Crap Towns / Wiltshire / Highworth
Highworth
17/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 17. 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 Highworth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Above Swindon, just.
Pretty hilltop town that looks down on Swindon. Literally.
Highworth is the highest town in Wiltshire, so it gets to look down on Swindon, and it does. The Market Place is pretty and nobody misbehaves, with crime at half the typical town's rate. The trouble is Swindon Street, where the through traffic never stops and somebody's mattress is always dumped in a hedge.
Superfast broadband misses 2.6% of premises, over five times the typical town's share, and the storm overflows spill more than they should. There are supposed to be tunnels under the Market Place. Use them.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Highworth's 83 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 83% of towns.
- Sewage spills83/100981 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband65/10014.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.1% across the Swindon council area
- Fly-tipping64/10013.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Swindon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain41/100124 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution29/1006.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene25/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 40 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson15/1004.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour14/1008.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires7/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions6/1000.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Chippenham | 29 |
| 8 | Calne | 24 |
| 9 | Westbury | 24 |
| 10 | Stratton St Margaret | 22 |
| 11 | Amesbury | 20 |
| – | Highworth | 17 |
| 12 | Royal Wootton Bassett | 16 |
| 13 | Tidworth | 11 |
| 14 | Corsham | 5 |
Highworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 37.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 51% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 11 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 13.9 per 10,000 people, 12.6x the typical town's 1.1
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.5 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.30am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 5.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 32.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,628 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 6% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Swindon council
Have a crap-off
Highworth 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.