When thinking of England’s most peaceful places, you might picture a quiet hamlet in the Costwolds, a charming fishing village in Cornwall, or a picture-perfect cobbled town in Yorkshire. Now, a new study has revealed exactly which English locations are officially the most tranquil places to live, and they might not be what you’d expect.
Property company Sell House Fast analysed neighbourhoods all over the country, looking at noise complaints, artificial light exposure, vacant homes, sewage works and greenhouse gas emissions at every local authority in England, giving each district a ‘sensory disturbance’ score out of 10. They used their research to come up with the ranking for the 10 most relaxing regions in England – where you wont be bothered by raucous neighbour’s parties, or have to deal with stinky ongoing sewage works.
According to the study, the most peaceful spot in England is Solihull, near Birmingham. The town in the Midlands scored a low 2.28 out of 10 for sensory disturbances. Solihull residents were almost guaranteed to get a good night’s sleep, as noise complaints were among the lowest in the country at 2.7 per 1,000 people, while only 9.3 percent of land experienced artificial light at night.
It was good news on the smells front too, as Solihull had excellent air quality. Greenhouse gas emissions were well below the national average at 6.1 kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalent per square-kilometre, and the borough had no ongoing sewage works.
The Midlands town beat runners up Wiltshire and Peterborough, which came in second and third with scores of 2.31 and 2.4 respectively. In sparsely populated Wiltshire, noise complaints were at 0.9 per 1,000 people, and only 0.1 percent of land was affected by bright light at night. In Peterborough 1.1 percent of land experienced light pollution, and there were only 3.1 kilotons of CO2e per square-kilometre. The highest London entry was Bromley, which you can read more about here.
The 10 most peaceful places to live in England
- Solihull, Birmingham
- Wiltshire
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- South Gloucestershire
- Bromley, London
- St. Helens, Merseyside
- Wokingham, Berkshire
- Shropshire
- Wigan, Greater Manchester
- Cheshire West and Chester
A wild beaver has been spotted in this British county for the first time in 500 years.
These are the happiest places to live in every UK region in 2026.
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