Bere Regis’ biggest
Mays Wood
Park or garden
48 ha (120 acres)6.7 km of path
1 h 30 minto walk all 6.7 km of path
68 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Bere Regis
Nature reserveDark Lane
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Bere Regis · parks, paths & countryside
Bere Regis has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Bere Regis add up to 39.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. The Dorset National Landscape begins 3.1 mi from the village’s edge. Bere Regis grades A for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
39.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
31 km
3.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Dorset starts 3.1 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Bere Regis?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam39.2 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 99% of UK towns.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byThe Dorset National Landscape starts 3.1 mi north.
Bere Regis’ strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by parks close to every home.
Outdoors grade
Bere Regis grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Bere Regis, 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 90% of UK towns10th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space39.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
100out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Dorset begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
72out 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.
Villages its size
Bere Regis is 10th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,200 to 1,400 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
Bere Regis3.5
Villages its size2.4
Dorset towns3.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Bere Regis39.2
Villages its size2.5
Dorset towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Bere Regis100%
Villages its size80%
Dorset towns77%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Bere Regis stands out most for park space per resident: none of the other 59 has more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worrall South Yorkshire | A+ | 3.7 | 100% | 5.4 | 21% |
| 2 | Holybourne Hampshire | A+ | 12.2 | 100% | 2.7 | 23% |
| 3 | Pateley Bridge North Yorkshire | A+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 100% |
| 4 | Wolvercote Oxfordshire | A | 32 | 100% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 5 | Crowmarsh Gifford Oxfordshire | A | 8 | 77% | 3.6 | 60% |
| 6 | Pwll Dyfed | A | 21.6 | 64% | 2.6 | 19% |
| 7 | Hurley Berkshire | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.6 | 36% |
| 8 | Amberley Gloucestershire | A | 13.7 | 0% | 6.3 | 87% |
| 9 | Charmouth Dorset | A | 2.5 | 82% | 2.3 | 63% |
| 10 | Bere Regis Dorset | A | 39.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 11 | Brinscall Lancashire | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 12 | Burbage Wiltshire | A | 2.7 | 100% | 1.9 | 100% |
| 13 | Compton Hampshire | A− | 18.8 | 61% | 3.6 | 28% |
| 14 | Upper Caldecote Bedfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Bradley Clwyd | A− | 29.9 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Blean Kent | A− | 5.9 | 80% | 6.5 | 0% |
| 17 | Govilon Gwent | A− | 2.1 | 80% | 3.4 | 69% |
| 18 | Sherford Devon | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.5 | 28% |
| 19 | Auckley South Yorkshire | B+ | 4.9 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Riseley Bedfordshire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Layer-de-la-Haye Essex | B+ | 9.5 | 79% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 22 | Marshfield Gloucestershire | B+ | 4.9 | 42% | 2.7 | 99% |
| 23 | Barleythorpe Rutland | B+ | 3.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Welland Worcestershire | B+ | 1.7 | 100% | 1.9 | 38% |
| 25 | Abbots Bromley Staffordshire | B | 6.9 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 26 | Lidlington Bedfordshire | B | 1.9 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 27 | Seven Sisters West Glamorgan | B | 7 | 82% | 0.5 | 19% |
| 28 | Lingdale North Yorkshire | B− | 1.4 | 100% | 1.7 | 31% |
| 29 | Burton-in-Kendal Cumbria | B− | 0.6 | 100% | 2.4 | 23% |
| 30 | Blakeney Gloucestershire | B− | 2.1 | 68% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 31 | Burwash East Sussex | B− | 1.5 | 76% | 2.5 | 100% |
| 32 | Pensarn Clwyd | C+ | 13.1 | 45% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Morton Derbyshire | C+ | 18.3 | 66% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Belford Northumberland | C+ | 1.2 | 83% | 0.9 | 21% |
| 35 | Perranarworthal Cornwall | C+ | 2.5 | 76% | 1.6 | 19% |
| 36 | Littleton Panell Wiltshire | C+ | 5.3 | 39% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 37 | Stonnall Staffordshire | C+ | 11.5 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Claverdon Warwickshire | C+ | 1.2 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Stoke Gabriel Devon | C+ | 1.2 | 70% | 1.2 | 30% |
| 40 | North Duffield North Yorkshire | C | 2.6 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Quainton Buckinghamshire | C | 3.8 | 69% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Haughley Suffolk | C | 3 | 71% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Kislingbury Northamptonshire | C | 8.4 | 26% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Moretonhampstead Devon | C | 0.6 | 81% | 1.2 | 100% |
| 45 | Winkleigh Devon | C | 1.9 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Wingham Kent | C− | 2.2 | 53% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Llandysul Dyfed | C− | 5.2 | 47% | 1 | 0% |
