Ampthill’s biggestHistoric park · Grade II
Ampthill Park
Park or garden
63 ha (156 acres)11.4 km of path
2 h 30 minto walk all 11.4 km of path
88 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Ampthill
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: APB-CMX at English Wikipedia · Public domainBOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ampthill · parks, paths & countryside
Ampthill has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Ampthill add up to 6.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Chilterns National Landscape begins 3.3 mi from the town’s edge. Footpaths add up to 52 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.9 for every square kilometre. Ampthill grades B for the outdoors: #10 of 33 in Bedfordshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
6.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
71%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
52 km
3.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Chilterns starts 3.3 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Ampthill?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam6.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 92% of UK towns.A town of footpaths3.9 km of path per km², more than 78% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe Chilterns National Landscape starts 3.3 mi south.Historic parks2 registered historic parks and gardens, including Ampthill Park.
Ampthill’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Ampthill grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ampthill, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B
Better than 62% of UK towns#10 of 33 in Bedfordshire · 26th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space6.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
92out of
100
100
A park within a walk71%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
32out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Chilterns begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
79out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Towns its size
Ampthill is 26th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 8,500 to 9,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Ampthill3.9
Towns its size2.9
Bedfordshire towns3.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ampthill6.8
Towns its size2.4
Bedfordshire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ampthill71%
Towns its size85%
Bedfordshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Ampthill stands out most for park space per resident: only 6 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 46 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanage Dorset | A+ | 6.9 | 95% | 4.2 | 47% |
| 2 | Pool and Illogan Cornwall | A+ | 3.7 | 81% | 4 | 5% |
| 3 | Worsbrough South Yorkshire | A | 10.1 | 100% | 6 | 0% |
| 4 | Storrington West Sussex | A | 5.5 | 85% | 3.2 | 54% |
| 5 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | A | 10.6 | 97% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 6 | Warlingham Surrey | A | 4.2 | 81% | 4.3 | 13% |
| 7 | Penistone South Yorkshire | A | 2.6 | 97% | 3.9 | 9% |
| 8 | Maryport Cumbria | A− | 1.4 | 100% | 2.4 | 5% |
| 9 | Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear | A− | 7.8 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 10 | Billingshurst West Sussex | A− | 2.9 | 95% | 3.1 | 3% |
| 11 | Ryton Tyne and Wear | A− | 5.5 | 85% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Brightlingsea Essex | A− | 3 | 97% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Thurnscoe South Yorkshire | A− | 9.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Shanklin Isle of Wight | A− | 1.4 | 33% | 4.5 | 29% |
| 15 | Alfreton Derbyshire | B+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 16 | Longridge Lancashire | B+ | 1.9 | 89% | 3 | 32% |
| 17 | Winnersh Berkshire | B+ | 9.6 | 80% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Frodsham Cheshire | B+ | 2.5 | 67% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Hadleigh Suffolk | B+ | 2.6 | 87% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 20 | Higham Ferrers Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.5 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 21 | Hayle Cornwall | B+ | 1.4 | 72% | 3.4 | 6% |
| 22 | Banstead Surrey | B+ | 2.4 | 66% | 5.2 | 3% |
| 23 | Cinderford Gloucestershire | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 4.7 | 4% |
| 24 | Ashbourne Derbyshire | B | 1.9 | 92% | 2.7 | 14% |
| 25 | Cockermouth Cumbria | B | 2.6 | 81% | 2.2 | 42% |
| 26 | Ampthill Bedfordshire | B | 6.8 | 71% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 27 | Clay Cross Derbyshire | B | 2.6 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Gatley Greater Manchester | B | 5.7 | 66% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 29 | South Kirkby West Yorkshire | B | 3 | 97% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Marlborough Wiltshire | B | 1.2 | 72% | 3.8 | 100% |
| 31 | Abergele Clwyd | B | 2.9 | 78% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Wendover Buckinghamshire | B | 1 | 58% | 5.6 | 60% |
| 33 | Hornsea East Riding of Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 90% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 34 | Whitnash Warwickshire | B− | 2 | 95% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 35 | Cullompton Devon | B− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Stansted Mountfitchet Essex | B− | 0.8 | 96% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Hook Hampshire | B− | 2.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 38 | West End and Chobham Surrey | B− | 3.3 | 65% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 39 | Caister-on-Sea Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 40 | Hoo St Werburgh Kent | C+ | 1.4 | 92% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 42 | Okehampton Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 85% | 2.2 | 37% |
