Wales. The majority of the population of Atherton were born in England (96.29%); 1.56% were born elsewhere within the United Kingdom, 0.89% within the rest of the European Union, and 1.26% elsewhere in the world. Data on religious beliefs across the town in the 2001 census show that 86.6% declared themselves to be Christian, 7.2% said they held no religion, and 0.3% reported themselves as Hindu. Population change Economy Atherton is within the Manchester Travel to Work Area. The town is within the Manchester Larger Urban Zone. At the time of the 2001 Census, there were 8,755 people (43.1%) in employment who were resident in Atherton. Of these, 19.65% worked in the wholesale and retail trades, including the repair of motor vehicles; 19.28% worked within the manufacturing industry, and 10.27% worked within the health and social work sector. The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 as 36.7% in full-time employment, 11.0% in part-time employment, 6.8% self-employed, 4.0% unemployed, 1.7% students with jobs, 3.2% students without jobs, 14.6% retired, 6.5% looking after home or family, 11.8% permanently sick or disabled, and 3.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The 4.0% unemployment rate was high compared with the national rate of 3.3%. According to the Office for National Statistics estimates, during the period between April 2001 and March 2002, the average gross income of households was £380 per week (£19,760 per year), substantially less than the £470 per week (£24,440) for the rest of the North West. The average car ownership per household was 1.01, compared with 0.93 across the Greater Manchester Urban Area; 43.74% of households owned a single car or van, and 30.76% owned none. Atherton, the third-largest retail centre in the Wigan Borough, has a small pedestrian shopping centre. Most shops front on to Market Street and date from late Victorian times, the majority operated by small independent retailers, although there is a supermarket that brings customers into the town centre. Older, low cost, mostly terraced housing, surrounds the centre of town. Bolts and fastenings are still manufactured in Atherton by Smith Bullough, one of the few remaining bolt and nut manufacturers in the UK. , a business park is planned for the former Gibfield Colliery site. Landmarks There are several historic listed buildings in and around Atherton, some, but not all, in the area referred to as Chowbent. They include the 17th-century Alder House, Chowbent Chapel,