Photo: Peter Facey · CC BY-SA 2.0Marchwood sits near the middle of UK towns for recorded crime
With 32 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, other theft reaches 5.5 per 1,000 residents in Marchwood, well above the typical 3.2. The town grades B− for safety overall (#37 of 76 in Hampshire): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. For every 1,000 residents, 22.9 violent and sexual offences and 8.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Marchwood
About the middle for a town its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Marchwood has the 274th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Long Lawford, Tadcaster and North Anston, higher than Hoylake, Whittle-le-Woods and Cottenham. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Marchwood’s B−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 549 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Marchwood against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How Marchwood’s neighbourhoods rank in England
25% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Marchwood’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Marchwood runs highest on other theft (5.5 per 1,000 against 3.2) and burglary (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.9). Criminal damage & arson and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 140 | 24.2 | 22.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 32 | 5.5 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 32 | 5.5 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 19 | 3.3 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 19 | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 18 | 3.1 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 12 | 2.1 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 7 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Police in Marchwood identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 76% of Marchwood’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 19% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 1% of violent and 0% 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. 181 crimes.
274th of 628: Marchwood among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Four Marks Hampshire | 5,613 | 13.8 | 5.5 | 5.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Milford on Sea Hampshire | 4,364 | 12.5 | 7.3 | 3.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Odiham Hampshire | 5,091 | 13.8 | 6.7 | 5.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 271 | Hoylake Merseyside | 5,311 | 23.1 | 8.4 | 10.1 | B− |
| 272 | Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire | 4,388 | 22.8 | 8.7 | 4.3 | B− |
| 273 | Cottenham Cambridgeshire | 6,156 | 19.7 | 12 | 4.9 | B− |
| 274 | Marchwood Hampshire | 5,776 | 22.9 | 8.8 | 5.6 | B− |
| 275 | Dickens Heath West Midlands | 4,797 | 19.6 | 12.1 | 4.3 | B− |
| 276 | Breaston and Draycott Derbyshire | 7,393 | 22.6 | 9.2 | 8.6 | B− |
| 277 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | 5,042 | 23.5 | 8.3 | 5.2 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Marchwood, and others in Hampshire.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 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 +1%), homes and vehicles +29% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +100% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -14% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Marchwood 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Three people died in collisions on Marchwood’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 25 collisions with injuries inside Marchwood in five years, in which three people died. 7 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Marchwood’s three people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Marchwood’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Marchwood had 7.
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 Marchwood’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Marchwood
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marchwood | 5,776 | 22.9 | 8.8 | B− |
| Hythe and Dibden Purlieu | 19,857 | 27.6 | 10.4 | C+ |
| Ashurst | 2,370 | 11.4 | 8.3 | A− |
| Totton | 28,093 | 35.3 | 14.7 | C− |
| Southampton | 249,633 | 58.3 | 22.2 | D− |
| Rownhams and Nursling | 4,796 | 27.4 | 22.9 | C− |
| Netley | 6,309 | 29.4 | 12.7 | C |
| Chilworth | 1,169 | 22.8 | 12.3 | C+ |
Marchwood records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Ashurst, 2.9 miles away, records 11.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Marchwood’s 22.9.
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 Marchwood 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 Marchwood
Is Marchwood safe?
Police recorded 22.9 violent and sexual offences and 8.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Marchwood’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 52% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Marchwood is 274th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Marchwood?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 29%, shoplifting and theft rose 100% and anti-social behaviour fell 14%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Marchwood?
Violence & sexual offences: 140 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (32) and criminal damage & arson (19), with 32 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Marchwood compare with Southampton?
Southampton records 58.3 violent and sexual offences and 22.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Marchwood’s 22.9 and 8.8, 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.