Ashley’s biggest
Arnewood Common
Park or garden · 340 m outside town
6.0 ha (15 acres)
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.1 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Pasicles · CC0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ashley · parks, paths & countryside
47% of the land within 5 km of Ashley is National Park or National Landscape
The New Forest National Park reaches the edge of Ashley. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 53% of residents. The sea makes up 16% of the area within 5 km. Ashley grades B for the outdoors: #59 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
53%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
28 km
1.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
47%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: New Forest National Park
The sea
16%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Ashley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside47% of the land within 5 km is New Forest National Park.Parks can be a walk away47% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Ashley’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Ashley grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ashley, 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 57% of UK towns#59 of 76 in Hampshire · 26th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
50out of
100
100
A park within a walk53%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
15out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape47%of the land within 5 km
91out of
100
100
Footpaths1.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
21out of
100
100
The sea16%of the area within 5 km
88out 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
Ashley is 26th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 7,400 to 8,100 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
Ashley1.7
Towns its size3.0
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ashley2.2
Towns its size2.1
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ashley53%
Towns its size78%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Ashley falls furthest behind on path per km², where 51 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freshwater and Totland Isle of Wight | A+ | 5 | 89% | 3.9 | 20% |
| 2 | Chipping Sodbury Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 93% | 8.2 | 29% |
| 3 | Bargod Gwent | A | 13.6 | 100% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 4 | Ruddington Nottinghamshire | A | 9.7 | 100% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 5 | Dursley Gloucestershire | A | 1.8 | 90% | 7.2 | 52% |
| 6 | Grove Oxfordshire | A | 2.2 | 92% | 4.7 | 27% |
| 7 | Bolton upon Dearne South Yorkshire | A | 5.6 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Prestwood and Great Missenden Buckinghamshire | A− | 5.5 | 65% | 3.2 | 94% |
| 9 | Dinas Powis South Glamorgan | A− | 3 | 73% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 10 | London Colney Hertfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 96% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Burnham-on-Crouch Essex | A− | 5.3 | 86% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 12 | City of London London | A− | 2 | 100% | 11 | 0% |
| 13 | Cam Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 57% | 5 | 34% |
| 14 | Goldthorpe South Yorkshire | A− | 8.4 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Pembroke Dyfed | B+ | 2.2 | 91% | 1 | 31% |
| 16 | Annfield Plain County Durham | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Great Notley Essex | B+ | 6.4 | 79% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 18 | Cromer Norfolk | B+ | 1.4 | 74% | 2.5 | 36% |
| 19 | Gowerton West Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 79% | 1.2 | 14% |
| 20 | Partington Greater Manchester | B | 2.8 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Edenbridge Kent | B | 2.6 | 64% | 3 | 42% |
| 22 | Barugh Green and Redbrook South Yorkshire | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4 | 0% |
| 23 | Rusthall and Langton Green Kent | B | 2.1 | 69% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 24 | Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire | B | 1.4 | 78% | 3.2 | 57% |
| 25 | Clayton-le-Moors Lancashire | B | 1.1 | 86% | 4.2 | 2% |
| 26 | Ashley Hampshire | B | 2.2 | 53% | 1.7 | 47% |
| 27 | Berechurch Essex | B− | 2.1 | 72% | 10.4 | 0% |
| 28 | Wootton Bedfordshire | B− | 2.5 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Rogerstone Gwent | B− | 3.1 | 60% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Crawcrook and Greenside Tyne and Wear | B− | 3.2 | 86% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Yatton Somerset | B− | 3.7 | 40% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Abersychan Gwent | B− | 2.8 | 83% | 1.1 | 17% |
| 33 | Buntingford Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 95% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Ystalyfera West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.6 | 84% | 0.8 | 15% |
| 35 | Crediton Devon | C+ | 2.4 | 89% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Paddock Wood Kent | C+ | 1.7 | 78% | 2.1 | 28% |
| 37 | Countesthorpe Leicestershire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Seaton Delaval Northumberland | C+ | 0.5 | 66% | 4 | 0% |
| 39 | Sprotbrough South Yorkshire | C+ | 1.8 | 79% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Holywell Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 68% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Mablethorpe Lincolnshire | C | 2.1 | 66% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Elworth Cheshire | C | 1.8 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Newbridge Gwent | C | 2.2 | 94% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Fazeley Staffordshire | C | 3.2 | 35% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Norton-on-Derwent North Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 58% | 2.4 | 16% |
| 46 | Marske-by-the-Sea North Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 66% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Dalton-in-Furness Cumbria | C | 0.9 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Histon and Impington Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 66% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Heathfield East Sussex | C | 0.9 | 53% | 2.3 | 79% |
| 50 | Rainworth Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.5 | 65% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Tenterden Kent | C− | 0.8 | 58% | 1.8 | 48% |
| 52 | Cotgrave Nottinghamshire | C− | 1 | 47% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Godmanchester Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.6 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Highworth Wiltshire | C− | 0.4 | 59% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Clowne Derbyshire | C− | 1.4 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross Berkshire | D | 0.7 | 78% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Polesworth and Dordon Warwickshire | D | 1.6 | 68% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Old Windsor and Wraysbury Berkshire | D | 1.2 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Market Weighton East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 79% | 1 | 0% |
| 60 | Treorchy Mid Glamorgan | D− | 1 | 57% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ashley’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 Ashley
The biggest is Arnewood Common, 6.0 ha (15 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
5 in 10 Ashley 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 (53%)Further (47%)
Ashley53%
Towns its size78%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 3,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 17 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 455 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Ashley
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 Park
New Forest
At the edge north-east567 km²since 200647% of the land within 5 km
Official siteNational Landscape
Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs
13 mi north-west986 km²since 1983
Official site47% of the land within 5 km of Ashley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 90% of UK towns. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Ashley
28 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ashley and the kilometre around it, 1.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Local
Christchurch Bay Way1.1 km
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 Ashley: 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 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 94 | 62 | 53 | 54 | 45 | 52 | 46 | 60 | 65 | 94 | 102 | 99 |
May is the driest month (45 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 102 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Ashley →
The coast
Ashley is near the sea
16% of the area within 5 km of Ashley is sea. 6 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
Sea: 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
17 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
Playgrounds 17
Acacia Play Parkin town
DirectionsHordle Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park 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.
New MiltonHordleBarton on SeaSwayEvertonMilford on SeaAshley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley | B | 2.2 | 53% | 47% |
| New Milton 1.1 mi | B+ | 2.3 | 75% | 38% |
| Hordle 1.2 mi | C− | 0.0 | 0% | 41% |
| Barton on Sea 1.8 mi | A | 4.9 | 50% | 22% |
| Sway 2.3 mi | B+ | 2.9 | 38% | 74% |
| Everton 2.3 mi | C+ | 1.3 | 58% | 37% |
| Milford on Sea 2.9 mi | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 21% |
Barton on Sea, 1.8 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 50% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Barton on Sea has at least twice Ashley’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Ashley
What is the biggest park in Ashley?
Arnewood Common, 6.0 ha (15 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Ashley near a National Park?
New Forest National Park reaches the edge of Ashley. It covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
What are the best walks near Ashley?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Christchurch Bay Way.
How many people in Ashley live near a park?
53% 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 Ashley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Ashley good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 21% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 50% (2.2 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 Ashley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ashley’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.