Crap Towns / Northamptonshire / Higham Ferrers
Higham Ferrers
53/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 53. Higher scores are crapper.
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Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
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Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Higham Ferrers. Better than Rushden.
A medieval square, a castle moat with no castle, and an awful lot of sewage.
Higham Ferrers has a medieval market square, a farmers market and the moat of a castle that isn't there any more. It used to make boots and shoes. Now it mostly makes a point of being nicer than Rushden. The library shut in 2020 and there's no swimming pool, so being nicer than Rushden is the main leisure activity.
The sewage is the real story. The sewage overflows run for 5.5 times as long as the typical town's, so the pretty square sits on top of a lot of shit. The countryside round it goes up in flames too: the deliberate fires come in at 3.6 times the typical town's rate, mostly grass, woods and crops. And the shoplifters are busy. Nicer than Rushden, though. Obviously.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Higham Ferrers's 90 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 90% of towns.
- Sewage spills90/1001,509 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires88/10020.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution75/1008.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour68/10017.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping62/10011.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Northamptonshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson31/1005.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions29/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene27/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 36 food businesses with a rating
- Rain23/100118 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband4/1000.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the North Northamptonshire council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northampton | 82 |
| 2 | Daventry | 75 |
| 3 | Wellingborough | 74 |
| 4 | Kettering | 54 |
| – | Higham Ferrers | 53 |
| 5 | Corby | 52 |
| 6 | Rushden | 47 |
| 7 | Raunds | 43 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Burton Latimer | 34 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Higham Ferrers by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 63.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 17% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 120 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 136 per 10,000 people, 40x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 1 hairdresser, 2 charity shops on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Higham Ferrers (2020)
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.33pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% 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%
- 1,550 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Northamptonshire council
- £2,424 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £32 more than the English average
- 8% of North Northamptonshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 25 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Higham Ferrers 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.