Fordingbridge’s biggest
Sweatfords Water Meadow
Park or garden
1.7 ha (4 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Fordingbridge
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Fordingbridge · parks, paths & countryside
56% of the land within 5 km of Fordingbridge is National Park or National Landscape
The New Forest National Park and the Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape both begin about a mile from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Fordingbridge add up to 3.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 92% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Fordingbridge grades A− for the outdoors: #37 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
92%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
29 km
2.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
56%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: New Forest National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Fordingbridge?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside56% of the land within 5 km is New Forest National Park.Room to roam3.6 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 78% of UK towns.
Fordingbridge’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Fordingbridge grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Fordingbridge, 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 83% of UK towns#37 of 76 in Hampshire · 14th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
78out of
100
100
A park within a walk92%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
71out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape56%of the land within 5 km
93out of
100
100
Footpaths2.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
32out 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
Fordingbridge is 14th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,800 to 5,100 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
Fordingbridge2.0
Towns its size2.6
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Fordingbridge3.6
Towns its size2.3
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Fordingbridge92%
Towns its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Fordingbridge stands out most for park space per resident: only 15 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 47 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rye East Sussex | A+ | 3.5 | 89% | 3.5 | 46% |
| 2 | Pill Somerset | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 4 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 5 | Burry Port Dyfed | A+ | 11.8 | 75% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 8 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 9 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 10 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 11 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 12 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 14 | Fordingbridge Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 2 | 56% |
| 15 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 16 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 18 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 20 | Huthwaite Nottinghamshire | B+ | 8.1 | 75% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 22 | Cranbrook Devon | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1.9 | 1% |
| 23 | Hildenborough Kent | B+ | 6.5 | 40% | 2.8 | 46% |
| 24 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 25 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 26 | Aspull Greater Manchester | B | 7.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 28 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Market Rasen Lincolnshire | B | 2.6 | 94% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 30 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Headley Down and Headley Hampshire | B | 2.1 | 55% | 3.4 | 44% |
| 32 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 33 | Wotton-under-Edge Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 5.4 | 60% |
| 34 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 35 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 36 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Moulton Northamptonshire | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 43% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 39 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Billinge Merseyside | C | 0.9 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 42 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 44 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Bungay Suffolk | C | 0.5 | 78% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 46 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 48 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 51 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Gresford Clwyd | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Lepton West Yorkshire | D− | 0.9 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Harleston Norfolk | D− | 0.2 | 42% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Fordingbridge’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 Fordingbridge
The biggest is Sweatfords Water Meadow, 1.7 ha (4 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Forest Edge
Park or garden
1.9 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Fordingbridge 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 (92%)Further (8%)
Fordingbridge92%
Towns its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 989 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Fordingbridge
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 200633% of the land within 5 km
Official siteNational Landscape
Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs
0.9 mi north-west986 km²since 198323% of the land within 5 km
Official site56% of the land within 5 km of Fordingbridge is National Park or National Landscape, more than 93% 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 Fordingbridge
29 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Fordingbridge and the kilometre around it, 2.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Regional
Avon Valley Path8.9 km
The regional route here is the Avon Valley Path.
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 Fordingbridge: 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 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 98 | 76 | 64 | 65 | 54 | 52 | 46 | 66 | 65 | 101 | 111 | 105 |
July is the driest month (46 mm) and the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 111 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 56 nights a year. The climate in Fordingbridge →
Things to do
5 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
Fordingbridge is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Brockenhurst Beach11 mi from Fordingbridge’s edge
DirectionsAvon Beach13 mi from Fordingbridge’s edge
DirectionsFisherman's Walk Beach14 mi from Fordingbridge’s edge
DirectionsSouthbourne Beach14 mi from Fordingbridge’s edge
DirectionsWhite Pits14 mi from Fordingbridge’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. Frankenbury, at 70 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Fordingbridge.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Castle Hill1.2 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 4
Frankenbury70 m (230 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsGood Friday Hill70 m (230 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsGiants Grave65 m (213 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsBonfire Hill48 m (157 ft) · 1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 5
Flaxfields End Play Areain town
DirectionsSweatford Stream Play Areain town
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
St Johns Farm Campingin town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
SandleheathAlderholtDowntonRedlynch and WoodfallsVerwoodRingwoodFordingbridge
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordingbridge | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 56% |
| Sandleheath 0.8 mi | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 52% |
| Alderholt 2.2 mi | C | 1.9 | 43% | 31% |
| Downton 4.7 mi | A | 4.3 | 100% | 59% |
| Redlynch and Woodfalls 4.8 mi | B− | 2.1 | 34% | 59% |
| Verwood 5.3 mi | B+ | 5.7 | 41% | 13% |
| Ringwood 5.6 mi | B+ | 2.3 | 78% | 43% |
Downton, 4.7 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Fordingbridge
What is the biggest park in Fordingbridge?
Sweatfords Water Meadow, 1.7 ha (4 acres), with 0.7 km of path. Forest Edge (1.9 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Fordingbridge near a National Park?
New Forest National Park reaches the edge of Fordingbridge. It covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
What are the best walks near Fordingbridge?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Avon Valley Path.
What is the nearest beach to Fordingbridge?
Brockenhurst Beach, 11 mi from the edge of the town, then Avon Beach (13 mi). Fordingbridge itself is inland.
How many people in Fordingbridge live near a park?
92% 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 Fordingbridge?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Fordingbridge good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 32% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 78% (3.6 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 Fordingbridge’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Fordingbridge’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.