A quarter of women forming same-sex civil partnerships have previously been married, and weddings are at their lowest level in a hundred years.

The number of marriages in England and Wales fell in 2005 to 244,710, a decline of 10 per cent on the previous year and the lowest figure since 1896.

For the first time, fewer marriages were held in churches or other places of worship than were held in secular buildings other than register offices, such as stately homes.

The first National Statistics data on civil partnerships show that 18,059 were formed in the year since their introduction in December 2005. Ten per cent of men and 24 per cent of women involved had been married.

Many civil partnership ceremonies took place in July, mirroring the popularity of weddings in summer months.

An industry has sprung up to cater for gay couples, with congratulations cards and matching “his and his” rings. About 60 per cent of those forming civil partnerships were men, whose average age was 47. For women the average age was 43.

A quarter of partnership ceremonies took place in London. Manchester and Brighton, which have substantial gay communities, were also popular.

The drop in the number of marriages came after three years of increases. In February 2005 Home Office rules were changed to make it more difficult for non-Europeans to win the right to stay in Britain through a fake wedding. The statistics suggest that the shortlived rise in the number of marriages — from 249,000 in 2002 to 273,000 in 2004 — was driven by bogus weddings. After the new marriage rules came into force, there appeared to be a fall in the number of weddings taking place at designated register offices that non-European couples now have to attend before marrying.

Marriage has been in long-term decline since 1972, according to National Statistics. There were 12 marriages for every 1,000 unmarried people in 2005, against 27 per 1,000 in 1851, it said.

In its guidance on civil partnership the General Register Office says: “Civil partnership registration is an entirely secular process . . . The Civil Partnership Act does not provide for a ceremony. Couples who wish one should discuss this with the registration authority.”

The proportion of marriages that were religious ceremonies continued to decline in 2005. Whereas 84,400 marriages were held in religious buildings, 88,710 took place in “approved premises” such as stately homes and hotels. The remainder were in a register office.

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