Cainscross is a suburban town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on the western outskirts of Stroud and forming part of the Stroud urban area. The parish includes the communities of Ebley, Cashes Green and Hamwell Leaze, and part of Dudbridge. The population of the civil parish was 6,680 of which 14.6% are in the 5-14 age group. The area is predominantly white with a high proportion of lone parent households with dependent children in comparison to the Stroud and county averages. 18.8% of the household rent from a social landlord, 6.2% of household are claiming housing benefit, and 22.4% of households have no car - again all much higher than the county or Stroud profiles. Lone pensioner households are also high, at 18.2%, with smaller proportions of people providing unpaid care, and higher social service referrals for the over-75s than elsewhere. As a relatively prosperous parish within Gloucestershire, there are low levels of burglary, theft of motor vehicles; the numbers of serious and fatal road traffic accidents compared to the county average. The percentage of young offenders resident in the area and of children with low scores at key stages 1-3, are also below the Stroud and county averages. The parish council is hoping to improve provision of community and youth facilities; these, along with levels of open space, were identified in the 2006 Parish Plan as key issues along with library, post office and evening bus services. The site of a former hospital is being redeveloped with community consultation involving a Bristol-based company with a strong regeneration record. A new Children’s Centre is being developed on the nearby Cashes Green Primary school site. Cainscross is well served with local amenities, including a post office and a medium-sized co-operative supermarket. It is well connected to Stroud with frequent bus services to Stonehouse, Gloucester and Cheltenham. The Stroudwater Canal is easily accessible to the south, as is Selsley Common. Stroud town centre lies 1.6 miles to the east.
Governance
An electoral ward in the same name exists. Much of this ward is in the parish of Cainscross but the ward stretches to Randwick. The total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 7,316.
