Corfe Mullen’s biggest
Corfe Mullen Recreation Ground
Playing field
14 ha (36 acres)1.0 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
20 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.8 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Two sections of Roman road on Barrow Hill and Corfe Hills · Photo: TJC · CC BY-SA 2.5B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Corfe Mullen · parks, paths & countryside
The Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape begins 0.9 mi from Corfe Mullen
Parks and playing fields in Corfe Mullen add up to 3.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 63 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.5 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 72% of residents. Corfe Mullen grades B+ for the outdoors: #19 of 30 in Dorset. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
72%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
63 km
3.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
13%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Corfe Mullen grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Corfe Mullen, 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 70% of UK towns#19 of 30 in Dorset · 20th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
71out of
100
100
A park within a walk72%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
33out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape13%of the land within 5 km
73out of
100
100
Footpaths3.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
70out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland: 3.3% sea, under the 5% that counts
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
Corfe Mullen is 20th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 9,400 to 10,700 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
Corfe Mullen3.5
Towns its size3.1
Dorset towns3.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Corfe Mullen3.1
Towns its size2.3
Dorset towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Corfe Mullen72%
Towns its size84%
Dorset towns77%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Corfe Mullen stands out most for park space per resident: only 16 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 44 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caldicot Gwent | A+ | 4.2 | 92% | 3 | 2% |
| 2 | South Merstham Surrey | A | 3.7 | 84% | 3.7 | 20% |
| 3 | Beccles Suffolk | A | 4.5 | 87% | 3.2 | 20% |
| 4 | Nuthall and Watnall Nottinghamshire | A | 6.3 | 97% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 5 | Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire | A | 2.8 | 88% | 3.7 | 21% |
| 6 | Godalming Surrey | A− | 4.6 | 73% | 3.1 | 66% |
| 7 | Southborough Kent | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 2.5 | 57% |
| 8 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | A− | 10.4 | 89% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 9 | Soham Cambridgeshire | A− | 4.7 | 97% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Platt Bridge and Abram Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 98% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Esher Surrey | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Kings Hill Kent | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 13 | Padiham Lancashire | A− | 1.5 | 95% | 4.5 | 18% |
| 14 | Bingham Nottinghamshire | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Sawbridgeworth Hertfordshire | A− | 4 | 85% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 16 | Whitwick Leicestershire | A− | 4.2 | 84% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 17 | Egglescliffe County Durham | A− | 4.9 | 94% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 18 | Yarm North Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 19 | Pelsall West Midlands | B+ | 6.1 | 95% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 3.5 | 13% |
| 21 | Woodbridge Suffolk | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 22 | Cranleigh Surrey | B | 2.5 | 20% | 4.3 | 38% |
| 23 | Shildon County Durham | B | 2.8 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 24 | Baldock Hertfordshire | B | 2.1 | 91% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 25 | Ludlow Shropshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 26 | North Wingfield and Holmewood Derbyshire | B | 2.7 | 84% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 27 | Great Dunmow Essex | B | 2 | 92% | 4 | 0% |
| 28 | Queensbury West Yorkshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Immingham Lincolnshire | B | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 30 | Pembroke Dock Dyfed | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 1.1 | 25% |
| 31 | Caernarfon Gwynedd | B− | 1.7 | 83% | 1.4 | 14% |
| 32 | Horbury West Yorkshire | B− | 2.5 | 75% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Mildenhall Suffolk | B− | 2.1 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Monmouth Gwent | B− | 1.5 | 69% | 3.1 | 45% |
| 35 | Radstock Somerset | B− | 1.1 | 93% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 36 | Knottingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Whitchurch Shropshire | B− | 2.7 | 86% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Mold Clwyd | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 1.6 | 17% |
| 39 | Baglan West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.5 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Brandon County Durham | C+ | 2.2 | 72% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Raunds Northamptonshire | C+ | 4.7 | 74% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Crook County Durham | C+ | 1.5 | 85% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Lydney Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.1 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Abertillery Gwent | C | 2.4 | 69% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Diss Norfolk | C | 1.5 | 80% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Barnham West Sussex | C | 1.3 | 70% | 2.3 | 32% |
| 47 | Kippax West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | C | 1.2 | 70% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 49 | Catshill Worcestershire | C | 1.4 | 82% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 50 | Prudhoe Northumberland | C− | 1.7 | 37% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Polegate East Sussex | C− | 0.8 | 64% | 2.2 | 24% |
| 52 | Lutterworth Leicestershire | C− | 1.7 | 83% | 2 | 0% |
| 53 | West Moors Dorset | C− | 0.9 | 33% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Haxby North Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 59% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Sherborne Dorset | D | 1.2 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Broughton Astley Leicestershire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Burton Latimer Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 62% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Pocklington East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.6 | 65% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Pheasey West Midlands | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Ponteland Northumberland | D− | 1.1 | 36% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Corfe Mullen’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 Corfe Mullen
The biggest is Corfe Mullen Recreation Ground, 14 ha (36 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Corfe Mullen 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 (72%)Further (29%)
Corfe Mullen72%
Towns its size84%
Dorset towns77%
All UK towns83%
About 2,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 20 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 502 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Corfe Mullen
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
0.9 mi north986 km²since 198312% of the land within 5 km
Official site13% of the land within 5 km of Corfe Mullen is National Park or National Landscape, more than 72% of UK towns. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
6 waymarked walks pass through or near Corfe Mullen
63 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Corfe Mullen 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 town.
