Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0The Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape and the New Forest National Park both begin about 3 miles from the village’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Three Legged Cross add up to 1.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 41 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 2.6 for every square kilometre. Three Legged Cross grades C for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Three Legged Cross’ strongest suit is two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Three Legged Cross, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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.
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,100 to 1,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against villages its size, Three Legged Cross stands out most for path per km²: only 15 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 41 of the others do better.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corton Suffolk | A+ | 4.4 | 100% | 3 | 5% |
| 2 | Upton St Leonards Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 80% | 7.5 | 43% |
| 3 | Fairlands Surrey | A+ | 2.8 | 100% | 5 | 11% |
| 4 | Masham North Yorkshire | A+ | 3.7 | 100% | 3 | 44% |
| 5 | Ditchling East Sussex | A | 7.4 | 77% | 4 | 57% |
| 6 | Horsted Keynes West Sussex | A− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.3 | 83% |
| 7 | Wenvoe South Glamorgan | A− | 5.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Chatburn Lancashire | A− | 1.7 | 100% | 2.6 | 59% |
| 9 | Boosbeck North Yorkshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.9 | 22% |
| 10 | Camber East Sussex | A− | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 5% |
| 11 | Grange Moor West Yorkshire | A− | 4.3 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 12 | St Erth Cornwall | B+ | 0.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 4% |
| 13 | Gotherington Gloucestershire | B+ | 2.7 | 72% | 3.7 | 33% |
| 14 | South Bents Tyne and Wear | B+ | 4.9 | 62% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 15 | Borth Dyfed | B | 3.1 | 74% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 16 | Oakley Buckinghamshire | B | 2.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 17 | High Pittington County Durham | B | 1.6 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Cropston Leicestershire | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Jacobs Well Surrey | B | 1.4 | 77% | 4.7 | 8% |
| 20 | Curdworth Warwickshire | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Bishop Middleham County Durham | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 22 | Plaxtol Kent | B− | 2.6 | 57% | 2.5 | 40% |
| 23 | Harpur Hill Derbyshire | B− | 3.1 | 31% | 2.3 | 60% |
| 24 | Kelly Bray Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 22% |
| 25 | Thurlton Norfolk | B− | 1.5 | 100% | 0.7 | 39% |
| 26 | Roydon (South Norfolk) Norfolk | B− | 4.3 | 50% | 4 | 0% |
| 27 | Beaumaris Gwynedd | B− | 2.7 | 30% | 0.8 | 18% |
| 28 | Latchingdon Essex | B− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Castlethorpe Buckinghamshire | C+ | 3.5 | 72% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 30 | Gainford County Durham | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Lacey Green and Loosley Row Buckinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 27% | 2.4 | 82% |
| 32 | Whimple Devon | C+ | 5.2 | 70% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 33 | Brinklow Warwickshire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 34 | St Cleer Cornwall | C | 3 | 29% | 1.6 | 32% |
| 35 | Three Legged Cross Dorset | C | 1.5 | 77% | 2.6 | 1% |
| 36 | Bow Devon | C | 1.9 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Swindon Staffordshire | C | 2.5 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Mannings Heath West Sussex | C | 1 | 71% | 1.9 | 44% |
| 39 | Baldwin's Gate Staffordshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 40 | North Newbald East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Milverton Somerset | C− | 2.1 | 70% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Maiden Newton Dorset | C− | 1.1 | 27% | 2 | 100% |
| 43 | Wetheral Cumbria | C− | 3.8 | 51% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Crowle Worcestershire | C− | 2.4 | 34% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Beachley Gloucestershire | C− | 0.3 | 0% | 1.2 | 14% |
| 46 | Capel Hendre Dyfed | D | 0.8 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Cawston Norfolk | D | 2.7 | 71% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Benwick Cambridgeshire | D | 0.3 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 49 | Orwell Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 78% | 2 | 0% |
| 50 | Ramsey Island Essex | D | 1.4 | 39% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Pelynt Cornwall | D | 0 | 0% | 0.6 | 13% |
| 52 | Chawley Oxfordshire | D | 0.3 | 0% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Great Doddington Northamptonshire | D | 1.3 | 69% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Reawla Cornwall | D | 0.2 | 0% | 2 | 3% |
| 55 | High Legh Cheshire | D− | 1.9 | 50% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Moulton Chapel Lincolnshire | D− | 1.5 | 60% | 0 | 0% |
| 57 | Kentford Suffolk | D− | 1.9 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Austrey Warwickshire | D− | 1.7 | 0% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Llanfyllin Powys | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.6 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Three Legged Cross’ built-up area.
The biggest is Moors Valley Country Park, 585 ha (1,444 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
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).
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 19 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 59 residents.
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.
1% of the land within 5 km of Three Legged Cross is National Park or National Landscape, more than 63% of UK towns. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
41 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Three Legged Cross and the kilometre around it, 2.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Close to home, the Castleman Trailway has 5 km of local walk within 2 km of the village.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
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 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 94 | 67 | 63 | 67 | 54 | 65 | 56 | 57 | 65 | 106 | 109 | 106 |
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 109 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 52 nights a year. The climate in Three Legged Cross →
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.
Three Legged Cross is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
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. Lions Hill, at 30 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Three Legged Cross.
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Legged Cross | C | 1.5 | 77% | 1% |
| Verwood 1.6 mi | B+ | 5.7 | 41% | 13% |
| West Moors 2.4 mi | C− | 0.9 | 33% | 0% |
| Ashley Heath 2.5 mi | A | 24.2 | 68% | 15% |
| Ferndown 3.5 mi | C | 0.7 | 13% | 0% |
| West Parley 4.5 mi | C− | 1.6 | 20% | 0% |
| Ringwood 4.7 mi | B+ | 2.3 | 78% | 43% |
Ashley Heath, 2.5 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 68% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Verwood and Ashley Heath have at least twice Three Legged Cross’ green space per resident.
Moors Valley Country Park, 585 ha (1,444 acres), with 38.4 km of path, just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Yes. New Forest National Park begins 3.1 mi south-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 Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape, 2.6 mi away.
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Castleman Trailway, Kingston Lacy walk at Holt Heath, Kingston Lacy and Play Trail. Moors Valley Country Park alone has 38.4 km of path.
Bournemouth East Beach, 8.3 mi from the edge of the village, then Fisherman's Walk Beach (8.4 mi). Three Legged Cross itself is inland.
77% 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%.
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
About average for paths: 2.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 48% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 27% (1.5 ha per 1,000 residents).
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 Three Legged Cross’ overall grade.
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.