Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0Crime recorded in Chilham, and why it isn’t graded
From September 2023 to August 2026, police recorded crimes inside Chilham’s built-up area; the town has no Safety Grade. With under 1,000 residents, Chilham is too small to grade: a few incidents would move its rate a long way. Its police logs show 26.8 violent and sexual offences and 15.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 14 | 17 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 7 | 8.5 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 7 | 8.5 | 5.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 6.1 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 6.1 | 1.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 3 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 2.4 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Public order | not graded | 0 | 0 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 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.
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.
Crime in Chilham 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 18 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.
16 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 23 the year before
“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 -30% (towns its size +3%).
Crime in the places around Chilham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilham | 823 | 26.8 | 15.8 | — |
| Chartham | 3,569 | 28.9 | 11.8 | C |
| Boughton under Blean | 2,274 | 22.3 | 8.1 | B |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 14.7 | 5.9 | A− |
| Challock | 1,089 | 5.2 | 3.1 | A+ |
| Wye | 2,064 | 22.7 | 8.9 | B− |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 61.9 | 23.2 | D− |
| Blean | 1,327 | 9 | 6 | A |
Chilham records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Canterbury records more. Chartham, 1.8 miles away, records 28.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Chilham’s 26.8.
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 Chilham 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 Chilham
Is Chilham safe?
Police recorded 26.8 violent and sexual offences and 15.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Chilham’s built-up area).
Is crime going up in Chilham?
Police recorded 16 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 23 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Chilham?
Violence & sexual offences: 14 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (7) and other theft (5), with 7 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Chilham compare with Ashford?
Ashford records 40.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Chilham’s 26.8 and 15.8, 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) · 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.