Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0Appledore stands out for criminal damage & arson: 2.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Appledore grades B for safety overall: less crime per resident than 61% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Appledore
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Appledore has the 764th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Blackhall Mill, Wooden and Pentre Halkyn, higher than Chulmleigh, North Leverton with Habblesthorpe and Yoxall. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Appledore grades B for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 141 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Appledore against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
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.
Against the typical town its size, Appledore runs highest on criminal damage & arson (7.6 per 1,000 against 3.2), other theft (5.8 per 1,000 against 2.5) and anti-social behaviour (12.3 per 1,000 against 5.3).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 35 | 20.5 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 21 | 12.3 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 13 | 7.6 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 5.8 | 2.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 4.1 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 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.
Appledore is 764th of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Appledore, and others in Devon.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Exton Devon | 1,287 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 4.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Morchard Bishop Devon | 1,041 | 5.9 | 1.8 | 1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | Abbotskerswell Devon | 1,182 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 0.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | Chillington Devon | 1,074 | 10.2 | 1 | 2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 761 | Chulmleigh Devon | 1,232 | 18.6 | 9.2 | 4.7 | B |
| 762 | North Leverton with Habblesthorpe Nottinghamshire | 1,079 | 18.5 | 9.3 | 2.5 | B |
| 763 | Yoxall Staffordshire | 1,174 | 19.6 | 8.2 | 3.4 | B |
| 764 | Appledore Devon | 1,711 | 18.1 | 9.8 | 4 | B |
| 765 | Mount Hawke Cornwall | 1,593 | 21 | 6.9 | 3.2 | B |
| 766 | Kilsby Northamptonshire | 1,341 | 19.1 | 8.7 | 2 | B |
| 767 | Ambergate Derbyshire | 1,566 | 21.5 | 6.4 | 3.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
For every 1,000 residents, about 20 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
35 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 33 the year before
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 +6% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -35% (towns its size +0%), anti-social behaviour -30% (towns its size -1%).
Devon & Cornwall Police published three months short or not at all (Sep 2023, Oct 2023 and Nov 2023), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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).
No one died in a collision on Appledore’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Appledore’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Appledore in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Appledore is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Appledore’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; Appledore had 0.
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.
Crime in the places around Appledore
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore | 1,711 | 18.1 | 9.8 | B |
| Northam | 5,191 | 14 | 6.2 | A− |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 33.2 | 8.6 | C |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 37.9 | 11.6 | C− |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 15.6 | 4.7 | A− |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 20.5 | 3.4 | B+ |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 17.3 | 7.8 | B+ |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 17.8 | 5.7 | B+ |
Appledore records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Westward Ho! and Bideford record more. Northam, 1.1 miles away, records 14 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Appledore’s 18.1.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Some months are short. Devon & Cornwall Police published September 2023, October 2023 and November 2023 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Appledore 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 Appledore
Is Appledore safe?
Police recorded 18.1 violent and sexual offences and 9.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Appledore’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 61% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Appledore is 764th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Appledore?
Police recorded 35 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 33 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Appledore?
Violence & sexual offences: 35 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (13) and other theft (10), with 21 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Appledore compare with Barnstaple?
Barnstaple records 48 violent and sexual offences and 14.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Appledore’s 18.1 and 9.8, 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.