| 43 | Atherstone Warwickshire | C+ | 2.7 | 88% | 2 | 0% |
| 44 | Brinsworth South Yorkshire | C | 1.3 | 76% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Barwell Leicestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Faringdon Oxfordshire | C | 1.3 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Kinmel Bay Clwyd | C | 1.8 | 76% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Rothwell Northamptonshire | C | 2.2 | 91% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Burscough Lancashire | C | 2.6 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Sherburn in Elmet North Yorkshire | C− | 1.8 | 93% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Ferryhill County Durham | C− | 1.5 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 52 | East Leake Nottinghamshire | C− | 2.4 | 68% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.8 | 52% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Sileby Leicestershire | C− | 1 | 80% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Adlington Lancashire | C− | 1.3 | 64% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Shifnal Shropshire | D | 1 | 89% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | D | 1.9 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Holbeach Lincolnshire | D | 1 | 91% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Tarleton and Hesketh Bank Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 63% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Kirkham Lancashire | D− | 1.3 | 66% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ampthill’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Ampthill
The biggest is Ampthill Park, 63 ha (156 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Ampthill residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (71%)Further (29%)
Ampthill71%
Towns its size85%
Bedfordshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
About 2,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 18 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 490 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Chilterns National Landscape is 3.3 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Ampthill scores 0% on it even though the Chilterns National Landscape is 3.3 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
5 waymarked walks pass through or near Ampthill
52 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ampthill and the kilometre around it, 3.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
John Bunyan Trail13.4 km
Katherine’s Walk13.1 km
Marston Vale Timberland Trail10.4 km
Greensand Ridge Walk8.2 km
Flit Valley Walk1.7 km
Close to home, the Katherine’s Walk has 13 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the John Bunyan Trail and Greensand Ridge Walk.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
2 historic parks, and what stands in them
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Ampthill’s named parks.
Registered park · Grade II
Ampthill Park
63 ha. A registered historic park (Grade II). 0 listed structures and monuments stand inside it or at its edge.
Registered · Grade IIThe Alameda1.2 ha
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ampthill: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 57 | 44 | 37 | 46 | 49 | 50 | 48 | 59 | 58 | 67 | 59 | 56 |
March is the driest month (37 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 67 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 47 nights a year. The climate in Ampthill →
The coast
Beaches near Ampthill
0% of the area within 5 km of Ampthill is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km.
The Beach0.9 mi from town
DirectionsSea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
18 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Flitton Moor Local Nature Reserve5.9 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsFlitwick Moor SSSI52 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 18
Froghall Fields Play Park0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 2
Plus 2 dog parks without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
MauldenFlitwickFlittonHoughton ConquestLidlingtonWestoningAmpthill
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ampthill | B | 6.8 | 71% | 0% |
| Maulden 1.3 mi | D | 0.9 | 55% | 0% |
| Flitwick 1.6 mi | C | 0.8 | 59% | 3% |
| Flitton 2.0 mi | C | 1.4 | 49% | 6% |
| Houghton Conquest 2.7 mi | C+ | 1.8 | 100% | 0% |
| Lidlington 2.8 mi | B | 1.9 | 100% | 0% |
| Westoning 3.1 mi | B− | 1.1 | 100% | 10% |
Ampthill grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Ampthill
What is the biggest park in Ampthill?
Ampthill Park, 63 ha (156 acres), with 11.4 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Ampthill near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Chilterns National Landscape, 3.3 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Ampthill?
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the John Bunyan Trail, Katherine’s Walk and Marston Vale Timberland Trail. Ampthill Park alone has 11.4 km of path.
How many people in Ampthill live near a park?
71% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Ampthill?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Ampthill are historic?
Ampthill Park (Grade II) and The Alameda (Grade II) are on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Ampthill good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 79% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 92% (6.8 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Ampthill’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ampthill’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
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.