| 48 | Northborough Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 68% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Wooden Dyfed | D | 0.1 | 0% | 0.4 | 18% |
| 50 | Heddon-on-the-Wall Northumberland | D | 0.6 | 70% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Staindrop County Durham | D | 1.4 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Hockwold cum Wilton Norfolk | D | 1.6 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Appleby Magna Leicestershire | D | 1.7 | 46% | 2 | 0% |
| 54 | Byfield Northamptonshire | D | 1.9 | 48% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Hauxton Cambridgeshire | D− | 1.3 | 55% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Brandesburton East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 2.2 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Deeping St Nicholas Lincolnshire | D− | 0.7 | 80% | 0 | 0% |
| 58 | Hunger Hill Greater Manchester | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Kilsby Northamptonshire | D− | 0.5 | 50% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Witheridge Devon | D− | 0.5 | 36% | 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 Bere Regis’ 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 Bere Regis
The biggest is Mays Wood, 48 ha (120 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Souls Moor and Bere Stream Nature Reserve
Park or garden
3.4 ha (8 acres)1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Bere Regis
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
Everyone in Bere Regis lives 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Bere Regis100%
Villages its size80%
Dorset towns77%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Dorset National Landscape is 3.1 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
National Landscape
Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs
6.4 mi north-east986 km²since 1983
Official siteProtected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Bere Regis scores 0% on it even though the Dorset National Landscape is 3.1 mi away. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Bere Regis
31 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Bere Regis and the kilometre around it, 3.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Regional
Jubilee Trail (Dorset)8.3 km
The Hardy Way5.7 km
2 regional routes pass through, including the Jubilee Trail (Dorset) and The Hardy Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Bere Regis: May to September
The village’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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 112 | 78 | 68 | 65 | 54 | 56 | 56 | 70 | 74 | 113 | 125 | 119 |
May is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 125 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 44 nights a year. The climate in Bere Regis →
Things to do
2 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Bere Regis is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Lake North Beach8.4 mi from Bere Regis’ edge
DirectionsShipstal Beach9.1 mi from Bere Regis’ edge
DirectionsRingstead Beach9.8 mi from Bere Regis’ edge
DirectionsSandbanks Beach13 mi from Bere Regis’ edge
DirectionsStudland Naturist Beach13 mi from Bere Regis’ 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.
Up high. Barrow Hill, at 75 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Bere Regis.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 5
Barrow Hill75 m (246 ft) · 0.0 mi from town
DirectionsWoodbury Hill106 m (348 ft) · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsBlack Hill98 m (322 ft) · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsDamer Hill75 m (246 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsLockyer's Hill58 m (190 ft) · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Mays Wood62 ha · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite 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.
Milborne St AndrewWoolPuddletownWarehamCrosswaysLytchett MatraversBere Regis
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bere Regis | A | 39.2 | 100% | 0% |
| Milborne St Andrew 3.2 mi | B | 3.3 | 71% | 33% |
| Wool 4.0 mi | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 33% |
| Puddletown 5.5 mi | D | 0.2 | 0% | 15% |
| Wareham 6.1 mi | A | 1.9 | 83% | 56% |
| Crossways 6.1 mi | C+ | 0.5 | 100% | 22% |
| Lytchett Matravers 6.2 mi | C− | 1.2 | 83% | 5% |
Wareham, 6.1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 83% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Bere Regis
What is the biggest park in Bere Regis?
Mays Wood, 48 ha (120 acres), with 6.7 km of path. Souls Moor and Bere Stream Nature Reserve (3.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Bere Regis near a National Park?
Yes. New Forest National Park begins 18 mi east of the village’s edge. It covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Dorset National Landscape, 3.1 mi away.
What are the best walks near Bere Regis?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Jubilee Trail (Dorset) and The Hardy Way. Mays Wood alone has 6.7 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Bere Regis?
Lake North Beach, 8.4 mi from the edge of the village, then Shipstal Beach (9.1 mi). Bere Regis itself is inland.
How many people in Bere Regis live near a park?
100% 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 Bere Regis?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Bere Regis good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 72% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 100% (39.2 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 Bere Regis’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Bere Regis’ 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.