Morpeth’s biggest
Carlisle Park
Park or garden
18 ha (45 acres)5.0 km of path
1 h 5 minto walk all 5 km of path
25 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Morpeth
Viewpoint
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Morpeth · parks, paths & countryside
80% of Morpeth’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Morpeth add up to 3.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 81 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.6 for every square kilometre. Morpeth grades B for the outdoors: #9 of 20 in Northumberland. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
80%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
81 km
3.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Northumberland National Park
Outdoors grade
Morpeth grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Morpeth, 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 60% of UK towns#9 of 20 in Northumberland · 29th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
79out of
100
100
A park within a walk80%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
47out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
73out 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
Morpeth is 29th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 13,800 to 15,100 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
Morpeth3.6
Towns its size3.3
Northumberland towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Morpeth3.7
Towns its size2.5
Northumberland towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Morpeth80%
Towns its size80%
Northumberland towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Morpeth stands out most for park space per resident: only 13 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lymington Hampshire | A+ | 2.8 | 89% | 3.3 | 56% |
| 2 | Hythe Kent | A+ | 3.7 | 76% | 4 | 31% |
| 3 | Otley West Yorkshire | A+ | 5.8 | 93% | 4.4 | 26% |
| 4 | Tadley Hampshire | A+ | 11.4 | 96% | 4.2 | 9% |
| 5 | Llandudno Clwyd | A+ | 2.1 | 83% | 4.9 | 3% |
| 6 | Kesgrave Suffolk | A | 3.3 | 97% | 4.7 | 14% |
| 7 | Petersfield Hampshire | A | 3.2 | 93% | 3.2 | 100% |
| 8 | Yeadon West Yorkshire | A | 3.5 | 94% | 4.6 | 2% |
| 9 | Cheadle Greater Manchester | A | 6.5 | 96% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Penzance Cornwall | A | 1.6 | 96% | 2.3 | 34% |
| 11 | Hassocks and Hurstpierpoint West Sussex | A− | 1.9 | 84% | 4.7 | 42% |
| 12 | Yateley Hampshire | A− | 14.9 | 85% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 13 | Honley West Yorkshire | A− | 2.1 | 87% | 5.1 | 8% |
| 14 | Blaydon Tyne and Wear | A− | 7.9 | 88% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Tredegar Gwent | A− | 6.9 | 78% | 2.8 | 20% |
| 16 | Thornbury Gloucestershire | A− | 2.5 | 97% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 17 | Chertsey Surrey | A− | 6.2 | 84% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 18 | Birstall Leicestershire | A− | 6 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Tewkesbury Gloucestershire | B+ | 2.2 | 84% | 4 | 6% |
| 20 | Ilkley West Yorkshire | B+ | 1.6 | 76% | 5.7 | 37% |
| 21 | Uckfield East Sussex | B+ | 2.9 | 47% | 4.9 | 22% |
| 22 | Buckingham Buckinghamshire | B+ | 3.4 | 96% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 23 | Neston Cheshire | B+ | 2.7 | 91% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Marlow Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.9 | 73% | 4 | 39% |
| 25 | Ashtead Surrey | B+ | 2.7 | 62% | 4.3 | 13% |
| 26 | Armthorpe South Yorkshire | B+ | 6.4 | 92% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 27 | Humberston and New Waltham Lincolnshire | B+ | 4.1 | 44% | 2.2 | 1% |
| 28 | Tilbury Essex | B | 1.4 | 98% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Morpeth Northumberland | B | 3.7 | 80% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Gomersal and Birkenshaw West Yorkshire | B | 3.2 | 83% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Blaby and Whetstone Leicestershire | B | 3 | 79% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 32 | Catterick Garrison North Yorkshire | B− | 4.9 | 78% | 1.8 | 6% |
| 33 | Newport Shropshire | B− | 3.3 | 95% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Chard Somerset | B− | 1.6 | 94% | 1.9 | 34% |
| 35 | Hawarden Clwyd | B− | 3.7 | 81% | 3 | 0% |
| 36 | Gorseinon West Glamorgan | B− | 3.7 | 83% | 1.3 | 2% |
| 37 | Leicester Forest East and Kirby Muxloe Leicestershire | B− | 3.4 | 73% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 38 | Davenham Cheshire | B− | 1.3 | 88% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Aberystwyth Dyfed | B− | 1.8 | 51% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Cowes Isle of Wight | C+ | 1.1 | 50% | 2.2 | 15% |
| 41 | Herne Kent | C+ | 1.2 | 54% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.2 | 78% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire | C+ | 1.9 | 57% | 2.6 | 31% |
| 44 | Darton South Yorkshire | C+ | 2.5 | 86% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Byfleet Surrey | C+ | 3.1 | 59% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Dunscroft and Hatfield South Yorkshire | C+ | 4 | 91% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Kidlington Oxfordshire | C+ | 0.9 | 81% | 3 | 2% |
| 48 | Milford Haven Dyfed | C | 0.8 | 70% | 0.9 | 30% |
