St Austell’s biggest
Poltair Grounds
Playing field
2.2 ha (6 acres)1.0 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of St Austell
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Michael Dibb · CC BY-SA 2.0B−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in St Austell · parks, paths & countryside
St Austell is on the coast, on the South West Coast Path
The sea makes up 18% of the area within 5 km. The Cornwall National Landscape begins 0.5 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in St Austell add up to 1.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. St Austell grades B− for the outdoors: #24 of 35 in Cornwall. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
71%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
67 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: Cornwall National Landscape
The sea
18%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is St Austell?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast18% of the area within 5 km is sea; 30 beaches mapped.Hills with a view11 mapped viewpoints, about 10× as many per resident as the typical town its size.Countryside close byThe Cornwall National Landscape starts 0.5 mi south.Less park per person1.2 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
St Austell’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by its views. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
St Austell grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is St Austell, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B−
Better than 50% of UK towns#24 of 35 in Cornwall · 46th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
17out of
100
100
A park within a walk71%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
32out 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 sea18%of the area within 5 km
89out 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
St Austell is 46th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 22,500 to 26,300 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
St Austell2.5
Towns its size3.5
Cornwall towns2.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
St Austell1.2
Towns its size2.6
Cornwall towns1.6
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
St Austell71%
Towns its size81%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
St Austell falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 58 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire | A+ | 5.7 | 96% | 3.7 | 1% |
| 2 | Stroud Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.6 | 79% | 5.8 | 70% |
| 3 | Falmouth Cornwall | A | 1.3 | 96% | 3.5 | 41% |
| 4 | Caterham Surrey | A | 4.3 | 84% | 4.3 | 17% |
| 5 | Newport Isle of Wight | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 6 | Ash and Ash Vale Surrey | A | 4.3 | 72% | 5.4 | 20% |
| 7 | Huntingdon Cambridgeshire | A | 5.7 | 99% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 8 | Thornaby-on-Tees North Yorkshire | A | 5.4 | 92% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 9 | Larkfield Kent | A− | 5.6 | 75% | 3.4 | 27% |
| 10 | Rickmansworth Hertfordshire | A− | 2.9 | 81% | 4.4 | 11% |
| 11 | Droylsden Greater Manchester | A− | 5.2 | 95% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Reigate Surrey | A− | 5.5 | 58% | 4.7 | 20% |
| 13 | Felixstowe Suffolk | A− | 2 | 88% | 1.9 | 28% |
| 14 | Heanor Derbyshire | A− | 4.2 | 92% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Gorleston-on-Sea Norfolk | A− | 1.4 | 81% | 3.2 | 17% |
| 16 | Hedge End Hampshire | A− | 5.5 | 87% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Little Hulton Greater Manchester | A− | 8.6 | 87% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Wilmslow Cheshire | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 19 | Kempston Bedfordshire | A− | 4.9 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 20 | Newton-le-Willows Merseyside | A− | 5.2 | 99% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Ryde Isle of Wight | A− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.6 | 19% |
| 22 | Shoreham-by-Sea West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 74% | 2.7 | 35% |
| 23 | Ingleby Barwick North Yorkshire | B+ | 2.9 | 87% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 24 | Maldon Essex | B+ | 2.8 | 82% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Whitehaven Cumbria | B+ | 1.8 | 91% | 2 | 1% |
| 26 | Chesham Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.9 | 73% | 4 | 64% |
| 27 | Herne Bay Kent | B+ | 2.3 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Thatcham Berkshire | B+ | 1.9 | 87% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 29 | Fleetwood Lancashire | B+ | 2.7 | 92% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Cheadle Hulme Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.9 | 80% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock Essex | B+ | 2.2 | 97% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Oadby Leicestershire | B+ | 3.7 | 92% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Bradley Stoke Gloucestershire | B+ | 2 | 93% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Seaford East Sussex | B+ | 0.8 | 73% | 2.8 | 52% |
| 35 | Orrell Greater Manchester | B+ | 4.1 | 77% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 36 | Swinton Greater Manchester | B | 3.9 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Newton Aycliffe County Durham | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Rugeley Staffordshire | B | 1.2 | 94% | 2.7 | 37% |
| 39 | Broadstairs Kent | B | 1.7 | 76% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 40 | Sudbury Suffolk | B | 3.8 | 77% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Truro Cornwall | B | 1.6 | 84% | 2.9 | 21% |
| 42 | Hailsham East Sussex | B | 1.4 | 87% | 3.2 | 12% |
| 43 | Rawtenstall Lancashire | B | 1.9 | 83% | 6.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Royton Greater Manchester | B− | 2.8 | 71% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Thetford Norfolk | B− | 2.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 46 | St Austell Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 47 | Bishop Auckland County Durham | B− | 2.7 | 85% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Chester-le-Street County Durham | C+ | 1.7 | 75% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 49 | Hindley Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.5 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Coseley West Midlands | C+ | 1.4 | 84% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Newquay Cornwall | C+ | 1.6 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Ashford Surrey | C+ | 3.4 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Clifton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 1.5 | 76% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Market Harborough Leicestershire | C+ | 1.9 | 94% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Formby Merseyside | C+ | 1.4 | 63% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Ascot Berkshire | C+ | 3.6 | 56% | 3 | 0% |
| 57 | Potters Bar Hertfordshire | C | 1.6 | 71% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Golborne Greater Manchester | C | 3 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Wickersley and Bramley South Yorkshire | C | 1.7 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Retford Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is St Austell’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 St Austell
The biggest is Poltair Grounds, 2.2 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
St Austell Cricket Club
Playing field
5.2 ha (13 acres)
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.1 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Poltair Park
Playing field
0.9 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of St Austell
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 St Austell 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 (71%)Further (29%)
St Austell71%
Towns its size81%
Cornwall towns81%
All UK towns83%
About 7,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 46 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 530 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Cornwall National Landscape is 0.5 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
7% of the land within 5 km of St Austell is National Park or National Landscape, more than 69% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
St Austell is on the South West Coast Path
67 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in St Austell 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 town.
