Crap Towns / Northamptonshire / Daventry
Daventry
75/100Crap Score
Locals call it Daintree.
248th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Northamptonshire. 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 Daventry? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Sheds. Massive sheds. No station.
The radio transmitters went. The warehouses came. The railway station never did.
Daventry used to beam the BBC round the world from Borough Hill. Now it's a load of warehouses near the M1, with no railway station and nothing to do at night. Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds have all announced they're off, and the charity shops are moving in at 2.6 times the typical town's rate per head.
It's got parks everywhere, three times the typical town's per head, and the anti-social lot make good use of them. West Northamptonshire council logged 21,304 fly-tips in a year and prosecuted once. The ombudsman upheld 45 complaints against it in the same year. The storm overflows spill at 4.5 times the typical town's rate. The reservoir's nice, if you need to get away from the place. You will.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Daventry's 96 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Fly-tipping96/10042.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, West Northamptonshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills87/1001,232 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour84/10023.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene74/1004.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 112 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires59/1006.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson43/1006.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution43/1006.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain36/100123 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband28/1005.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.7% across the West Northamptonshire council area
- Serious road collisions11/1001.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northampton | 82 |
| 2 | Daventry | 75 |
| 3 | Wellingborough | 74 |
| 4 | Kettering | 54 |
| 5 | Corby | 52 |
| 6 | Rushden | 47 |
| 7 | Raunds | 43 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Burton Latimer | 34 |
| 9 | Towcester | 31 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Daventry by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 67.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 11% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 406 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 146 per 10,000 people, 42.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2018
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 4 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 12.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 16) Worse: 3.1x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 10.8 per 100,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.2 per 10,000 people, 2x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.53pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: Against the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,519 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
West Northamptonshire council
- £2,487 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £95 more than the English average
- 13% of West Northamptonshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 19% lower than England's 16%
- 45 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Daventry 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.