Colden Common’s biggest
Colden Common Park
Playing field · 50 m outside town
6.7 ha (16 acres)0.2 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Colden Common
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Hassocks5489 · CC0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Colden Common · parks, paths & countryside
35% of the land within 5 km of Colden Common is National Park or National Landscape
The South Downs National Park reaches the edge of Colden Common. Parks and playing fields in Colden Common add up to 2.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 28 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.8 for every square kilometre. Colden Common grades B+ for the outdoors: #46 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
82%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
28 km
2.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
35%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: South Downs National Park
Outdoors grade
Colden Common grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Colden Common, 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 74% of UK towns#46 of 76 in Hampshire · 12th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
63out of
100
100
A park within a walk82%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
50out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape35%of the land within 5 km
86out of
100
100
Footpaths2.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
55out 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
Colden Common is 12th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,700 to 4,000 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
Colden Common2.8
Towns its size2.5
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Colden Common2.7
Towns its size2.0
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Colden Common82%
Towns its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Colden Common stands out most for park space per resident: only 17 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trimley St Mary Suffolk | A+ | 2.3 | 100% | 3.8 | 34% |
| 2 | Batheaston Somerset | A | 3 | 84% | 4.6 | 71% |
| 3 | Cuckfield West Sussex | A | 6.7 | 70% | 4.9 | 49% |
| 4 | Walter's Ash and Naphill Buckinghamshire | A | 3.7 | 50% | 5.3 | 79% |
| 5 | Bethesda Gwynedd | A | 2.5 | 90% | 3.2 | 49% |
| 6 | Disley Cheshire | A− | 1.2 | 100% | 4.6 | 22% |
| 7 | Mulbarton Norfolk | A− | 7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 8 | Kingswood Surrey | A− | 4.6 | 27% | 6.3 | 17% |
| 9 | Welwyn Hertfordshire | A− | 2.6 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 10 | Esh Winning County Durham | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 11 | Old Basing Hampshire | A− | 13.6 | 92% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Colden Common Hampshire | B+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.8 | 35% |
| 13 | Barnt Green Worcestershire | B+ | 37.8 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Stanstead Abbotts Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.5 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 15 | Long Melford Suffolk | B+ | 6.9 | 87% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Papworth Everard Cambridgeshire | B+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 17 | Locking Somerset | B+ | 2.7 | 84% | 2.4 | 23% |
| 18 | Lyme Regis Dorset | B | 1.4 | 60% | 2.5 | 56% |
| 19 | Greasbrough South Yorkshire | B | 2.9 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Queenborough Kent | B | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 21 | Mayland Essex | B | 2.6 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 22 | Stoke Poges Buckinghamshire | B | 7.7 | 76% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 23 | Romanby North Yorkshire | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 24 | Framlingham Suffolk | B | 3.7 | 73% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Mytholmroyd West Yorkshire | B | 1.8 | 88% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 26 | Pirbright Surrey | B | 2 | 84% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 27 | Rhuddlan Clwyd | B− | 1.8 | 85% | 0.9 | 8% |
| 28 | Glanaman Dyfed | B− | 3.3 | 83% | 0.8 | 29% |
| 29 | Cholsey Oxfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 55% | 2.5 | 81% |
| 30 | Alford Lincolnshire | B− | 2.1 | 85% | 1.5 | 26% |
| 31 | Cardigan Dyfed | B− | 1.9 | 69% | 1.4 | 13% |
| 32 | New Romney Kent | C+ | 2.5 | 79% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 33 | Kingskerswell Devon | C+ | 3.5 | 76% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Chipping Ongar Essex | C+ | 2.5 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 35 | Bar Hill Cambridgeshire | C+ | 1.4 | 93% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Pewsey Wiltshire | C+ | 1 | 64% | 3 | 91% |
| 37 | Troedyrhiw and Pentrebach Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2.5 | 84% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Norton Fitzwarren Somerset | C+ | 1.3 | 35% | 5.2 | 6% |
| 39 | Forest Row East Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 51% | 3.4 | 94% |
| 40 | Coggeshall Essex | C | 2.1 | 84% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Silver End Essex | C | 2 | 88% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Cubbington Warwickshire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 43 | Bromyard Herefordshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 44 | Desford Leicestershire | C− | 1.6 | 90% | 2 | 0% |
| 45 | Holton le Clay Lincolnshire | C− | 2 | 59% | 1.4 | 8% |
