Broughton’s biggest
King George's Field
Playing field
2.0 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi south-westfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0DOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Broughton · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Broughton
The Forest Of Bowland National Landscape begins 3.4 mi from the village’s edge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 45% of residents. Parks and playing fields in Broughton add up to 1.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Broughton grades D for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
45%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
34 km
2.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Forest Of Bowland starts 3.4 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Broughton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byThe Forest Of Bowland National Landscape starts 3.4 mi north-east.Less park per person1.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Broughton’s strongest suit is the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Broughton grades D for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Broughton, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
D
Better than 9% of UK towns
Public green space1.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
35out of
100
100
A park within a walk45%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
11out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Forest Of Bowland begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
36out 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.
Villages its size
How Broughton compares with UK villages of 2,400 to 2,600
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,400 to 2,600 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
Broughton2.2
Villages its size2.2
Lancashire towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Broughton1.7
Villages its size2.2
Lancashire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Broughton45%
Villages its size86%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
Broughton falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 52 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rawnsley Staffordshire | A+ | 17.7 | 100% | 3.7 | 36% |
| 2 | Shalford Surrey | A+ | 14.9 | 89% | 4.8 | 47% |
| 3 | Wolsingham County Durham | A+ | 2.7 | 100% | 3.9 | 55% |
| 4 | Eton Berkshire | A | 22.9 | 100% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 5 | Aldeburgh Suffolk | A | 2.3 | 88% | 2.3 | 41% |
| 6 | Lyndhurst Hampshire | A | 3.6 | 73% | 4.3 | 100% |
| 7 | Old Stratford Northamptonshire | A | 9.8 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 8 | Rowhedge Essex | A | 1.6 | 100% | 6.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Little Clacton Essex | A− | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 10 | Awsworth Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 11 | West Wick Somerset | A− | 1.6 | 100% | 3.5 | 16% |
| 12 | Saundersfoot Dyfed | A− | 10.2 | 69% | 0.9 | 19% |
| 13 | Higher Folds Greater Manchester | A− | 2.8 | 90% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Sway Hampshire | B+ | 2.9 | 38% | 4 | 74% |
| 15 | Kington Herefordshire | B+ | 3.9 | 89% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Williton Somerset | B+ | 1.1 | 88% | 2.1 | 31% |
| 17 | Henlow Bedfordshire | B | 2.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Chattenden Kent | B | 1.4 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Farndon Nottinghamshire | B | 3.8 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 20 | Oakley Bedfordshire | B | 3.2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 21 | Alresford Essex | B− | 1.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 22 | Watlington Oxfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 67% | 2.4 | 55% |
| 23 | Wootton (Vale of White Horse) Oxfordshire | B− | 3.4 | 84% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 24 | Redlynch and Woodfalls Wiltshire | B− | 2.1 | 34% | 3.1 | 59% |
| 25 | Coundon and Leeholme County Durham | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 26 | Kelvedon Hatch Essex | B− | 7.3 | 77% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Timsbury Somerset | B− | 2.7 | 68% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 28 | Llanrwst Clwyd | C+ | 2.2 | 75% | 1.6 | 45% |
| 29 | Crossways Dorset | C+ | 0.5 | 100% | 1.8 | 22% |
| 30 | Renishaw Derbyshire | C+ | 0.6 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Hendreforgan Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2.7 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Shepley West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.6 | 87% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Widdrington Station Northumberland | C+ | 1 | 88% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 34 | Grendon Warwickshire | C+ | 8.1 | 71% | 2 | 0% |
| 35 | Ruspidge Gloucestershire | C+ | 2 | 46% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 36 | Whittington Staffordshire | C | 7.5 | 77% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Great Houghton South Yorkshire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Pontycymer Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.2 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 39 | Tycroes Dyfed | C | 3.5 | 80% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Laleham Surrey | C | 9.8 | 34% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Bugle Cornwall | C− | 1.8 | 92% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Eggborough North Yorkshire | C− | 1.5 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 43 | Hambleton Lancashire | C− | 2.3 | 14% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Willaston (Cheshire West and Chester) Cheshire | C− | 4.2 | 60% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Upper Heyford Oxfordshire | C− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Aberfan Mid Glamorgan | C− | 4.5 | 58% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Cornforth County Durham | C− | 1.9 | 66% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Cwm Gwent | C− | 2 | 12% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Maulden Bedfordshire | D | 0.9 | 55% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 50 | East Harling Norfolk | D | 1.7 | 85% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Lampeter Dyfed | D | 1.5 | 88% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Llanhilleth Gwent | D | 1.3 | 71% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Long Crendon Buckinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 86% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Mawsley Village Northamptonshire | D | 1.5 | 71% | 2 | 0% |
| 55 | Broughton Lancashire | D | 1.7 | 45% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 56 | Long Itchington Warwickshire | D | 2.1 | 45% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Aston-on-Trent Derbyshire | D | 1.5 | 44% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Clophill Bedfordshire | D | 0.7 | 41% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Garden City Clwyd | D− | 1.5 | 58% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Shipdham Norfolk | D− | 1 | 59% | 0.8 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Broughton’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 Broughton
The biggest is King George's Field, 2.0 ha (5 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
4 in 10 Broughton 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 (45%)Further (56%)
Broughton45%
Villages its size86%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 1,400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 18 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 137 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Forest Of Bowland National Landscape is 3.4 mi away
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
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Broughton scores 0% on it even though the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape is 3.4 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Broughton
34 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Broughton and the kilometre around it, 2.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Local
Preston Guild Wheel9.1 km
Close to home, the Preston Guild Wheel has 9 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.
When to get out
The best walking months in Broughton: 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 98 | 81 | 66 | 58 | 62 | 74 | 88 | 105 | 99 | 109 | 105 | 125 |
April is the driest month (58 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 125 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Broughton →
Things to do
18 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
Broughton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Half Moon Bay17 mi from Broughton’s edge
DirectionsMallows Bay19 mi from Broughton’s edge
DirectionsCreek Beach North21 mi from Broughton’s edge
DirectionsCar Park Beach21 mi from Broughton’s edge
DirectionsCreek Beach South21 mi from Broughton’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.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 18
Plus 18 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.
BartonGoosnarghFulwoodCottamPrestonGrimsarghBroughton
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Goosnargh, 1.8 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Fulwood and Cottam have at least twice Broughton’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Broughton
What is the biggest park in Broughton?
King George's Field, 2.0 ha (5 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Broughton near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape, 3.4 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 806 km² and was designated in 1964.
What are the best walks near Broughton?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the village, including the Preston Guild Wheel.
What is the nearest beach to Broughton?
Half Moon Bay, 17 mi from the edge of the village, then Mallows Bay (19 mi). Broughton itself is inland.
How many people in Broughton live near a park?
45% 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 Broughton?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Broughton good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 36% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 35% (1.7 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 Broughton’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Broughton’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.