Rural churches and church buildings (CofE)

 "Some 78% of the Church of England’s 15,700 churches are listed. Over 57% of churches are in rural areas, where only 17% of the population lives. 91% of rural churches are listed, compared with 63% in suburban and 55% in urban areas. The Church of England is responsible for around 45% of the grade I listed buildings of England and almost three-quarters of these are in rural areas. "

https://www.churchofengland.org/media/2383717/church_buildings_review_report_2015.pdf

See also Giles Fraser's article:

"a quarter of rural churches have fewer than 10 people in the pews on a Sunday. Half of them have fewer than 20."

"the C of E is mired in nostalgia ... for a parish pastoral in which the local vicar, who knows everyone, wanders around in some wheel of benevolent aimlessness"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2015/oct/15/we-must-do-to-our-churches-what-beeching-did-to-the-railways?CMP=share_btn_tw