RegionalLocal
Castleman Trailway7.5 km
Stour Valley Way7.3 km
Walk at Eye Bridge and Pamphill, Kingston Lacy4.3 km
The Hardy Way3.3 km
Walk at Pamphill and Cowgrove, Kingston Lacy2.2 km
Walk at Pamphill Green and Moor, Kingston Lacy1.3 km
Close to home, the Castleman Trailway has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Stour Valley Way 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 Corfe Mullen: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 108 | 74 | 65 | 62 | 54 | 56 | 54 | 62 | 70 | 110 | 117 | 114 |
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 117 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 37 nights a year. The climate in Corfe Mullen →
The coast
Beaches near Corfe Mullen
3% of the area within 5 km of Corfe Mullen is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 9 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Lake North Beach2.7 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
5 viewpoints and 20 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.
5Viewpoints5Nature reserves5.2× towns its size1Picnic sites20Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size2Dog parks5Campsites1Slipways
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 5
Plus 5 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 5
Cogdean Elms0.3 ha · in town
DirectionsCorfe Mullen Meadows2.3 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsUpton Heath Nature Reserve231 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsBroadstone Heath Nature Reserve15 ha · 1.0 mi from town
DirectionsDunyeats Hill Nature Reserve38 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 20
Henbury Play Parkin town
DirectionsVictoria Close Play Parkin town
DirectionsHillborne Community Park0.9 mi from town
DirectionsRedwood Road Play Area1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 2
Dog Exercise and Training Area0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPublic training area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsCampsites 5
Charris Car.& Camp. Park0.2 mi from town
DirectionsThe Holme Bush Campsite0.2 mi from town
DirectionsMerley Court Touring Park0.8 mi from town
DirectionsFarrs Meadow1.0 mi from town
DirectionsHuntick Farm Caravan Park1.2 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
UptonMerleyLytchett MatraversSturminster MarshallWimborne MinsterPooleCorfe Mullen
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corfe Mullen | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 13% |
| Upton 2.4 mi | A+ | 9.1 | 84% | 18% |
| Merley 2.5 mi | B+ | 3.9 | 64% | 6% |
| Lytchett Matravers 2.7 mi | C− | 1.2 | 83% | 5% |
| Sturminster Marshall 3.1 mi | B | 2.0 | 100% | 30% |
| Wimborne Minster 3.2 mi | B | 2.7 | 51% | 17% |
| Poole 3.6 mi | A | 2.5 | 81% | 20% |
Upton, 2.4 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 84% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Upton has at least twice Corfe Mullen’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Corfe Mullen
What is the biggest park in Corfe Mullen?
Corfe Mullen Recreation Ground, 14 ha (36 acres), with 1 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Corfe Mullen near a National Park?
Yes. New Forest National Park begins 8.9 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape, 0.9 mi away.
What are the best walks near Corfe Mullen?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Castleman Trailway, Stour Valley Way and Walk at Eye Bridge and Pamphill, Kingston Lacy.
How many people in Corfe Mullen live near a park?
72% 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 Corfe Mullen?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Corfe Mullen good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 70% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 71% (3.1 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 Corfe Mullen’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Corfe Mullen’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.