Knowle’s biggest
Welborne Play Area
Play space · 360 m outside town
0.1 ha (0 acres)
0.5 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Ukexposed at English Wikipedia · Public domainA−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Knowle · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Knowle lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
The South Downs National Park begins 1.2 mi from the village’s edge. 20 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 3.1 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Knowle add up to 2.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Knowle grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
20 km
3.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
7%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: South Downs National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Knowle?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside both waysSouth Downs starts 1.2 mi north-east, New Forest 5.9 mi south-west.
Knowle’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by two protected landscapes close by.
Outdoors grade
Knowle grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Knowle, 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 80% of UK towns9th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space2.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
46out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape7%of the land within 5 km
69out of
100
100
Footpaths3.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
63out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland: 1% 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.
Villages its size
Knowle is 9th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,400 to 1,600 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
Knowle3.1
Villages its size2.0
Hampshire towns3.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Knowle2.0
Villages its size2.0
Hampshire towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Knowle100%
Villages its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Knowle stands out most for path per km²: only 8 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chambercombe Devon | A+ | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 29% |
| 2 | Ashurst Wood West Sussex | A+ | 4 | 100% | 3.4 | 81% |
| 3 | Heathfield Devon | A+ | 20.4 | 100% | 3 | 30% |
| 4 | Charlton Down Dorset | A | 4 | 100% | 2.3 | 58% |
| 5 | Newburn Tyne and Wear | A | 12.1 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 6 | Gargrave North Yorkshire | A | 5.2 | 100% | 1.9 | 41% |
| 7 | Three Crosses West Glamorgan | A | 2.4 | 100% | 1.3 | 39% |
| 8 | Denham Buckinghamshire | A− | 5.7 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 9 | Knowle Hampshire | A− | 2 | 100% | 3.1 | 7% |
| 10 | Hale Cheshire | A− | 4.8 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 11 | Littleton Hampshire | A− | 7.8 | 100% | 1.1 | 10% |
| 12 | Twyford Hampshire | A− | 6.8 | 49% | 3.3 | 44% |
| 13 | Little Kingshill Buckinghamshire | A− | 6.5 | 50% | 2.9 | 90% |
| 14 | Holme Cumbria | A− | 2.8 | 100% | 1.8 | 25% |
| 15 | Burnhope County Durham | B+ | 3.1 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Offenham Worcestershire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 17 | Horspath Oxfordshire | B | 14 | 54% | 5 | 0% |
| 18 | Hellifield North Yorkshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 2.2 | 38% |
| 19 | Staveley Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 85% | 2.5 | 89% |
| 20 | Sturminster Marshall Dorset | B | 2 | 100% | 1.4 | 30% |
| 21 | Pont Rhyd-y-cyff Mid Glamorgan | B | 4.9 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 22 | Houghton Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 23 | Wingrave Buckinghamshire | B− | 3.7 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 24 | Kingstone Herefordshire | B− | 3.1 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 25 | Kibblesworth Tyne and Wear | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 26 | Netherne on-the-Hill Surrey | B− | 1.6 | 40% | 5.9 | 19% |
| 27 | Trinant Gwent | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 28 | Nether Stowey Somerset | C+ | 1.9 | 18% | 3 | 39% |
| 29 | Killinghall North Yorkshire | C+ | 1 | 100% | 1.6 | 7% |
| 30 | Nether Heyford Northamptonshire | C+ | 1.4 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Lavendon Buckinghamshire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 32 | Connor Downs Cornwall | C | 0.5 | 79% | 0.7 | 8% |
| 33 | Barton Lancashire | C | 2.6 | 47% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 34 | Newborough Cambridgeshire | C | 2.1 | 100% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Eythorne Kent | C | 0.5 | 79% | 2.5 | 9% |
| 36 | Brabourne Lees Kent | C | 0.9 | 0% | 3.2 | 34% |
| 37 | Alveley Shropshire | C− | 5.4 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Warton Warwickshire | C− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Cogenhoe Northamptonshire | C− | 1.5 | 78% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 40 | Burniston North Yorkshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 0.9 | 49% |
