Calne’s biggest
Castlefields Park
Park or garden
5.7 ha (14 acres)1.3 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.3 km of path
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Calne
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0B−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Calne · parks, paths & countryside
33% of the land within 5 km of Calne is National Park or National Landscape
The North Wessex Downs National Landscape begins 0.1 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Calne add up to 1.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 88% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Calne grades B− for the outdoors: #20 of 30 in Wiltshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
88%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
55 km
2.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
33%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: North Wessex Downs National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Calne?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside33% of the land within 5 km is North Wessex Downs National Landscape.Less park per person1.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Calne’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Calne grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Calne, 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 49% of UK towns#20 of 30 in Wiltshire · 41st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
20out of
100
100
A park within a walk88%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
64out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape33%of the land within 5 km
85out of
100
100
Footpaths2.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
41out 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
Calne is 41st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 18,600 to 21,200 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
Calne2.4
Towns its size3.7
Wiltshire towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Calne1.3
Towns its size2.3
Wiltshire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Calne88%
Towns its size86%
Wiltshire towns86%
All UK towns83%
Calne falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 54 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camborne Cornwall | A+ | 2.2 | 93% | 4 | 8% |
| 2 | Littlehampton West Sussex | A+ | 2.1 | 99% | 3.1 | 18% |
| 3 | Dronfield Derbyshire | A+ | 3.2 | 97% | 5.3 | 9% |
| 4 | Litherland Merseyside | A | 7.3 | 94% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 5 | Buxton Derbyshire | A | 3.5 | 86% | 3.8 | 61% |
| 6 | Faversham Kent | A | 2 | 88% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 7 | Houghton Regis Bedfordshire | A | 3.5 | 81% | 8 | 20% |
| 8 | Colne Lancashire | A | 3.2 | 86% | 5.3 | 8% |
| 9 | Waltham Abbey Essex | A | 11.9 | 92% | 6.7 | 0% |
| 10 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke Gloucestershire | A | 2.1 | 99% | 4.7 | 21% |
| 11 | Farnham Surrey | A | 5.1 | 73% | 4.3 | 35% |
| 12 | Hazlemere Buckinghamshire | A | 2.5 | 81% | 4.7 | 68% |
| 13 | Forest Town Nottinghamshire | A | 6.4 | 94% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Northwich Cheshire | A | 8.8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Leek Staffordshire | A | 4.2 | 83% | 3.6 | 19% |
| 16 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | A | 3.3 | 82% | 5.1 | 5% |
| 17 | Keynsham Somerset | A | 2.1 | 95% | 4.6 | 11% |
| 18 | Harwich Essex | A− | 1.7 | 95% | 2.1 | 20% |
| 19 | Peterlee County Durham | A− | 2.3 | 85% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Dukinfield Greater Manchester | A− | 4 | 95% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Ebbw Vale Gwent | A− | 2 | 92% | 3.3 | 29% |
| 22 | Rothwell West Yorkshire | A− | 3.4 | 91% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Devizes Wiltshire | A− | 1.8 | 91% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 25 | Walkden Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 92% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Belper Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 27 | Eastwood Nottinghamshire | B+ | 2.6 | 93% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Hythe and Dibden Purlieu Hampshire | B+ | 0.8 | 49% | 4.4 | 44% |
| 29 | Sandhurst Berkshire | B+ | 5.1 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 30 | Hazel Grove Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.9 | 62% | 4.2 | 3% |
| 31 | Mirfield West Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 90% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 32 | Ripley Derbyshire | B | 2.4 | 91% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 33 | Irlam Greater Manchester | B | 3.1 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 34 | Cradley Heath West Midlands | B | 3.3 | 76% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 35 | Penwortham Lancashire | B | 2.9 | 91% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Ely Cambridgeshire | B | 2.7 | 88% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 37 | Stanley County Durham | B | 1.7 | 88% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 38 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | B | 3.1 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Romsey Hampshire | B− | 1.2 | 82% | 4.5 | 2% |
| 40 | Ware Hertfordshire | B− | 2 | 81% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Calne Wiltshire | B− | 1.3 | 88% | 2.4 | 33% |
| 42 | Wednesbury West Midlands | B− | 2.7 | 93% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Dereham Norfolk | B− | 1.8 | 90% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Failsworth Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.8 | 77% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Clevedon Somerset | C+ | 1.1 | 69% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Rawmarsh South Yorkshire | C+ | 2 | 84% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Bideford Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 83% | 1 | 11% |
