Shitterton takes first place as Britain's worst place name

The residents of Scratchy Bottom, Crapstone and Backside will be uttering a sigh of relief as the UK's worst place name is announced: it's the tiny hamlet in Dorset called Shitterton.

Ironically, despite the unfortunate names, a lot of the tiny hamlets and villages in the survey run by findmypast.co.uk are actually really beautiful, quaint places - the very definition of countryside idyll.

Shitterton, for instance, is very pretty and green, with thatched cottages and a sleepy village atmosphere.

The scatological fun doesn't stop there - the name is a literal translation from the Norman French of the village's name Scatera, which means a small town that is on the stream of a sewer.

This isn't the first time Shitterton has hit the headlines either - in 2010, villagers chipped in to buy a half-ton stone sign after miscreants kept stealing the road sign at the entrance to the hamlet. Ian Ventham, chairman of the parish council, told the Daily Telegraph: "In Victorian times prudes decided to call it Sitterton, so even today in Shitterton we have Sitterton Close and Sitterton House. The rest of us prefer the rather more earthy Shitterton."

Dorset has, in total, bagged three spots in the top 10 for worst place names, with Scratchy Bottom near the village of Chaldon Herring coming second, and Happy Bottom at number 10.

The top ten:
1 Shitterton, Dorset
2 Scratchy Bottom, Dorset
3 Brokenwind, Aberdeenshire
4 Crapstone, Devon
5 Golden Balls, Oxfordshire
6 Ugley, Essex
7 Crackpot, North Yorkshire
8 Backside, Aberdeenshire
9 Great Snoring, Norfolk
10 Happy Bottom, Dorset