Why tranquillity matters for the future of the countryside

This year, CPRE and Natural England have been working together to find out how people feel about tranquillity – what adds to it and what detracts from it. We wanted to find out how it had changed since we last mapped tranquillity almost 20 years ago, when there were 44 factors that together defined what tranquillity is for people around England.

What does tranquillity mean to you?

Picture a time when you felt most tranquil… What did you see or hear? What could you smell? What is that memory? For me, it was years ago at a place above Derwent Water in the Lake District on an early evening in summer. The sun was setting above mountains across the lake, and I remember the warmth and hearing birdsong. I felt peaceful. But I have also felt tranquil in green spaces on the edge of London, in places that are relatively tranquil to the surrounding urban areas.

It’s so important that everyone can find tranquil places near to them. That’s why CPRE champions a countryside for all, a place where we can feel at home, whether this be in a local green space, in rolling hills or mountains or along a canal. These places are special because they are special to you – for inspiration, escape and improving health and well-being. In fact, a recent survey by Natural England noted that 39% of people felt that visiting local green and natural spaces was very important to their wellbeing.

How can we measure tranquillity?

The factors of what adds to or detracts from tranquillity have not changed significantly since our previous study in 2006. While the original 44 factors mentioned above were streamlined to 35 factors as a result of this research, the vast majority of themes were retained such as a ‘natural/wild landscape’ and ‘hearing birdsong’. But there were some new ones too: ‘seeing clear skies’, and the ‘scent of nature’ – the smell of grass, flowers and woodland’ as adding to a sense of tranquillity and as new things that damaged a feeling of tranquillity: ’Litter, waste, fly-tipping’, ‘Presence of some people’.

Our recent research involved people in six focus groups in rural, suburban and urban locations to discuss tranquillity and how they felt about it. This was to ensure that we gathered in-depth views from differing places – with groups held in Birmingham, Jesmond in Northumberland and a village in Somerset. The people taking part in these focus groups broadly reflected the country’s population in terms of its diversity, including across age, gender and ethnicity. This was followed by a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 people which helped refine the things that add positively or detract from their experience of tranquillity.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, tranquillity is an emotional sensation. It’s a state of mind and is subjective. There are four key senses to explore when thinking about this: what you can hear, what you can see, what you can smell and your emotions, such as whether memories are triggered. Many of the people who took part in the survey felt that water played a strong role in tranquillity – hearing or seeing moving water such as a river or stream, the sound of rain. And 46% of respondents said that the seaside or beach were their top place to visit for tranquillity.

What adds to and takes away from tranquillity?

The five factors that people felt added to tranquillity include a natural/wild landscape, the scent of nature, seeing inland water, the sea and woodland/forest.

Biodiversity is key for people living in rural areas, where hearing birdsong was much more important. Woodlands and forests are more valuable to suburban dwellers and in urban areas, seeing the sea and seeing the stars were most compelling.

So what detracts from the experience of tranquillity? The top five most significant ones include hearing road traffic and construction such as roadworks or developments, as well as seeing litter, waste or fly tipping. Seeing power lines was identified as another major factor, along with hearing non-natural background noise.

Tranquillity in the outdoors is not part of a regular routine for most people – only one in three say they find tranquillity on a weekly basis and a quarter only actively seek it when they need a break or during times of stress. The wellbeing benefits not only of green space but of feeling tranquil cannot be underestimated. Perhaps instead of counting sheep to get to sleep, many people picture a tranquil place to help to rest the mind?

Mapping tranquillity for a better future for the countryside

For CPRE, the research to understand contemporary views on tranquillity will help us to prepare the ground for future mapping.

We believe that it’s vital that there are places where everyone can experience tranquillity and these places remain protected and enhanced through national policy and local initiatives. Indeed, our research on Local Green Space designations in 2023 found that tranquillity was at least one reason for designation in around 24% of all cases. And relative tranquillity is one of the factors Natural England consider when proposing designations, such as the Yorkshire Wolds as a national landscape. We believe that on this basis there may well be other landscapes similarly worthy of increased protection and better management.

I hope that future generations will be able to discover tranquil places – it’s through those experiences of tranquillity that so many of us develop our love for the countryside.