Mudeford is a harbourside and beach-side parish based on an ex-fishing village in the east of Christchurch, Dorset, England (historically in Hampshire), fronting water on two sides: Christchurch Harbour and the sands of Avon Beach.

The harbour has the small mouths of The River Mude and Bure Brook at this point, under the main promenade. In the late 20th century small buffer zones to the north-east, north and north-west were infilled with low-rise housing, such that in the 2011 the Christchurch contiguous urban area, excluding Bournemouth, touching to the west, extending along the coast to take in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire had 54,210 residents. Mudeford is one of its main touristic and leisure urban centres. The ward had a population density of 24 persons per hectare in 2011.

Mudeford includes two woodland areas (known as Mudeford Woods and Peregrine Woods), a recreation ground on the north side of Stanpit (used to play cricket since the 19th century, probably as far back as the 1860s) and All Saints Church (built in 1869 as a gift by Mortimer Ricardo, who lived at Bure Homage House).

The present-day Mudeford Quay was constructed in the late 1940s. Immediately prior to this, The Haven, as it was then known, was surrounded by sloping beaches. The Run then was much wider than it is now and the area was subject to terrible erosion. So much so that Christchurch Council purchased the whole area in 1945. Five years later the area had been raised and reinforced with steel piles and concrete. Today the Quay, which consists of The Haven Inn public house, a number of ex-fisherman's cottages and a large car park, is still used by local fishing boats as well as being a base for many water sports. A Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) inshore lifeboat station is on the Quay.

The Mudeford ferry operates between the Quay and Mudeford Sandbank on Hengistbury Head. The ferry was operated by rowing boats until the 1960s with payment being at the discretion of the passenger. Mudeford Quay is at the entrance to the Harbour known as "The Run". George III is recorded as having visited Mudeford in 1801 and using a bathing machine.

The oldest of the buildings on Mudeford Quay are now known as Dutch Cottages, formerly (collectively) as Haven House. They were erected together with an adjoining quay in about 1687, in connection with other harbour works under powers of the Salisbury Avon Navigation Act. They stand partially on ground formed by the artificial infilling of the old harbour mouth. As early as January 1699 one of these buildings was serving as an alehouse, and in 1757 it also provided accommodation for fifteen Hessian troops and their sergeant. This was the original Haven House Inn, run by Thomas Humby for at least eighteen years following the death of its landlady, Hannah Sillar, in 1802. Humby also ran the King’s Arms in Christchurch for about the same period of time. The present Haven House Inn public house nearby is thought to have been built around 1830, and certainly before 1832 when a Mr Dixon became its landlord and it appeared in a topographical etching.

Hengistbury Head is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology and is scheduled as an Ancient Monument. Declared a Local Nature Reserve in 1990, the head and its surroundings form part of the Christchurch Harbour Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, an Environmentally Sensitive Area and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. The name "Hengistbury Head" refers to the immediate area; the elevated portion is called Warren Hill.

There has been human activity on the site since the Upper Palaeolithic. During the Victorian era, it was heavily quarried, and in recent years tourism has become significant - it receives more than one million visitors annually. The various habitats on the Head provide a home for many plants, birds and insects, some of them rare and critically endangered. Erosion remains a threat to the site, although long-term projects are intended to secure it for the future.

Hengistbury Head is a sandstone headland attached to Southbourne, which is a suburb of the town of Bournemouth to the west; the nearest major settlement is Christchurch to the north. It is the most easterly part of the Borough of Bournemouth, and marks the most easterly point of Poole Bay. Historically part of Hampshire, the Local Government Act 1972 designated the area a part of Dorset. The northern slope of the hill tailing off towards the sea forms Mudeford spit, the sand bar closing Christchurch Harbour from the south.

The spit is home to more 300 privately owned beach-huts, which are some of the UK's most expensive. In 2015 five of the huts were put on the market for a combined asking price of £1 million. On average the huts measure around five by three metres, have no running water, and the occupants may only stay overnight from March to October. Despite the relative lack of amenities, the area has become one of the UK's most desirable; huts are rented out for up to £600 a week.

The Black House, a local landmark, stands at the end of the spit, opposite Mudeford Quay, site of the Battle of Mudeford in 1784. Built in 1848, it was once a boat-builders' house, but is now rented out to holidaymakers. It has served a variety of functions over the years, and is commonly (but inaccurately) associated with the area's smuggling past.