NationalLocal
South West Coast Path (Section 32: Mevagissey to Par)6.2 km
Par Beach Trail3.6 km
The South West Coast Path, a national route, passes St Austell.
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 St Austell: 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) | 8.5 | 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 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 130 | 109 | 90 | 74 | 67 | 66 | 83 | 81 | 84 | 131 | 155 | 147 |
June is the driest month (66 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 155 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 13 nights a year. The climate in St Austell →
The coast
The coast and beaches near St Austell
18% of the area within 5 km of St Austell is sea. 30 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 10 with a name.
Duporth Beach0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPorthpean Beach0.5 mi from town
DirectionsCrinnis Beach0.7 mi from town
DirectionsShorthorn Beach1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSilvermine Beach1.2 mi from town
DirectionsSpit Beach1.8 mi from town
DirectionsPar Sands2.3 mi from town
DirectionsBooley Beach2.6 mi from town
DirectionsPentewan 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
11 viewpoints and 46 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.
11Viewpoints10.4× towns its size7Hills and peaks4Waterfalls2Picnic sites46Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size7Campsites
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 11
Lansalson Pit View0.8 mi from town
DirectionsNature Trail Viewpoint0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPit View1.1 mi from town
DirectionsHigher Pit View1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 7 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 7
Great Treverbyn Tip0.3 mi from town
DirectionsSt Mewan Beacon0.9 mi from town
DirectionsMenagwins0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 4 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Waterfalls 4
Sea Waterfall1.0 mi from town
Directions2nd Catch Pit1.0 mi from town
Directions1st Catch Pit1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 46
Trewoon Playground0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 45 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 7
Broad Meadow House0.0 mi from town
DirectionsDrummer's Lodge0.1 mi from town
DirectionsCarlyon Bay Caravan & Camping Park0.3 mi from town
DirectionsBoscoppa farm campsite0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPorthpean Outdoor Education Centre0.7 mi from town
DirectionsEast Crinnis Holiday Camp1.0 mi from town
DirectionsYHA Eden Project1.1 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Carlyon BayTrewoonPenwithickPolgoothSt BlazeyTywardreathSt Austell
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Austell | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 7% |
| Carlyon Bay 1.4 mi | C | 0.7 | 0% | 12% |
| Trewoon 1.9 mi | D | 0.9 | 71% | 6% |
| Penwithick 2.1 mi | A | 15.0 | 100% | 0% |
| Polgooth 2.4 mi | A+ | 7.0 | 100% | 13% |
| St Blazey 2.6 mi | A− | 2.4 | 78% | 17% |
| Tywardreath 3.7 mi | A+ | 4.6 | 100% | 26% |
Tywardreath, 3.7 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Penwithick, Polgooth and St Blazey have at least twice St Austell’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in St Austell
What is the biggest park in St Austell?
Poltair Grounds, 2.2 ha (6 acres), with 1 km of path. St Austell Cricket Club (5.2 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is St Austell near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Cornwall National Landscape, 0.5 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 964 km² and was designated in 1959.
What are the best walks near St Austell?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the South West Coast Path (Section 32: Mevagissey to Par) and Par Beach Trail.
How many people in St Austell live near a park?
71% 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 St Austell?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is St Austell 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 17% (1.2 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 St Austell’s overall grade.
Sources
Where St Austell’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.