Crap Towns / Devon / Barnstaple
Barnstaple
69/100Crap Score
302nd crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in Devon. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
Got something to say about Barnstaple? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
The market's good. Don't go outside.
The Pannier Market's great. Step outside and it's charity shops and empty windows.
Barnstaple's got the Pannier Market and Butchers' Row, and they're good. Step out the door and it's charity shops, empty units and a bus shelter with the glass kicked out. Barneys say there's nothing to do and they're dead right.
It's wet on 163 days a year, which leaves plenty of time indoors with the charity shops, two and a half times the typical town's per head. North Devon takes £2,642 off a Band D home for all that. Even the Guildhall and the castle are on the Heritage at Risk list. If it's old and it's in Barum, it's falling down. Still, there's always Bideford to slag off, and nobody in Barum's ever run out of material.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Barnstaple's 87 for broadband means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Broadband87/1006.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 39.1% across the North Devon council area
- Rain87/100163 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson84/10010.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour75/10019.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene74/1003.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 261 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires70/1009.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills66/100512 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions41/1002.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping18/1006.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution7/1004.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 86 |
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Barnstaple by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 98.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 29% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.3 per 10,000 people, 91% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 21 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 8.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 23) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.19am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 8.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 46% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,534 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Devon council
Have a crap-off
Barnstaple against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.