Holywell’s biggest
Fron Park
Park or garden
2.2 ha (5 acres)1.0 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Holywell
9 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Holywell · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Holywell
The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape begins 3.0 mi from the town’s edge. The sea makes up 26% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Holywell add up to 0.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Holywell grades C for the outdoors: #33 of 39 in Clwyd. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
0.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
68%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
64 km
3.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley starts 3.0 mi out, past the 5 km
The sea
26%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Holywell?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byThe Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape starts 3.0 mi south.On a National TrailThe Wales Coast Path passes through.Less park per person0.9 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Holywell’s strongest suit is the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape close by, followed by the Wales Coast Path. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Holywell grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Holywell, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C
Better than 33% of UK towns#33 of 39 in Clwyd · 40th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space0.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
10out of
100
100
A park within a walk68%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
28out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
60out of
100
100
The sea26%of the area within 5 km
91out 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
Holywell is 40th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 7,400 to 8,100 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
Holywell3.0
Towns its size3.0
Clwyd towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Holywell0.9
Towns its size2.1
Clwyd towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Holywell68%
Towns its size78%
Clwyd towns83%
All UK towns83%
Holywell falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 53 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freshwater and Totland Isle of Wight | A+ | 5 | 89% | 3.9 | 20% |
| 2 | Chipping Sodbury Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 93% | 8.2 | 29% |
| 3 | Bargod Gwent | A | 13.6 | 100% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 4 | Ruddington Nottinghamshire | A | 9.7 | 100% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 5 | Dursley Gloucestershire | A | 1.8 | 90% | 7.2 | 52% |
| 6 | Grove Oxfordshire | A | 2.2 | 92% | 4.7 | 27% |
| 7 | Bolton upon Dearne South Yorkshire | A | 5.6 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Prestwood and Great Missenden Buckinghamshire | A− | 5.5 | 65% | 3.2 | 94% |
| 9 | Dinas Powis South Glamorgan | A− | 3 | 73% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 10 | London Colney Hertfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 96% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Burnham-on-Crouch Essex | A− | 5.3 | 86% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 12 | City of London London | A− | 2 | 100% | 11 | 0% |
| 13 | Cam Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 57% | 5 | 34% |
| 14 | Goldthorpe South Yorkshire | A− | 8.4 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Pembroke Dyfed | B+ | 2.2 | 91% | 1 | 31% |
| 16 | Annfield Plain County Durham | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Great Notley Essex | B+ | 6.4 | 79% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 18 | Cromer Norfolk | B+ | 1.4 | 74% | 2.5 | 36% |
| 19 | Gowerton West Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 79% | 1.2 | 14% |
| 20 | Partington Greater Manchester | B | 2.8 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Edenbridge Kent | B | 2.6 | 64% | 3 | 42% |
| 22 | Barugh Green and Redbrook South Yorkshire | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4 | 0% |
| 23 | Rusthall and Langton Green Kent | B | 2.1 | 69% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 24 | Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire | B | 1.4 | 78% | 3.2 | 57% |
| 25 | Clayton-le-Moors Lancashire | B | 1.1 | 86% | 4.2 | 2% |
| 26 | Ashley Hampshire | B | 2.2 | 53% | 1.7 | 47% |
| 27 | Berechurch Essex | B− | 2.1 | 72% | 10.4 | 0% |
| 28 | Wootton Bedfordshire | B− | 2.5 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Rogerstone Gwent | B− | 3.1 | 60% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Crawcrook and Greenside Tyne and Wear | B− | 3.2 | 86% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Yatton Somerset | B− | 3.7 | 40% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Abersychan Gwent | B− | 2.8 | 83% | 1.1 | 17% |
| 33 | Buntingford Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 95% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Ystalyfera West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.6 | 84% | 0.8 | 15% |
| 35 | Crediton Devon | C+ | 2.4 | 89% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Paddock Wood Kent | C+ | 1.7 | 78% | 2.1 | 28% |
| 37 | Countesthorpe Leicestershire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Seaton Delaval Northumberland | C+ | 0.5 | 66% | 4 | 0% |
| 39 | Sprotbrough South Yorkshire | C+ | 1.8 | 79% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Holywell Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 68% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Mablethorpe Lincolnshire | C | 2.1 | 66% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Elworth Cheshire | C | 1.8 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Newbridge Gwent | C | 2.2 | 94% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Fazeley Staffordshire | C | 3.2 | 35% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Norton-on-Derwent North Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 58% | 2.4 | 16% |
| 46 | Marske-by-the-Sea North Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 66% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Dalton-in-Furness Cumbria | C | 0.9 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Histon and Impington Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 66% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Heathfield East Sussex | C | 0.9 | 53% | 2.3 | 79% |
| 50 | Rainworth Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.5 | 65% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Tenterden Kent | C− | 0.8 | 58% | 1.8 | 48% |
| 52 | Cotgrave Nottinghamshire | C− | 1 | 47% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Godmanchester Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.6 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Highworth Wiltshire | C− | 0.4 | 59% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Clowne Derbyshire | C− | 1.4 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross Berkshire | D | 0.7 | 78% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Polesworth and Dordon Warwickshire | D | 1.6 | 68% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Old Windsor and Wraysbury Berkshire | D | 1.2 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Market Weighton East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 79% | 1 | 0% |
| 60 | Treorchy Mid Glamorgan | D− | 1 | 57% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Holywell’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 Holywell
The biggest is Fron Park, 2.2 ha (5 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Holywell 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 (68%)Further (33%)
Holywell68%
Towns its size78%
Clwyd towns83%
All UK towns83%
About 2,500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 25 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 310 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 3.0 mi away
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
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley
3.0 mi south389 km²since 2011
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Holywell scores 0% on it even though the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 3.0 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Holywell is on the Wales Coast Path
64 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Holywell and the kilometre around it, 3.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
North Wales Pilgrim's Way8.6 km
Wales Coast Path (North Wales) main route6.4 km
Llwybr Clawdd Wat6.4 km
The Wales Coast Path, a national route, passes Holywell. 2 regional routes pass through, including the North Wales Pilgrim's Way and Llwybr Clawdd Wat.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
History along the way
History inside Holywell’s parks
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Holywell’s named parks.
Park with listed buildings
Fron Park
2.2 ha. 9 listed structures and monuments stand inside it or at its edge.
IIWar Memorial Gates, Railings & Stone Piers
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 Holywell: 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 50 | 47 | 47 | 49 | 56 | 59 | 59 | 62 | 75 | 75 | 81 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 81 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 32 nights a year. The climate in Holywell →
The coast
Holywell is near the sea
26% of the area within 5 km of Holywell is sea. 7 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
The Wales Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
25 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Greenfield Dock Viewpoint0.7 mi from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 1
Pen y Ball255 m (837 ft) · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 25
Plus 25 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.
BagilltPentre HalkynFlintNorthopCaldyNestonHolywell
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Caldy, 6.3 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 47% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Caldy and Neston have at least twice Holywell’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Holywell
What is the biggest park in Holywell?
Fron Park, 2.2 ha (5 acres), with 1 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Holywell near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape, 3.0 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 389 km² and was designated in 2011.
What are the best walks near Holywell?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the North Wales Pilgrim's Way, Wales Coast Path (North Wales) main route and Llwybr Clawdd Wat.
How many people in Holywell live near a park?
68% 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 Holywell?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Holywell good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 60% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 10% (0.9 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 Holywell’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Holywell’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.