Downley’s biggest
Downley Common
Park or garden
25 ha (61 acres)3.9 km of path
50 minto walk all 3.9 km of path
34 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Downley
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Downley · parks, paths & countryside
71% of the land within 5 km of Downley is National Park or National Landscape
The Chilterns National Landscape reaches the edge of Downley. Footpaths add up to 58 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 7.6 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Downley add up to 9.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Downley grades A+ for the outdoors: #1 of 39 in Buckinghamshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
9.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
76%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
58 km
7.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
71%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Chilterns National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Downley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside71% of the land within 5 km is Chilterns National Landscape.A town of footpaths7.6 km of path per km², more than 99% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Room to roam9.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 95% of UK towns.
Downley’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Downley grades A+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Downley, 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 97% of UK towns#1 of 39 in Buckinghamshire · 3rd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space9.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
95out of
100
100
A park within a walk76%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
40out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape71%of the land within 5 km
96out of
100
100
Footpaths7.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
99out 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.
Towns its size
Downley is 3rd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,500 to 2,800 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
Downley7.6
Towns its size2.3
Buckinghamshire towns3.2
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Downley9.5
Towns its size1.9
Buckinghamshire towns2.4
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Downley76%
Towns its size82%
Buckinghamshire towns74%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Downley stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambleside Cumbria | A+ | 6.9 | 92% | 4.6 | 100% |
| 2 | Settle North Yorkshire | A+ | 6.4 | 100% | 3.6 | 73% |
| 3 | Downley Buckinghamshire | A+ | 9.5 | 76% | 7.6 | 71% |
| 4 | Hadston Northumberland | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 2 | 1% |
| 5 | Yorkley and Whitecroft Gloucestershire | A | 3.3 | 74% | 6.4 | 1% |
| 6 | Hellingly East Sussex | A | 6.9 | 90% | 3.7 | 11% |
| 7 | Dolgellau Gwynedd | A | 3.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 100% |
| 8 | Newington Kent | A− | 2.3 | 78% | 2.3 | 21% |
| 9 | Combe Martin Devon | A− | 1.8 | 88% | 1.5 | 37% |
| 10 | Newhey Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Avonmouth Bristol | B+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Langold Nottinghamshire | B+ | 13 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Blofield Norfolk | B+ | 2.9 | 100% | 1.5 | 17% |
| 14 | Broadway Worcestershire | B | 2 | 65% | 3.6 | 56% |
| 15 | Dipton County Durham | B | 3.2 | 87% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 16 | Farington Moss Lancashire | B | 5.9 | 93% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Prestbury Cheshire | B | 5.6 | 42% | 3.2 | 6% |
| 18 | Builth Wells Powys | B | 4.9 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 19 | Brynamman Dyfed | B | 1.7 | 100% | 1 | 51% |
| 20 | Sutton-in-Craven North Yorkshire | B | 1.8 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Mancetter and Witherley Warwickshire | B− | 3.1 | 88% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 22 | Cliffe Woods Kent | B− | 1.7 | 62% | 2.5 | 1% |
| 23 | Halton Lancashire | B− | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 35% |
| 24 | Grimsargh Lancashire | B− | 2.6 | 67% | 2.8 | 2% |
| 25 | Pucklechurch Gloucestershire | C+ | 1.2 | 64% | 4.2 | 20% |
| 26 | Godstone Surrey | C+ | 1.7 | 52% | 3.7 | 18% |
| 27 | Shevington Moor Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.1 | 90% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Ashington West Sussex | C+ | 1.3 | 86% | 2.3 | 21% |
| 29 | Hurworth-on-Tees County Durham | C+ | 4.5 | 93% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Snettisham Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 73% | 1.3 | 32% |
| 31 | Endon Staffordshire | C+ | 3 | 89% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 32 | Little Dunmow Essex | C+ | 1.1 | 89% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Dunchurch Warwickshire | C+ | 7.8 | 68% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Bosham West Sussex | C+ | 1.2 | 48% | 1.4 | 58% |
| 35 | Lostock Gralam Cheshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Catterick North Yorkshire | C | 3.6 | 89% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Watlington Norfolk | C | 2.3 | 100% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 38 | South Brent Devon | C | 1.5 | 79% | 0.8 | 64% |
| 39 | Smallfield Surrey | C | 1.6 | 70% | 2.4 | 1% |
| 40 | Marham Norfolk | C | 3.5 | 85% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Shelley West Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 81% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 42 | Wittering Cambridgeshire | C− | 3.1 | 83% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 43 | South Wonston Hampshire | C− | 1.6 | 42% | 2.6 | 7% |
| 44 | Wolston Warwickshire | C− | 1.6 | 89% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Higham Kent | C− | 0.5 | 0% | 1.8 | 18% |
