Crap Towns / Warwickshire / Kenilworth
Kenilworth
26/100Crap Score
725th crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in Warwickshire. 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Kenilworth. We've seen the castle.
A ruined castle and a windmill that became a water tower. Kenilworth's very proud of both.
Kenilworth has a big ruined castle and is very, very proud of it. It turned its windmill into a water tower and reckons it grew England's first potato, which nobody outside Kenilworth believes. Crime is about half the typical town's and nobody sets fire to anything. It's the least crap town in Warwickshire and it knows.
So it moans about the railway lorries and the roadworks, and there are plenty of pubs to moan in. The real crap is round the edges. Warwick council's fly-tipping runs at 1.7 times the typical English council's, and 39.2% of people here live over 400 metres from a park or a swing. They shut a swimming pool in 2021 and aren't replacing it. Big castle, though.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Kenilworth's 79 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 79% of towns.
- Fly-tipping79/10018.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Warwick council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene71/1004.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 126 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband71/10010.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.9% across the Warwick council area
- Air pollution51/1007.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain43/100125 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills40/100176 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour16/1009.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions11/1001.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson5/1003.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires3/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bedworth | 70 |
| 2 | Warwick | 64 |
| 3 | Nuneaton | 62 |
| 4 | Rugby | 54 |
| 5 | Royal Leamington Spa | 46 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Stratford-upon-Avon | 37 |
| 7 | Kenilworth | 26 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Kenilworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 38.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 49% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 81 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 36.4 per 10,000 people, 10.7x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 22 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 4 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 14) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 9.0 per 100,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.51am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later 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%
- 39.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.5x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,549 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Warwick council
- £2,462 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £70 more than the English average
- 13% of Warwickshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 19% lower than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Kenilworth 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.