Shitterton Voted Most Embarrassing Town Name

Would you live in a place called Shitterton? The small town in the middle of rural Dorset was just voted as having the most embarrassing town name.

Shitterton beat out Scratchy Bottom and Crapstone to win the most embarrassing title.

The town’s name is so embarrassing, and so funny, that city officials are constantly dealing with youths trying to steal town signs. In 2010, officials carved the town’s name into a half ton chunk of stone (see above) to stop the thieves.

According to the Scottsman, Shitterton consists of a small collection of homes that sit next to a single road on the edge of the village of Bere Regis. The town was originally called Scatera or Scetra (which refers to a town that sits next to a sewer) in the 11th century Domesday Book. Shitterton, apparently, is a very literal English translation.

Ian Ventham, chairman of Bere Regis Parish Council and longtime Shitterton resident, isn’t embarrassed by the name.

Ventham said that the town isn’t a sh*theap anymore. Ventham said:

“Sh*t is sh*t. Let’s not beat around the bush, that is where the name comes from…. But it isn’t a midden or shitheap now. It is a perfect rural hamlet with thatched cottages and idyllic Dorset countryside. Those of us who live here are not the least bit embarrassed by it.”

And Shitterton is hardly the only place in England with an unfortunate name. Findmypast.co.uk., which ran the survey to find the most embarrassing town name, notes that English history is littered with embarrassing names.

Debra Chatfield, a family historian at Find My Past, said:

“If there were an Olympics for unlikely place names, Britain would surely be good for a medal, if not the gold… In the course of researching their family history, people can discover that their ancestors came from somewhere with an unlikely, unfortunate or downright embarrassing name. Some people are unsettled to discover that their forebears came from somewhere called, say, Crackpot, Ugley or Happy Bottom.”

Would you be embarrassed to live in Shitterton? What about Brokenwind, Crapstone, Golden Balls, Ugley, Crackpot, Backside, Great Snoring, or Happy Bottom.

And, yes, those are all real places.