| 48 | Newmarket Suffolk | C+ | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 49 | Knowle and Dorridge West Midlands | C+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Spennymoor County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Thornton Lancashire | C | 2.1 | 71% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Nantwich Cheshire | C | 2.2 | 86% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 53 | Horwich Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 67% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Maghull Merseyside | C− | 1.6 | 86% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Skegness Lincolnshire | C− | 0.9 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 46% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Selby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 81% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Goole East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 81% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Stamford Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 64% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Tiverton Devon | D | 1.5 | 59% | 2.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Calne’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 Calne
The biggest is Castlefields Park, 5.7 ha (14 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 6 ha (14 acres) and 1 km of path
Parks & gardens 5.7 haPlay spaces 0.2 ha
The two biggest, Castlefields Park and Cherhill View Calne Play Area, are 98% of the named green space. 4 of the 5 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Cherhill View Calne Play Area
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
1.1 mi southfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Rushes Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
0.4 mi eastfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
High Penn Park Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
0.7 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Defroscia Close Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
0.5 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Calne 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 (88%)Further (12%)
Calne88%
Towns its size86%
Wiltshire towns86%
All UK towns83%
About 2,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 21 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 939 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Calne
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 Landscape
North Wessex Downs
0.1 mi east1,731 km²since 197233% of the land within 5 km
Official site33% of the land within 5 km of Calne is National Park or National Landscape, more than 85% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Calne
55 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Calne and the kilometre around it, 2.4 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
White Horse Trail1.5 km
The regional route here is the White Horse Trail.
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 Calne: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 83 | 57 | 53 | 53 | 58 | 56 | 62 | 68 | 57 | 84 | 87 | 85 |
March is the driest month (53 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 87 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Calne →
Things to do
21 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Waterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Penn Wood Nature Reserve12 ha · 0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 21
Cherhill View Play Areain town
DirectionsColemans Farm Play Areain town
DirectionsDefroscia Close Play Areain town
DirectionsHigh Penn Play Areain town
DirectionsKing Edward Play Parkin town
DirectionsLarkspur Play Areain town
DirectionsRegent Park Play Areain town
DirectionsStokes Croft Play Areain town
DirectionsPlus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 2
Plus 2 dog parks without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite 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.
Derry Hill and StudleyBromhamLynehamChippenhamSutton BengerDevizesCalne
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calne | B− | 1.3 | 88% | 33% |
| Derry Hill and Studley 2.6 mi | C+ | 1.2 | 100% | 1% |
| Bromham 4.2 mi | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 13% |
| Lyneham 4.8 mi | B− | 1.5 | 94% | 6% |
| Chippenham 5.4 mi | B+ | 2.8 | 76% | 7% |
| Sutton Benger 5.7 mi | B | 2.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Devizes 6.1 mi | A− | 1.8 | 91% | 38% |
Bromham, 4.2 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Bromham, Chippenham and Sutton Benger have at least twice Calne’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Calne
What is the biggest park in Calne?
Castlefields Park, 5.7 ha (14 acres), with 1.3 km of path. Cherhill View Calne Play Area (0.1 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Calne near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, 0.1 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,731 km² and was designated in 1972.
What are the best walks near Calne?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the White Horse Trail.
How many people in Calne live near a park?
88% 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 Calne?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Calne good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 41% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 20% (1.3 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 Calne’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Calne’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.