The mystery behind Britain’s smelliest village has been cracked – and the reason stinks

Gregory RobinsonPublished Jul 8, 2024, 1:50pm

2JDN270 The Duck Pond at Sunset, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, England — It looks idyllic but the smell is making locals angry (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

A picturesque village in England has recently been given the unfortunate title of the smelliest.

Chalfont St Giles, which is also known as the Best Kept Village in Buckinghamshire, stinks of sewage.

The stench reached new heights in June (you know, back when we had a few days of summer) and the heat made the foul smell even worse, The Telegraph reports.

But the nostrils belonging to the village’s population, which is roughly 4,700, have to suffer the smell constantly.

So, where is the village and what is being done about the stench?

Where is Chalfont St Giles?

The tiny village is located in Buckinghamshire, and is around 25 miles northwest of central London by car.

It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont.

2C23GPW Woman jogger passes St. Giles church reading room in High Street, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK — The high street in Chalfont St Giles (Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)

Why is Chalfont St Giles so stinky?

Locals initially thought the smell was due to stagnant water in a floodplain. But it later became apparent that Thames Water had been dumping raw sewage into the River Misbourne, which runs through the village’s centre.

Overflow tanks used to control the flow of wastewater, which leads into the River Misbourne, had a ‘storm overflow discharge’ in January, which only ceased at the end of June this year.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock (14350997d) Sewage fungus in the River Misbourne at Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. Thames Water are discharging into the River Misbourne, a precious chalk stream, in Amersham at the Amersham Balancing Tanks in Buckinghamshire. The Thames Water Event Duration Monitor there remains out of action, however, there is clear evidence of sewage fungus in the river at Chalfont St Giles and a stink of sewage. The River Misbourne is a chalk stream that flows from its source just north of Great Missenden through several Buckinghamshire towns. Chalk streams are globally rare habitats Thames Water Sewage Discharge Fungus, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, UK - 16 Feb 2024 — The River Misbourne runs through the village (Picture: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: ‘Our monitor at our Amersham storm tanks site is now publishing this data for the public to see and while all discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes.’

@thameswater @StGilesVillage Why is there such a strong smell of sewage every night in Chalfont St Giles village centre? It isn’t there during the day
— Mary Phillips (@mpcsg) June 6, 2024

How has the stench affected Chalfont St Giles?

The river footpath, a children’s play area and a duck pond have been closed. The parish has also been forced to pull out of the 2024 Best Kept Village competition because of the funk in the air.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock (14364015f) Sewage fungus in the River Misbourne at Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. Thames Water are discharging into the River Misbourne, a precious chalk stream, in Amersham at the Amersham Balancing Tanks in Buckinghamshire. The Thames Water Event Duration Monitor there remains out of action, however, there is clear evidence of sewage fungus in the river downstream at Chalfont St Giles and a stink of sewage. The River Misbourne is a chalk stream that flows from its source just north of Great Missenden through several Buckinghamshire towns. Chalk streams are globally rare habitats Thames Water Sewage Discharge, Chalk Stream Sewage Fungus, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, UK - 24 Feb 2024 — Sewage fungus in the River Misbourne at Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire (Picture: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)

‘The stench of sewage permeates the village’, said Chalfont St Giles Parish Council.

What is being done about the stench?

Thames Water has apologised and said the region experienced the ‘eighth wettest winter on record’ which led to high groundwater and river levels. A spokesperson also confirmed engineers are using filter units at the overflow tanks to ‘minimise the impact to the river’.