| 46 | Codicote Hertfordshire | C− | 0.4 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 47 | Newick East Sussex | C− | 1.7 | 35% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 48 | Hardwick Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.5 | 82% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Costessey Norfolk | C− | 1.8 | 12% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 50 | West Clyst Devon | C− | 0.6 | 59% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Saughall Cheshire | D | 2.5 | 27% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 52 | Christleton and Waverton Cheshire | D | 2.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Tonna West Glamorgan | D | 2.1 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Willington Derbyshire | D | 1.8 | 67% | 2 | 0% |
| 55 | Brierley South Yorkshire | D | 0.7 | 82% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Keele Staffordshire | D | 1.1 | 0% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Watton at Stone Hertfordshire | D | 0.8 | 61% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | St Martins Shropshire | D | 0.6 | 59% | 0.8 | 2% |
| 59 | Swineshead Lincolnshire | D− | 1.2 | 73% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Manea Cambridgeshire | D− | 1.3 | 63% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Downley’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 Downley
The biggest is Downley Common, 25 ha (61 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Plomer Hill
Park or garden · 90 m outside town
7.4 ha (18 acres)1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
10 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
8 in 10 Downley 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 (76%)Further (24%)
Downley76%
Towns its size82%
Buckinghamshire towns74%
All UK towns83%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 166 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Downley
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
National Landscape
Chilterns
At the edge north-west838 km²since 199071% of the land within 5 km
Official site71% of the land within 5 km of Downley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 96% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
9 waymarked walks pass through or near Downley
58 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Downley and the kilometre around it, 7.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Local
Chiltern Hills Three-in-One walk, Central Chilterns11.5 km
Views of the Hughenden Manor Estate Walk, Hughenden8.9 km
Boundary Walk, Hughenden6.4 km
Hughenden's Monument Walk, Hughenden3.5 km
Wycombe West Ridges and Bottoms walk, West Wycombe Village3.3 km
Woodcock Wood walk, Hughenden2.3 km
German Forest Walk, Hughenden2.1 km
West Wycombe Trial, West Wycombe Village2.1 km
Bradenham: Chiltern Hills, Valleys and Woodlands Walk, Bradenham1.4 km
Close to home, the Chiltern Hills Three-in-One walk, Central Chilterns has 12 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Downley: May to September
The town’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 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 82 | 60 | 54 | 56 | 60 | 54 | 54 | 66 | 61 | 85 | 88 | 78 |
March is the driest month (54 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 88 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. The climate in Downley →
Things to do
2 viewpoints, 16 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Downley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Amity Beach20 mi from Downley’s edge
DirectionsHog Hole23 mi from Downley’s edge
DirectionsThe Hollows23 mi from Downley’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 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Sands Bank Nature Reserve12 ha · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsMillfield Wood7.7 ha · 1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Picnic Orchard0.5 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 16
Hughenden Park Play Area0.6 mi from town
DirectionsVanguard Playground0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 14 playgrounds 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.
High WycombeWalter's Ash and NaphillHughenden ValleyGreat KingshillLane EndHazlemereDownley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downley | A+ | 9.5 | 76% | 71% |
| High Wycombe 1.6 mi | B+ | 1.6 | 68% | 67% |
| Walter's Ash and Naphill 1.7 mi | A | 3.7 | 50% | 79% |
| Hughenden Valley 1.8 mi | B− | 2.1 | 32% | 76% |
| Great Kingshill 2.8 mi | B | 2.7 | 55% | 84% |
| Lane End 2.9 mi | A+ | 3.1 | 92% | 90% |
| Hazlemere 2.9 mi | A | 2.5 | 81% | 68% |
Downley grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Downley
What is the biggest park in Downley?
Downley Common, 25 ha (61 acres), with 3.9 km of path. Plomer Hill (7.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Downley near a National Park?
It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Downley?
9 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Chiltern Hills Three-in-One walk, Central Chilterns, Views of the Hughenden Manor Estate Walk, Hughenden and Boundary Walk, Hughenden. Downley Common alone has 3.9 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Downley?
Amity Beach, 20 mi from the edge of the town, then Hog Hole (23 mi). Downley itself is inland.
How many people in Downley live near a park?
76% 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 Downley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Downley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 7.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 99% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 95% (9.5 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 Downley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Downley’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.