Crap Towns / Norfolk / Watton
Watton
10/100Crap Score
Known as Woo Town.
883rd crappest of 984 towns, and 11th in Norfolk. 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 Watton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Even the clock's given up
Watton has a clock tower that doesn't work, a lake in an old railway pit and a quiet High Street.
Watton has a clock tower on the High Street, which has stopped, and a lake called Loch Neaton that's an old railway ballast pit. Locals call it Woo Town. The shops are going, there's street drinking that puts people off and the new houses have packed out the schools and doctors.
It's got 6 banks and 3 pubs, which is the wrong way round for anywhere in Norfolk. No public pool either. There are 11 hairdressers, mind. Nobody in Watton knows what time it is, but they all look smart.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Watton's 97 for broadband means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Broadband97/10026.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 32.7% across the Breckland council area
- Food hygiene59/1003.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 58 food businesses with a rating
- Rain38/100123 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions38/1002.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution31/1005.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires29/1004.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson20/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping17/1005.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Breckland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour13/1008.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Thetford | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
| 10 | North Walsham | 17 |
| 11 | Watton | 10 |
| 12 | Attleborough | 4 |
| 13 | Taverham and Drayton | 1 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Watton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 47.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 38% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 13 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 11.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 3 pubs, 11 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 6 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 8.7 per 100,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher 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
- 10.36pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 21.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 36% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,543 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Breckland council
- £2,444 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £52 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
Watton 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.