| 49 | Birtley Tyne and Wear | C | 1.4 | 71% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 50 | Swallownest and Aston South Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 73% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Taverham and Drayton Norfolk | C− | 1.9 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Pyle Mid Glamorgan | C− | 1 | 78% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Uttoxeter Staffordshire | C− | 1.1 | 79% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Cottingham East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 73% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Middlewich Cheshire | D | 1.4 | 81% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Halstead Essex | D | 0.6 | 73% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 57 | New Rossington and Rossington South Yorkshire | D | 0.8 | 50% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Whittlesey Cambridgeshire | D | 1.7 | 73% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Shepshed Leicestershire | D | 1.1 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 60 | Church Village Mid Glamorgan | D | 0.7 | 72% | 1.7 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Morpeth’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 Morpeth
The biggest is Carlisle Park, 18 ha (45 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 39 ha (96 acres) and 6 km of path
Parks & gardens 37 haPlaying fields 1.2 ha
The two biggest, Carlisle Park and Craik Park, are 80% of the named green space and carry 5 km of path between them.
Craik Park
Park or garden · 40 m outside town
13 ha (32 acres)
18 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Mafeking Park
Park or garden
3.6 ha (9 acres)0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Morpeth
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Farquhar Deuchar Park
Park or garden
3.1 ha (8 acres)0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Morpeth
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Storey Park
Playing field
1.2 ha (3 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Morpeth
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Morpeth’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 (80%)Further (20%)
Morpeth80%
Towns its size80%
Northumberland towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 2,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 11 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,311 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Northumberland National Park is 9.5 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
Northumberland National Park covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Morpeth
81 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Morpeth and the kilometre around it, 3.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Morpeth; 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 Morpeth: June 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) | 7.7 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.1 | 17.4 | 16.9 | 15.0 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.2 | 7.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 53 | 51 | 57 | 53 | 72 | 73 | 67 | 61 | 75 | 88 | 69 |
March is the driest month (51 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 88 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. The climate in Morpeth →
Things to do
11 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
Morpeth is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
North Beach5.7 mi from Morpeth’s edge
DirectionsNewbiggin Beach5.8 mi from Morpeth’s edge
DirectionsBroad Sand Rocks6.9 mi from Morpeth’s edge
DirectionsSouth Beach7.9 mi from Morpeth’s edge
DirectionsWhitley Sands11 mi from Morpeth’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
Viewpoints 1
Ha' Hill0.0 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Clark’s bog0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 11
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Tranwell Farm Camp Site1.1 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
PegswoodStakefordBedlingtonAshingtonWiddrington StationEllingtonMorpeth
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morpeth | B | 3.7 | 80% | 0% |
| Pegswood 2.0 mi | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 0% |
| Stakeford 4.1 mi | A+ | 10.0 | 100% | 0% |
| Bedlington 4.6 mi | A | 5.1 | 94% | 0% |
| Ashington 5.2 mi | A | 5.6 | 83% | 0% |
| Widdrington Station 6.0 mi | C+ | 1.0 | 88% | 0% |
| Ellington 6.6 mi | B | 2.5 | 86% | 0% |
Stakeford, 4.1 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Stakeford has at least twice Morpeth’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Morpeth
What is the biggest park in Morpeth?
Carlisle Park, 18 ha (45 acres), with 5 km of path. Craik Park (13 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Morpeth near a National Park?
Yes. Northumberland National Park begins 9.5 mi north-west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,051 km² and has been a National Park since 1957.
What is the nearest beach to Morpeth?
North Beach, 5.7 mi from the edge of the town, then Newbiggin Beach (5.8 mi). Morpeth itself is inland.
How many people in Morpeth live near a park?
80% 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 Morpeth?
June to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Morpeth good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 73% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 79% (3.7 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 Morpeth’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Morpeth’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.