Bourne End’s biggest
Wooburn Park
Playing field
9.6 ha (24 acres)2.1 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.1 km of path
13 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Bourne End · parks, paths & countryside
Bourne End has more footpath per square kilometre than 8 in 10 UK towns
72 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.0 for every square kilometre. The Chilterns National Landscape reaches the edge of Bourne End. Parks and playing fields in Bourne End add up to 2.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Bourne End grades A for the outdoors: #6 of 39 in Buckinghamshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
87%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
72 km
4.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
19%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Chilterns National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Bourne End?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths4.0 km of path per km², more than 81% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe Chilterns National Landscape starts 0.0 mi north-west.On a National TrailThe Thames Path passes through.Historic parksHedsor House is a registered historic park (Grade II).
Bourne End’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by the Chilterns National Landscape close by.
Outdoors grade
Bourne End grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Bourne End, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 88% of UK towns#6 of 39 in Buckinghamshire · 8th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
67out of
100
100
A park within a walk87%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
61out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape19%of the land within 5 km
77out of
100
100
Footpaths4.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
81out 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
Bourne End is 8th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 6,900 to 7,400 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
Bourne End4.0
Towns its size3.1
Buckinghamshire towns3.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Bourne End2.9
Towns its size2.1
Buckinghamshire towns2.4
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Bourne End87%
Towns its size77%
Buckinghamshire towns74%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Bourne End stands out most for park space per resident: only 15 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holbury Hampshire | A+ | 5.5 | 89% | 3.1 | 42% |
| 2 | Sheringham Norfolk | A+ | 11.6 | 74% | 3.4 | 32% |
| 3 | Stocksbridge South Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 100% | 4.4 | 30% |
| 4 | Bude Cornwall | A | 3.1 | 78% | 3.3 | 9% |
| 5 | Anstey Leicestershire | A | 12.9 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 6 | Liphook Hampshire | A | 3.1 | 86% | 3.8 | 64% |
| 7 | Bishop's Waltham Hampshire | A | 2.6 | 93% | 3.4 | 55% |
| 8 | Bourne End Buckinghamshire | A | 2.9 | 87% | 4 | 19% |
| 9 | Gwersyllt Clwyd | A | 14.6 | 96% | 2.5 | 2% |
| 10 | Ashley Heath Dorset | A | 24.2 | 68% | 4 | 15% |
| 11 | Darfield South Yorkshire | A | 4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 12 | Easington County Durham | A− | 5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Walton-on-the-Naze Essex | A− | 3.2 | 96% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 14 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | A− | 2.5 | 76% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 15 | Otford and Kemsing Kent | A− | 3.3 | 53% | 3.6 | 73% |
| 16 | Torpoint Cornwall | A− | 2.2 | 84% | 1.6 | 26% |
| 17 | Blackwater Hampshire | B+ | 10.6 | 74% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Chinnor Oxfordshire | B+ | 1.5 | 88% | 3.7 | 37% |
| 19 | Kiveton Park South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.8 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Fence Houses Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.8 | 81% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Malmesbury Wiltshire | B | 2 | 86% | 2.5 | 26% |
| 22 | Wroughton Wiltshire | B | 1.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 52% |
| 23 | Chapel-en-le-Frith Derbyshire | B− | 1 | 75% | 3.8 | 58% |
| 24 | Woodville Derbyshire | B− | 3.7 | 78% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Balsall Common West Midlands | B− | 3.7 | 81% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 26 | Cranfield Bedfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 72% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Borrowash Derbyshire | B− | 2.8 | 85% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Bollington Cheshire | B− | 1.3 | 56% | 4.1 | 31% |
| 29 | Blackheath West Midlands | C+ | 2.5 | 57% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 30 | Allerton Bywater West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 31 | North Baddesley Hampshire | C+ | 1.7 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 67% | 2.4 | 73% |
| 33 | Wrecclesham Surrey | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 34 | Poringland Norfolk | C+ | 1.3 | 91% | 2.1 | 5% |
| 35 | Pelton and Ouston County Durham | C+ | 2 | 64% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Murton County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 37 | West Mersea Essex | C+ | 1.9 | 69% | 2 | 0% |
| 38 | Thrapston Northamptonshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Caerleon Gwent | C | 1.9 | 64% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Horncastle Lincolnshire | C | 0.6 | 60% | 3.9 | 10% |
| 41 | Radcliffe on Trent Nottinghamshire | C | 2.5 | 76% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Hattersley Greater Manchester | C | 0.9 | 52% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 43 | Sawston Cambridgeshire | C | 1.4 | 97% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Hagley Worcestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 45 | Castle Donington Leicestershire | C | 1.8 | 85% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Crewkerne Somerset | C | 0.5 | 66% | 2.8 | 21% |
| 47 | Aylsham Norfolk | C | 2.6 | 74% | 2 | 0% |
| 48 | Hethersett Norfolk | C | 2.1 | 65% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Market Warsop Nottinghamshire | C | 2.1 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Wivenhoe Essex | C− | 0.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt Leicestershire | C− | 2.1 | 82% | 2 | 0% |
