Shitterton
Shitterton | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | WAREHAM | |
Postcode district | BH20 | |
Dialling code | 01929 | |
Police | Dorset | |
Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire | |
Ambulance | South Western | |
UK Parliament | ||
Shitterton is a hamlet in
Location
Shitterton is at the western edge of the village of
Name
The unusual name of the hamlet dates back at least 1,000 years to
The stream which passes near the village flows into the River Piddle (also called River Trent). Piddle is another name for urine. Shitterton is located very close to a village known as Piddletown until recently, when it was renamed Puddletown.
In 2012, Shitterton was voted "Britain's worst place-name" in a survey carried out by genealogy website
Disappearing sign
The hamlet's name has resulted in its sign repeatedly being stolen (a fate similar to that of Fugging (formerly Fucking), Upper Austria), requiring costly replacements to be acquired each time, to the increasing reluctance of the local council. As Ian Ventham, chairman of Bere Regis Parish Council, put it:
Every two or three years somebody comes along and nicks our sign because, clearly, Shitterton is amusing. We think it was kids who would like to have it stuck on the wall in a den somewhere. I don't think it was malicious, they just did it for fun, but it was exasperating for us. We would get a nice new shiny sign from the council and five minutes later, it was gone.[10]
In 2010, the inhabitants banded together to purchase a 1.5-tonne block of Purbeck stone to place at the entrance to Shitterton, carved with the hamlet's name. More than half of the 50 households contributed £20 each and a further £70 was contributed by Purbeck district council.[10] A truck and crane were hired by volunteers to put the stone in place, at a total cost of £680.[11] Ian Ventham explained: "We thought, 'Let's put in a tonne and a half of stone and see them try and take that away in the back of a Ford Fiesta'."[10]
References
- ISBN 9781440507397. Archived from the originalon 3 February 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9781841623931.
- ISBN 9780300095982.
- ^ Adams, Stephen (23 July 2010). "Shitterton: what's in a name?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Shitterton: They swear it's lovely here". The Independent. London. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ Mills, Anthony David (1977). The Place-names of Dorset: The Isle of Purbeck. The Hundreds of Rowbarrow, Hasler, Winfrith, Culliford Tree, Bere Regis, Barrow, Puddletown, St George. English Place-Name Society. p. 276.
- ^ Adams, Stephen (23 July 2010). "Scatological village sign set in stone". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Shitterton takes first place as Britain's worst place name". MSN Travel. 15 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Scratchy Bottom beats Brokenwind, but Shitterton takes the prize... for unfortunate place names". London Evening Standard. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ a b c "Sign of the Times: Shitterton Hits Back". Sky News. 23 July 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Village 'amusing' name set in stone". Belfast Telegraph. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.