Seaham’s biggest
Seaham Town Park
Playing field
9.0 ha (22 acres)1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
13 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi north-westfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Matthew Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Seaham · parks, paths & countryside
Seaham is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 39% of the area within 5 km. 82 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.4 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Seaham add up to 2.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Seaham grades A for the outdoors: #1 of 52 in County Durham. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
90%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
82 km
3.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
The sea
39%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Seaham?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast39% of the area within 5 km is sea; 10 beaches mapped.On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.
Seaham’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Outdoors grade
Seaham grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Seaham, 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 88% of UK towns#1 of 52 in County Durham · 11th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
67out of
100
100
A park within a walk90%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
66out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
69out of
100
100
The sea39%of the area within 5 km
96out 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
Seaham is 11th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 20,100 to 23,200 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
Seaham3.4
Towns its size3.6
County Durham towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Seaham2.9
Towns its size2.5
County Durham towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Seaham90%
Towns its size87%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Seaham stands out most for park space per resident: only 23 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapeltown and High Green South Yorkshire | A+ | 4.9 | 94% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 2 | Camborne Cornwall | A+ | 2.2 | 93% | 4 | 8% |
| 3 | Dronfield Derbyshire | A+ | 3.2 | 97% | 5.3 | 9% |
| 4 | Reddish Greater Manchester | A | 6.7 | 100% | 5 | 0% |
| 5 | Faversham Kent | A | 2 | 88% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 6 | Caterham Surrey | A | 4.3 | 84% | 4.3 | 17% |
| 7 | Hebburn Tyne and Wear | A | 6.6 | 99% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 8 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke Gloucestershire | A | 2.1 | 99% | 4.7 | 21% |
| 9 | Farnham Surrey | A | 5.1 | 73% | 4.3 | 35% |
| 10 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | A | 3.3 | 82% | 5.1 | 5% |
| 11 | Seaham County Durham | A | 2.9 | 90% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 12 | Harwich Essex | A− | 1.7 | 95% | 2.1 | 20% |
| 13 | South Ockendon Essex | A− | 2.6 | 88% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 14 | Workington Cumbria | A− | 3 | 97% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Dukinfield Greater Manchester | A− | 4 | 95% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 16 | Hedge End Hampshire | A− | 5.5 | 87% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Coalville Leicestershire | A− | 3.7 | 94% | 4 | 0% |
| 18 | Rothwell West Yorkshire | A− | 3.4 | 91% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Kempston Bedfordshire | A− | 4.9 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 20 | Whitefield Greater Manchester | A− | 4.7 | 87% | 4 | 0% |
| 21 | Whitehaven Cumbria | B+ | 1.8 | 91% | 2 | 1% |
| 22 | Crowborough East Sussex | B+ | 3.2 | 68% | 2.6 | 91% |
| 23 | Kirkby-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire | B+ | 3 | 93% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 24 | Ossett West Yorkshire | B+ | 2.8 | 91% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Sandhurst Berkshire | B+ | 5.1 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Brownhills West Midlands | B | 11 | 80% | 2 | 2% |
| 27 | Swinton Greater Manchester | B | 3.9 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Great Bookham and Fetcham Surrey | B | 1.7 | 68% | 4.4 | 33% |
| 29 | Ripley Derbyshire | B | 2.4 | 91% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Biggleswade Bedfordshire | B | 1.6 | 95% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 31 | Westhoughton Greater Manchester | B | 1.9 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Penwortham Lancashire | B | 2.9 | 91% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Old Trafford Greater Manchester | B | 2.5 | 79% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Hailsham East Sussex | B | 1.4 | 87% | 3.2 | 12% |
| 35 | Truro Cornwall | B | 1.6 | 84% | 2.9 | 21% |
| 36 | Dorchester Dorset | B | 1.6 | 78% | 2.9 | 53% |
| 37 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | B | 3.1 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Royton Greater Manchester | B− | 2.8 | 71% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Bingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.1 | 80% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 40 | Berkhamsted Hertfordshire | B− | 1 | 69% | 3.6 | 56% |