| 52 | Calverton Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 62% | 3 | 0% |
| 53 | Breaston and Draycott Derbyshire | C− | 1.1 | 73% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Pickering North Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.7 | 19% |
| 55 | Shefford Bedfordshire | D | 1.1 | 67% | 3 | 0% |
| 56 | Wellesbourne Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 88% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Deeping St James Lincolnshire | D | 0.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Beddau Mid Glamorgan | D | 1 | 77% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Featherstone Staffordshire | D− | 1.2 | 52% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Albrighton Shropshire | D− | 0.8 | 32% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Bourne End’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 Bourne End
The biggest is Wooburn Park, 9.6 ha (24 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Cookham Moor
Park or garden · 400 m outside town
2.7 ha (7 acres)0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.3 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Odney Common
Park or garden · 200 m outside town
2.9 ha (7 acres)0.4 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.3 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Bourne End 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 (87%)Further (13%)
Bourne End87%
Towns its size77%
Buckinghamshire towns74%
All UK towns83%
About 900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 448 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Bourne End
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
National Landscape
Chilterns
At the edge north-west838 km²since 199019% of the land within 5 km
Official site19% of the land within 5 km of Bourne End is National Park or National Landscape, more than 77% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
15 waymarked walks pass through or near Bourne End
72 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Bourne End and the kilometre around it, 4.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegionalLocal
The Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop11.1 km
Shakespeare's Way9.6 km
Cookham and Cock Marsh Walk, Maidenhead8.0 km
Thames Path7.5 km
European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England7.5 km
Beeches Way4.4 km
Cookham Wetland and Wildlife Trial, Maidenhead3.8 km
The Chiltern Way3.6 km
Cliveden Woodland Walking Trail, Cliveden3.5 km
Maidenhead Millennium Walk2.5 km
The Long Wind in the Willows Walk, Maidenhead2.4 km
Cliveden Gold Walking Trail, Cliveden1.6 km
Cliveden Green Walking Trail, Cliveden1.6 km
Maidenhead Boundary Walk1.5 km
Cliveden Blue Walking Trail, Cliveden0.8 km
The Thames Path, a national route, passes Bourne End. Close to home, the Cookham and Cock Marsh Walk, Maidenhead has 8 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 3 regional routes pass through, including the The Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, Shakespeare's Way and The Chiltern Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
A registered historic park in Bourne End
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Bourne End’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IIHedsor House2.0 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 Bourne End: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 67 | 51 | 43 | 49 | 51 | 48 | 51 | 61 | 56 | 76 | 79 | 71 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 79 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Bourne End →
Things to do
2 viewpoints, 16 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
2Viewpoints3Nature reserves3× towns its size2Picnic sites16Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size2Slipways
The nearest beaches
Bourne End is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Amity Beach14 mi from Bourne End’s edge
DirectionsHog Hole18 mi from Bourne End’s edge
DirectionsThe Hollows18 mi from Bourne End’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 3
The Warren Nature reserve2.5 ha · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsSpade Oak Local Nature Reserve35 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsWinter Hill6.2 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 16
Storybook Play Den0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 2
Plus 2 slipways 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.
Flackwell Heath and Wooburn GreenCookhamMarlowBeaconsfieldMarlow BottomHigh WycombeBourne End
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourne End | A | 2.9 | 87% | 19% |
| Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green 1.4 mi | A− | 1.7 | 90% | 30% |
| Cookham 1.7 mi | A+ | 8.3 | 96% | 19% |
| Marlow 2.8 mi | B+ | 1.9 | 73% | 39% |
| Beaconsfield 3.3 mi | C+ | 1.9 | 57% | 31% |
| Marlow Bottom 3.3 mi | C | 0.5 | 40% | 50% |
| High Wycombe 4.0 mi | B+ | 1.6 | 68% | 67% |
Cookham, 1.7 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 96% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Cookham has at least twice Bourne End’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Bourne End
What is the biggest park in Bourne End?
Wooburn Park, 9.6 ha (24 acres), with 2.1 km of path. Cookham Moor (2.7 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Bourne End near a National Park?
It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Bourne End?
15 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the The Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, Shakespeare's Way and Cookham and Cock Marsh Walk, Maidenhead. Wooburn Park alone has 2.1 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Bourne End?
Amity Beach, 14 mi from the edge of the town, then Hog Hole (18 mi). Bourne End itself is inland.
How many people in Bourne End live near a park?
87% 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 Bourne End?
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 Bourne End are historic?
Hedsor House (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Bourne End good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 81% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 67% (2.9 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 Bourne End’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Bourne End’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.