Facts & Figures

Christchurch is a borough in the county of Dorset on the edge of the Bournemouth and Poole conurbation.

It is about 8km wide (5 miles) and covers an area of 50 sq km (nearly 20 sq miles).
As well as a picturesque 'town centre', the borough encompasses the parishes of Hurn and Burton and several large retail / residential areas such as Highcliffe, Somerford, Purewell, Fairmile and St Catherines.

Given its small size, Christchurch has a high population density, 13 times higher than the UK average. The population of 50,000 can be boosted by 20,000 on any given day in the summer - another 10,000 people from neighbouring areas come into the borough each day to work or shop.
 Served by over 250 units, the retail sector occupies some 20,000 sq m of floor space.

Christchurch has an airport, a harbour, 6 beaches, 4 nature reserves, 2 rivers, a forest and 10 major visitor attractions.Visitors can choose from 900 bed spaces in 8 hotels, 75 guest houses, inns and B&Bs - it also has over 1500 fixed or transitory caravan pitches.

The borough has almost 200 km of highways, but only 24 km are 'A' roads. There are nearly 4000 car parking spaces, with 20 public car parks recording 1.4 million visits each year.

There are nearly 200,000 vehicle movements across the borough boundary each day - an average of 1 per second on each major artery. The airport, Bournemouth International, is situated in the north in Hurn and is a 10 minute drive from the town centre - as well as the car, transport is provided by 2 major bus companies and 3 taxi firms.

  Stylised map

Use the map below to find your way around. It is colour coded to show the major routes across the borough and identifies locations of car parks. You can download a printable version by clicking on the icon above.

  Central Car Parks

The map on the left depicts the location of car parks in and around the town centre. It also indicates the routes to alternative parking areas. Note the arrows indicate a one-way flow of traffic.