Fowey’s biggest
The Squires Field
Playing field
1.9 ha (5 acres)0.2 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Fowey
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Fowey · parks, paths & countryside
Fowey is inside the Cornwall National Landscape
The sea makes up 43% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Fowey add up to 3.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Fowey grades A for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
91%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
23 km
2.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
32%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cornwall National Landscape
The sea
43%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Fowey?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside the Cornwall National LandscapeFowey sits inside it: 964 km² of protected landscape.On the coast43% of the area within 5 km is sea; 34 beaches mapped.On a National TrailThe South West Coast Path passes through.
Fowey’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round, followed by the sea.
Outdoors grade
Fowey grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Fowey, 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 95% of UK towns6th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space3.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
73out of
100
100
A park within a walk91%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
69out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape32%of the land within 5 km
85out of
100
100
Footpaths2.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
35out of
100
100
The sea43%of the area within 5 km
97out 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
Fowey is 6th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,900 to 2,100 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
Fowey2.1
Villages its size2.3
Cornwall towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Fowey3.2
Villages its size2.4
Cornwall towns1.6
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Fowey91%
Villages its size82%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Fowey stands out most for park space per resident: only 21 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meliden Clwyd | A+ | 4.2 | 100% | 4.2 | 21% |
| 2 | Vigo Village Kent | A+ | 33.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 44% |
| 3 | Llanfoist Gwent | A+ | 10.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 57% |
| 4 | Seaview and Nettlestone Isle of Wight | A+ | 3.6 | 89% | 2.8 | 8% |
| 5 | Ditchingham Norfolk | A+ | 17.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 6 | Fowey Cornwall | A | 3.2 | 91% | 2.1 | 32% |
| 7 | Lower Kingswood Surrey | A | 4.7 | 75% | 6.6 | 22% |
| 8 | Bournmoor County Durham | A | 11 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 9 | Chiseldon Wiltshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 69% |
| 10 | Upper Rissington Gloucestershire | A | 6.2 | 100% | 1.2 | 100% |
| 11 | Wrington Somerset | A | 3.2 | 100% | 2.6 | 20% |
| 12 | Y Bala Gwynedd | A | 4 | 100% | 1.4 | 67% |
| 13 | Highfields Caldecote Cambridgeshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Bishops Lydeard Somerset | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 23% |
| 15 | Great Haywood Staffordshire | A− | 7.1 | 27% | 4.1 | 29% |
| 16 | Stowupland Suffolk | A− | 5.3 | 83% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Yealmpton Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 1.8 | 50% |
| 18 | Culverstone Green Kent | B+ | 5.3 | 61% | 2.7 | 42% |
| 19 | Brompton North Yorkshire | B+ | 4.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 20 | Valley Gwynedd | B+ | 5 | 33% | 1.2 | 37% |
| 21 | Sandford Dorset | B | 0.3 | 43% | 4.7 | 41% |
| 22 | Meppershall Bedfordshire | B | 2.3 | 83% | 3 | 2% |
| 23 | Needingworth Cambridgeshire | B− | 4.6 | 85% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 24 | Dyserth Clwyd | B− | 0.5 | 54% | 3.6 | 22% |
| 25 | Wheaton Aston Staffordshire | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 26 | Felbridge Surrey | B− | 2 | 80% | 2.4 | 25% |
| 27 | Trelewis Mid Glamorgan | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Uffculme Devon | B− | 2.8 | 86% | 1.3 | 14% |
| 29 | Edenfield Lancashire | B− | 2.7 | 69% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Rothbury Northumberland | B− | 1 | 76% | 3.8 | 21% |
| 31 | Exning Suffolk | B− | 3.6 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Northleach Gloucestershire | B− | 1.5 | 68% | 2.6 | 100% |
| 33 | Ightham Kent | C+ | 2 | 30% | 3 | 56% |
| 34 | Axbridge Somerset | C+ | 1.3 | 72% | 2.8 | 51% |
| 35 | Kintbury Berkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 71% | 1.8 | 92% |
| 36 | Landkey Devon | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 37 | Langtoft Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 38 | Read Lancashire | C+ | 1.6 | 71% | 2.5 | 21% |
| 39 | Whitchurch Somerset | C+ | 2.3 | 47% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Wychbold Worcestershire | C | 2.1 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Clenchwarton Norfolk | C | 2.2 | 87% | 0.3 | 3% |
| 42 | Goodwick Dyfed | C | 0.2 | 47% | 1.9 | 25% |
| 43 | Marcham Oxfordshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Hightown Merseyside | C | 1.7 | 44% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Barrowby Lincolnshire | C− | 3.5 | 66% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Keyingham East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Cadnam and Bartley Hampshire | C− | 0.9 | 30% | 2.4 | 79% |
| 48 | Carlton North Yorkshire | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Pool-in-Wharfedale West Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 44% | 1.6 | 7% |
