Crap Towns / Norfolk / Sheringham
Sheringham
1/100Crap Score
People from here are Shannocks.
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 1. 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
Never mention Cromer here
Steam trains, crabs and a lifeboat. Nothing goes wrong here, and they know it.
Sheringham is annoyingly perfect. Steam trains to Holt, crab boats, a lifeboat, excellent bathing water and hardly any crime. The Shannocks will tell you it's better than Cromer, every time, and the Crabs down the road will tell you where to go.
The high street's got nine times the typical town's charity shops per head, so the whole of north Norfolk's retired wardrobe ends up here. Barclays left in 2023, and that's the biggest drama in years. The only other moan is tourists' cars in everyone's street. Bloody hell.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sheringham's 92 for broadband means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Broadband92/1009.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 45.5% across the North Norfolk council area
- Food hygiene52/1002.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 115 food businesses with a rating
- Rain33/100122 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution23/1004.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson16/1004.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions13/1001.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires10/1001.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills8/1003.5 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour6/1007.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping5/1004.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Norfolk council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
| 10 | North Walsham | 17 |
| 11 | Watton | 10 |
| 12 | Attleborough | 4 |
| – | Sheringham | 1 |
| 13 | Taverham and Drayton | 1 |
Sheringham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 40.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 47% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.6 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 8.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 12) Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 14.1 per 100,000 people, 4.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 5 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 7.1 per 10,000 people, 4.4x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Better: 2.8 per 10,000 people, 4x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.02am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 13.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 13% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,692 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 10% higher than the typical town's 1,532
North Norfolk council
- £2,460 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £68 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Sheringham 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.