Sonning’s biggest
King George's Field
Playing field
3.4 ha (8 acres)
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Sonning
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Andrew Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Sonning · parks, paths & countryside
Sonning has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Sonning add up to 11.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Chilterns National Landscape begins 1.7 mi from the village’s edge. 28 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 2.5 for every square kilometre. Sonning grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
11.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
80%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
28 km
2.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
7%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Chilterns National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Sonning?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam11.1 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 96% of UK towns.Countryside both waysChilterns starts 1.7 mi north, North Wessex Downs 5.2 mi west.On a National TrailThe Thames Path passes through.Historic parksDeanery Garden is a registered historic park (Grade II*).
Sonning’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by two protected landscapes close by.
Outdoors grade
Sonning grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Sonning, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 76% of UK towns16th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space11.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
97out of
100
100
A park within a walk80%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
47out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape7%of the land within 5 km
69out of
100
100
Footpaths2.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
47out 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.
Villages its size
Sonning is 16th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,500 to 1,700 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
Sonning2.5
Villages its size2.4
Berkshire towns3.1
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Sonning11.1
Villages its size2.1
Berkshire towns2.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Sonning80%
Villages its size79%
Berkshire towns81%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Sonning stands out most for park space per resident: only 5 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portskewett Gwent | A+ | 10 | 100% | 2.9 | 3% |
| 2 | Melton Suffolk | A+ | 6.5 | 100% | 4.1 | 33% |
| 3 | Salcombe Devon | A+ | 2 | 100% | 3.3 | 65% |
| 4 | Wood Street Village Surrey | A+ | 25.7 | 81% | 4.9 | 18% |
| 5 | Ducklington Oxfordshire | A | 10.1 | 79% | 4.8 | 4% |
| 6 | Roydon Essex | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 7 | St Athan South Glamorgan | A | 2.2 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 8 | Sabden Lancashire | A− | 0.8 | 100% | 5 | 38% |
| 9 | Hale Bank Cheshire | A− | 9.1 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 10 | West Wellow Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 82% | 2.7 | 51% |
| 11 | Shillington Bedfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 83% | 3.2 | 14% |
| 12 | Bean Kent | A− | 17 | 72% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 13 | Woodhouse Eaves Leicestershire | A− | 35.7 | 85% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 14 | Kewstoke Somerset | A− | 1.3 | 74% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 15 | Hampton Magna Warwickshire | A− | 6.8 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Sonning Berkshire | A− | 11.1 | 80% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 17 | Thorpe-le-Soken Essex | A− | 4.2 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 18 | East Dean and Friston East Sussex | B+ | 1.2 | 18% | 4.6 | 58% |
| 19 | Stithians Cornwall | B+ | 3.2 | 80% | 3.4 | 3% |
| 20 | Staining Lancashire | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 21 | King's Cliffe Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 22 | Seal Kent | B+ | 3.3 | 78% | 2.1 | 77% |
| 23 | Littlebourne Kent | B+ | 1.6 | 100% | 3 | 9% |
| 24 | Farcet Cambridgeshire | B+ | 13.8 | 77% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 25 | Ardingly West Sussex | B | 1.7 | 53% | 4.1 | 83% |
| 26 | Abridge Essex | B | 3 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Mount Hawke Cornwall | B | 1.4 | 85% | 2 | 6% |
| 28 | Fence Lancashire | B | 1.3 | 62% | 6.2 | 32% |
| 29 | Edgworth Lancashire | B | 3.2 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 30 | Wick Gloucestershire | B− | 1.8 | 56% | 3.6 | 39% |
| 31 | Sibertswold Kent | B− | 1.9 | 79% | 2.2 | 38% |
| 32 | Whittington Shropshire | B− | 3.7 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 33 | South Witham Lincolnshire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 34 | Evenwood County Durham | C+ | 3.4 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 35 | West Horndon Essex | C+ | 2.2 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 36 | Everton Hampshire | C+ | 1.3 | 58% | 1.5 | 37% |
| 37 | Norton (Norton Juxta Kempsey) Worcestershire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 38 | Clutton Somerset | C+ | 0.9 | 74% | 3.3 | 11% |
| 39 | Potterspury Northamptonshire | C | 1.4 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 40 | Blisworth Northamptonshire | C | 2.2 | 81% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Buxted East Sussex | C | 1.1 | 63% | 2.4 | 52% |
| 42 | Harden West Yorkshire | C | 1.8 | 40% | 5 | 0% |