| 46 | Lydd Kent | C− | 1.7 | 66% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Fulbourn Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Kingston Bagpuize Oxfordshire | C− | 0.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Sutton Cambridgeshire | D | 1.9 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Kempsey Worcestershire | D | 0.9 | 40% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Pen-pedair-heol Gwent | D | 0.9 | 80% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 52 | Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire | D | 0.9 | 59% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Wilsden West Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 54 | Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 79% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Willingham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 73% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Llanbradach Gwent | D− | 1.2 | 52% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Long Buckby Northamptonshire | D− | 0.6 | 52% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Penyffordd Clwyd | D− | 0.7 | 36% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Llanharry Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 50% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Indian Queens, Fraddon and St Columb Road Cornwall | D− | 0.7 | 27% | 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 Colden Common’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 Colden Common
The biggest is Colden Common Park, 6.7 ha (16 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
8 in 10 Colden Common 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 (82%)Further (19%)
Colden Common82%
Towns its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 14 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 273 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Colden Common
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
35% of the land within 5 km of Colden Common is National Park or National Landscape, more than 85% of UK towns. South Downs National Park covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
6 waymarked walks pass through or near Colden Common
28 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Colden Common and the kilometre around it, 2.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocalOther waymarked
Itchen Way6.2 km
St James' Way6.2 km
Otter Trail5.8 km
Water Vole Way4.9 km
Keble Way3.7 km
Monarch's Way1.9 km
Close to home, the Otter Trail has 6 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 3 regional routes pass through, including the Itchen Way, St James' Way and Monarch's 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 Colden Common: 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 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 96 | 69 | 60 | 61 | 52 | 60 | 57 | 68 | 65 | 101 | 110 | 103 |
May is the driest month (52 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 110 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 49 nights a year. The climate in Colden Common →
Things to do
14 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.
The nearest beaches
Colden Common is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Calshot Beach12 mi from Colden Common’s edge
DirectionsHill Head Beach13 mi from Colden Common’s edge
DirectionsThe Spit14 mi from Colden Common’s edge
DirectionsFamily Beach14 mi from Colden Common’s edge
DirectionsBrockenhurst Beach16 mi from Colden Common’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.
Up high. Crowdhill, at 56 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Colden Common.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 3
Crowdhill56 m (184 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsCockscomb Hill110 m (361 ft) · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 4
Plus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 14
Central Park Play Areain town
DirectionsTriangle Play Areain town
DirectionsStoke Common Play Area0.7 mi from town
DirectionsBallard Close Playground1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 10 playgrounds 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.
OtterbourneComptonTwyfordEastleighChandler's FordHorton HeathColden Common
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colden Common | B+ | 2.7 | 82% | 35% |
| Otterbourne 1.4 mi | A | 2.9 | 100% | 25% |
| Compton 1.7 mi | A− | 18.8 | 61% | 28% |
| Twyford 1.8 mi | A− | 6.8 | 49% | 44% |
| Eastleigh 2.2 mi | A− | 3.0 | 76% | 17% |
| Chandler's Ford 3.1 mi | A− | 2.7 | 80% | 6% |
| Horton Heath 3.1 mi | A+ | 10.0 | 100% | 13% |
Horton Heath, 3.1 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Compton, Twyford and Horton Heath have at least twice Colden Common’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Colden Common
What is the biggest park in Colden Common?
Colden Common Park, 6.7 ha (16 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 Colden Common near a National Park?
South Downs National Park reaches the edge of Colden Common. It covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
What are the best walks near Colden Common?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Itchen Way, St James' Way and Otter Trail.
What is the nearest beach to Colden Common?
Calshot Beach, 12 mi from the edge of the town, then Hill Head Beach (13 mi). Colden Common itself is inland.
How many people in Colden Common live near a park?
82% 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 Colden Common?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Colden Common good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 55% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 63% (2.7 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 Colden Common’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Colden Common’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.