiosity focused on Methodist and other non confirming chapels. I suppose those sorts of churches have an inherently less organised hierarchy outside of the local communities so the collapse of industrial communities probably tied quite closely to a collapse in church attendance.

  8. There’s a long history of the church in South Wales, more so due to the fact of the nonconformist movement that spread across the area up until the 1920s. The Welsh were forced to pay tithes to the Church of England; an institute that didn’t represent Wales, and perpetuated the Treachery of the Blue Books in the mid 19th century, that characterised all Welsh were dirty, ignorant, lazy, and immoral. The relationship with religion has since been one of apathy and disillusionment, as an established institute of the church further ostracised the Welsh people.

    Throughout my education in a Welsh-speaking school, we were taught that the Welsh town in the valleys were built around the pub and the chapel. These days, although we were obligated to recite the Lord’s Prayer in Welsh, along with the Welsh national anthem, each morning at assembly, our relationship with religion was often one of tradition and identity. These things are now lacking in the modern era, whether that’s for better or worse is another question.

  9. You have to abandon God if you live in certain parts of Rhondda

  11. Because God left as soon as the mines got closed 🤷‍♂️

  12. When asked we all took the Jedi option. Turns out that puts you in the non religious category

  14. There’s really two parts to this:

    (a) Why are industrial areas more likely to be non-religous?

    (b) Why are industrial areas in England not as non-religious as they are in Wales?

    For (a), it’s likely because working class movements were often in opposition of the church. Many high ranking members of religious institutions were from wealthy families so they were seen to be defending classic conservativism. There were also cases where Anglican clergy condemned general strikes as disruptive, and the church itself was heavily criticised for not helping the poor.

    For (b), it’s simply down to immigration. Industrial areas in England which have maintained homogenity, such as Hull, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, have higher rates of irreligiosity. There is also Merseyside which may come across as an exception, but the difference is explained by historical Irish immigration; Catholics are less likely to identify as non-religious.

  15. I’m interested in how the question was formulated, cause my parents are in no way religious or even believe in God, but would probably answer that they are …church of England? ( Not sure actually, which one) Just because of tradition in the area.

  16. Because we seen sense & realised Jedi is the way to go

  19. Because hundreds of years of pastors, vicars and priests talking down to people didn’t do them much good.

    Look at the valleys and villages full of chapels, empty chapels, they did nothing for the people, only took their money and admonished them, and their lives were still hard.

    And then the industry left and many places were on their arses, life was hard for a different reason.

  20. People in the valleys feel completely left behind by all facets of the “establishment” and this includes religion. In other parts of the UK that have seen similar economic and social declines the drop in religiosity in the “native” population has been offset by immigration from more religious population groups outside the UK, this simply hasn’t happened in the Valleys.

  22. Line this up with education.
    Not saying this to throw shade but Swansea, Cardiff and Newport have become a tech hub. Aber has its university. I bet that there’s a statistic somewhere correlating religion to level of education

  23. M4 corridor, more people moved here to have better travel access for work. Working people are probably more educated than others and don’t believe in Gods or religion as there’s no proof or evidence.

  24. There’s no you can go through Port Talbot and come out thinking there’s a god

  25. I am belgian, I met a lady in the Conwy moutain in North Wales who told me that “some day we will all have chips in the arms”
    I asked her how does she know that. She replied “It is in the bible! The mark of the beast, book of revelations!”

    That was scary to meet her at the top of a mountain with a huge wind. 😂

  26. If you’d ever been to South Wales you’d also come to the conclusion that there is no God.

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