| 41 | Hartwell Northamptonshire | C− | 1.2 | 59% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Silverton Devon | C− | 1 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Ruishton Somerset | C− | 0.6 | 60% | 2.7 | 4% |
| 44 | Denbury Devon | C− | 2.8 | 24% | 0.7 | 3% |
| 45 | Marnhull Dorset | C− | 1.8 | 41% | 3 | 0% |
| 46 | Pontyberem Dyfed | C− | 4.7 | 58% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 47 | East Rainton Tyne and Wear | D | 1.4 | 34% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Hook East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.1 | 19% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 49 | North Somercotes Lincolnshire | D | 1.7 | 44% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Pontyates Dyfed | D | 4.6 | 39% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Cawood North Yorkshire | D | 1.9 | 60% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Copplestone Devon | D | 1.1 | 88% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Oakington Cambridgeshire | D | 2.1 | 52% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Stockton Warwickshire | D | 1.5 | 44% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Newton-with-Scales Lancashire | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Four Crosses Powys | D− | 1.9 | 53% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Badersfield Norfolk | D− | 0.3 | 53% | 1 | 2% |
| 58 | Sturton by Stow Lincolnshire | D− | 1.7 | 41% | 1 | 0% |
| 59 | Tilney St Lawrence Norfolk | D− | 1.5 | 53% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Woodford Northamptonshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 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 Knowle’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 Knowle
The biggest is Welborne Play Area, 0.1 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Knowle’s homes are to 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Knowle100%
Villages its size82%
Hampshire towns80%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 12 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 124 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
South Downs and New Forest both start about 6 miles from Knowle
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
7% of the land within 5 km of Knowle is National Park or National Landscape, more than 69% of UK towns. South Downs National Park covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Knowle
20 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Knowle and the kilometre around it, 3.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Knowle; its footpaths are on the map above.
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 Knowle: May to September
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 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 93 | 62 | 54 | 55 | 46 | 55 | 51 | 65 | 65 | 92 | 102 | 96 |
May is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °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 36 nights a year. The climate in Knowle →
Things to do
12 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
Knowle is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Hill Head Beach4.5 mi from Knowle’s edge
DirectionsCalshot Beach6.3 mi from Knowle’s edge
DirectionsThe Spit9.0 mi from Knowle’s edge
DirectionsFamily Beach9.2 mi from Knowle’s edge
DirectionsSword Sands9.2 mi from Knowle’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. Fiddlers Green, at 50 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Knowle.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Fiddlers Green50 m (164 ft) · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsSager's Down51 m (167 ft) · 0.7 mi from town
DirectionsCrockerhill64 m (210 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Berry Coppice9.9 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 12
Plus 12 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.
WickhamFarehamWhiteleyLocks HeathWaltham ChaseSwanmoreKnowle
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowle | A− | 2.0 | 100% | 7% |
| Wickham 1.5 mi | D | 0.8 | 26% | 13% |
| Fareham 1.9 mi | B | 1.1 | 48% | 2% |
| Whiteley 2.3 mi | A− | 3.0 | 52% | 2% |
| Locks Heath 3.2 mi | A+ | 3.5 | 91% | 4% |
| Waltham Chase 3.7 mi | B− | 2.0 | 75% | 39% |
| Swanmore 4.3 mi | C | 1.4 | 69% | 54% |
Locks Heath, 3.2 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 91% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Knowle
What is the biggest park in Knowle?
Welborne Play Area, 0.1 ha (0 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Knowle near a National Park?
Yes. South Downs National Park begins 1.2 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
What is the nearest beach to Knowle?
Hill Head Beach, 4.5 mi from the edge of the village, then Calshot Beach (6.3 mi). Knowle itself is inland.
How many people in Knowle live near a park?
100% 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 Knowle?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Knowle good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 63% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 46% (2.0 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 Knowle’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Knowle’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.