Photo: Andrew Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0Bowness-on-Windermere sees more crime per resident than 97% of UK towns
The typical town its size sees 0.6 cases of drugs per 1,000 residents; Bowness-on-Windermere sees 6.6, or 15 in the 12 months to August 2026. Measured on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D−. The local count comes to 69.6 violent and sexual offences and 16.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What’s behind Bowness-on-Windermere’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 588 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bowness-on-Windermere against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Bowness-on-Windermere runs highest on drugs (6.6 per 1,000 against 0.6), public order (11.8 per 1,000 against 2.4) and violence & sexual offences (75.1 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 172 | 75.1 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 32 | 14 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 27 | 11.8 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 20 | 8.7 | 2.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 17 | 7.4 | 0 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 16 | 7 | 5.3 |
| Drugs | not graded | 15 | 6.6 | 0.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Bowness-on-Windermere compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Arnside Cumbria | 2,231 | 9.3 | 2.4 | 1.5 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 78 | Stainburn Cumbria | 2,120 | 14.3 | 3.6 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 207 | Dearham Cumbria | 2,344 | 17.9 | 6.8 | 1.7 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 424 | Ambleside Cumbria | 2,624 | 30.4 | 9 | 13.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 538 | Chopwell Tyne and Wear | 2,530 | 53.8 | 23.7 | 16.9 | D− |
| 539 | Ebbsfleet Valley Kent | 2,989 | 50.5 | 27.3 | 25.4 | D− |
| 540 | Maerdy Mid Glamorgan | 2,843 | 62.4 | 15.6 | 8.8 | D− |
| 541 | Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria | 2,290 | 69.6 | 16 | 14.7 | D− |
| 542 | Llanhilleth Gwent | 2,450 | 63.8 | 23.4 | 6.3 | D− |
| 543 | Williton Somerset | 2,433 | 69.9 | 18.4 | 9.5 | D− |
| 544 | Winwick Cheshire | 2,062 | 79.2 | 13.1 | 5.5 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Bowness-on-Windermere, and others in Cumbria.
Police in Bowness-on-Windermere identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 57% of Bowness-on-Windermere’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 17% of violent and 13% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 161 crimes.
Crime in Bowness-on-Windermere per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 17 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +1% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -5% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft +18% (towns its size +4%), anti-social behaviour -48% (towns its size -1%).
No one died in a collision on Bowness-on-Windermere’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 15 collisions with injuries inside Bowness-on-Windermere in five years. 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Bowness-on-Windermere is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bowness-on-Windermere’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bowness-on-Windermere had 5.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Bowness-on-Windermere’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bowness-on-Windermere
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowness-on-Windermere | 2,290 | 69.6 | 16 | D− |
| Windermere | 4,819 | 32.1 | 11.6 | C |
| Staveley | 1,466 | 16.4 | 5.2 | A− |
| Ambleside | 2,624 | 30.4 | 9 | C+ |
| Kendal | 28,939 | 37.6 | 10.8 | C− |
| Levens | 1,020 | 9.8 | 2.9 | A+ |
| Milnthorpe | 1,871 | 24.9 | 8.6 | B− |
Bowness-on-Windermere records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Windermere, 0.9 miles away, records 32.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bowness-on-Windermere’s 69.6.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Bowness-on-Windermere sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Bowness-on-Windermere
Is Bowness-on-Windermere safe?
Police recorded 69.6 violent and sexual offences and 16 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bowness-on-Windermere’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 3% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Bowness-on-Windermere has less crime per resident than 2%.
Is crime going up in Bowness-on-Windermere?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 18% and anti-social behaviour fell 48%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bowness-on-Windermere?
Violence & sexual offences: 172 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (32) and public order (27), with 16 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bowness-on-Windermere compare with Kendal?
Kendal records 37.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bowness-on-Windermere’s 69.6 and 16, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.