| 43 | Scawby Lincolnshire | C− | 25.7 | 68% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Higher Walton Lancashire | C− | 2.2 | 61% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Rawcliffe East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Horsmonden Kent | C− | 0.5 | 79% | 0.9 | 50% |
| 47 | Sywell and Overstone Northamptonshire | D | 3.1 | 62% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Thurcaston Leicestershire | D | 1.1 | 33% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 49 | Ainsworth Greater Manchester | D | 0.4 | 64% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Whittlesford Cambridgeshire | D | 2.3 | 57% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Henstridge Somerset | D | 1.8 | 47% | 2 | 0% |
| 52 | Moulton Lincolnshire | D | 1.9 | 75% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Ketton Rutland | D | 2.1 | 56% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Balsham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.7 | 57% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 55 | St Erme and Trispen Cornwall | D | 0.3 | 69% | 1.2 | 2% |
| 56 | Findern Derbyshire | D | 1.8 | 40% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Woodborough Nottinghamshire | D− | 1 | 45% | 2 | 0% |
| 58 | Scarcroft West Yorkshire | D− | 0.5 | 15% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | School Aycliffe County Durham | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Church Fenton North Yorkshire | D− | 0.3 | 50% | 0.7 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Sonning’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 Sonning
The biggest is King George's Field, 3.4 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
8 in 10 Sonning 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 (80%)Further (20%)
Sonning80%
Villages its size79%
Berkshire towns81%
All UK towns83%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 28 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 58 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Chilterns and North Wessex Downs both start about 5 miles from Sonning
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
7% of the land within 5 km of Sonning is National Park or National Landscape, more than 69% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Sonning is on the Thames Path
28 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Sonning and the kilometre around it, 2.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalRegional
Thames Path6.4 km
European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England6.4 km
The Wokingham Way6.4 km
Kennet and Avon Canal Trail0.3 km
The Thames Path, a national route, passes Sonning. 2 regional routes pass through, including the The Wokingham Way and Kennet and Avon Canal Trail.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
A registered historic park in Sonning
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Sonning’s named parks.
Registered · Grade II*Deanery Garden0.8 ha
Heritage walks
Kennet and Avon Canal Trail 0.3 km
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sonning: May to September
The village’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 | 10.5 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 45 | 42 | 49 | 45 | 48 | 48 | 57 | 53 | 74 | 74 | 66 |
March is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 74 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Sonning →
Things to do
3 viewpoints, 28 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Sonning is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Amity Beach17 mi from Sonning’s edge
DirectionsPenguin Beach20 mi from Sonning’s edge
DirectionsThe Leys Park32 mi from Sonning’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Plus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Highwood Local Nature Reserve21 ha · 1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 28
King George's Fieldin town
DirectionsAshenbury Play Area0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPark Lane Recreation Ground0.6 mi from town
DirectionsEnstone Road Play Area0.7 mi from town
DirectionsAlderwood Play Area0.7 mi from town
DirectionsSandford Park Play Area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsVauxhall Park Play Area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsMalone Park playground1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 20 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
WoodleyCharvilTwyfordHurstWinnershCavershamSonning
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Woodley, 1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 81% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Sonning
What is the biggest park in Sonning?
King George's Field, 3.4 ha (8 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Sonning near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Chilterns National Landscape, 1.7 mi north of the village’s edge. It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Sonning?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Thames Path, European walking route E2 west, UK, South East England and The Wokingham Way.
What is the nearest beach to Sonning?
Amity Beach, 17 mi from the edge of the village, then Penguin Beach (20 mi). Sonning itself is inland.
How many people in Sonning live near a park?
80% 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 Sonning?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Sonning are historic?
Deanery Garden (Grade II*) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Sonning good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 47% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 97% (11.1 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 Sonning’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Sonning’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.