| 50 | Urpeth County Durham | C− | 1.3 | 0% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Winwick Cheshire | C− | 3.2 | 48% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Ilchester Somerset | C− | 3.5 | 40% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Hibaldstow Lincolnshire | C− | 1.7 | 89% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Stoke Golding Leicestershire | C− | 1.4 | 85% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Bishop Burton and Cherry Burton East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 2.5 | 78% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Baschurch Shropshire | D | 2.3 | 72% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Curry Rivel Somerset | D | 1.9 | 33% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Haxey Lincolnshire | D | 1.6 | 46% | 2 | 0% |
| 59 | Westwoodside Lincolnshire | D− | 1.2 | 33% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Wilberfoss East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 69% | 0.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Fowey’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 Fowey
The biggest is The Squires Field, 1.9 ha (5 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Briarfield
Playing field
2.0 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Fowey 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 (91%)Further (9%)
Fowey91%
Villages its size82%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 3 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 676 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Fowey
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
Cornwall
Fowey is inside it964 km²since 195932% of the land within 5 km
Official site32% of the land within 5 km of Fowey is National Park or National Landscape, more than 84% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Fowey is on the South West Coast Path
23 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Fowey and the kilometre around it, 2.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalRegionalLocalOther waymarked
Saints Way10.1 km
South West Coast Path (Section 33: Par to Polperro)9.7 km
Hall Walk7.0 km
Fowey Hall Walk, Lantic Bay5.9 km
Polruan coast and creek walk, Lantic Bay5.9 km
Gribbin Head walk at Fowey Estuary, Lantic Bay4.9 km
Polruan to Polperro rollercoaster walk, Lansallos3.1 km
Covington walk in the Fowey estuary, Mid and SE Cornwall2.1 km
Blackbottle Rock picnic walk, Lantic Bay2.1 km
The South West Coast Path, a national route, passes Fowey. Close to home, the Fowey Hall Walk, Lantic Bay has 6 km of local walk within 2 km of the village. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Saints Way and Hall Walk.
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 Fowey: 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) | 8.5 | 10.0 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.4 | 16.4 | 16.0 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 129 | 92 | 74 | 64 | 60 | 62 | 64 | 75 | 70 | 111 | 119 | 120 |
May is the driest month (60 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 129 mm of rain falls in January, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 12 nights a year. The climate in Fowey →
The coast
Fowey is a coastal town
43% of the area within 5 km of Fowey is sea. 34 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 9 with a name.
Readymoney Cove Beach0.0 mi from town
DirectionsCoombe Haven0.3 mi from town
DirectionsBooley Beach1.4 mi from town
DirectionsLantic Bay1.4 mi from town
DirectionsLittle Lantic Bay1.5 mi from town
DirectionsPar Sands1.7 mi from town
DirectionsSpit Beach2.2 mi from town
DirectionsShorthorn Beach2.9 mi from town
DirectionsThe South West 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
7 viewpoints and 3 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 7
Foweyin town
DirectionsSt Saviour's Point0.3 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 5 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 4
Old Coal Wharf0.3 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Campsites 5
Penmarlam Caravan and Camping Park0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPolglaze Holiday Park0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPenhale Caravan and Camping Park0.8 mi from town
DirectionsChuchtown Farm Campsite0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Passage slipin town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
TywardreathSt BlazeyCarlyon BayLostwithielPelyntSt AustellFowey
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fowey | A | 3.2 | 91% | 32% |
| Tywardreath 2.7 mi | A+ | 4.6 | 100% | 26% |
| St Blazey 3.5 mi | A− | 2.4 | 78% | 17% |
| Carlyon Bay 4.6 mi | C | 0.7 | 0% | 12% |
| Lostwithiel 5.0 mi | C− | 1.6 | 67% | 11% |
| Pelynt 5.4 mi | D | 0.0 | 0% | 13% |
| St Austell 6.0 mi | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 7% |
Tywardreath, 2.7 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Fowey
What is the biggest park in Fowey?
The Squires Field, 1.9 ha (5 acres). Briarfield (2.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Fowey?
9 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Saints Way, South West Coast Path (Section 33: Par to Polperro) and Hall Walk.
How many people in Fowey live near a park?
91% 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 Fowey?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Fowey good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 35% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 73% (3.2 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 Fowey’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Fowey’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.