| 41 | Staines-upon-Thames Surrey | B− | 3.4 | 67% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Wednesbury West Midlands | B− | 2.7 | 93% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Dereham Norfolk | B− | 1.8 | 90% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Ashford Surrey | C+ | 3.4 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Clevedon Somerset | C+ | 1.1 | 69% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Clifton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 1.5 | 76% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Sunbury-on-Thames Surrey | C+ | 2 | 79% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Kenilworth Warwickshire | C+ | 2.7 | 75% | 3 | 0% |
| 49 | Formby Merseyside | C+ | 1.4 | 63% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Spennymoor County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Normanton West Yorkshire | C | 1.2 | 88% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Horwich Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 67% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Maghull Merseyside | C− | 1.6 | 86% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Skegness Lincolnshire | C− | 0.9 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Stowmarket Suffolk | C− | 0.8 | 50% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Gainsborough Lincolnshire | C− | 1 | 96% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | March Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 87% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Goole East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 81% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Stamford Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 64% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Darlaston West Midlands | D | 1.3 | 78% | 1.9 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Seaham’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 Seaham
The biggest is Seaham Town Park, 9.0 ha (22 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Dawdon Dene Park
Park or garden
5.6 ha (14 acres)1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
8 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Seaham
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Terrace Green
Park or garden
0.5 ha (1 acres)
0.9 mi eastfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Seaham 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 (90%)Further (11%)
Seaham90%
Towns its size87%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
About 2,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 18 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,203 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Seaham is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
82 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Seaham and the kilometre around it, 3.4 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
King Charles III England Coast Path: North Gare to South Bents10.3 km
Durham Coastal Path6.7 km
Heritage 100 - Seaham to Nose's Point3.7 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Seaham. Close to home, the Durham Coastal Path has 7 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 Seaham: June, July and 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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.1 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 7.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 48 | 42 | 38 | 48 | 46 | 62 | 57 | 67 | 53 | 62 | 70 | 57 |
March is the driest month (38 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 70 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 26 nights a year. The climate in Seaham →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Seaham
39% of the area within 5 km of Seaham is sea. 10 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 4 with a name.
Blast Beach0.3 mi from town
DirectionsHawthorn Hive1.0 mi from town
DirectionsShippersea Bay1.4 mi from town
DirectionsHendon Beach2.4 mi from town
DirectionsThe King Charles III England 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
3 viewpoints and 18 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.
3Viewpoints3.1× towns its size3Hills and peaks3× towns its size1Picnic sites18Playgrounds0.6× towns its size1Campsites1Slipways
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Plus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 3
Cherry Knowle Hill0.4 mi from town
DirectionsMill Hill92 m (302 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsHowly Hill105 m (344 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 18
Funshackin town
DirectionsSeaham Town Bowls Clubin town
DirectionsWillow Grange Play Park0.8 mi from town
DirectionsBeechbrooke Play Park0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 14 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The Barn at Easington1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 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.
MurtonSouth HettonEasingtonEasington LaneHetton-le-HoleHaswellSeaham
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seaham | A | 2.9 | 90% | 0% |
| Murton 1.9 mi | C+ | 2.1 | 54% | 0% |
| South Hetton 3.4 mi | B+ | 3.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Easington 3.6 mi | A− | 5.0 | 94% | 0% |
| Easington Lane 3.8 mi | B− | 0.9 | 100% | 0% |
| Hetton-le-Hole 4.1 mi | A− | 7.8 | 95% | 0% |
| Haswell 4.5 mi | C+ | 3.2 | 100% | 0% |
Seaham grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. Hetton-le-Hole has at least twice Seaham’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Seaham
What is the biggest park in Seaham?
Seaham Town Park, 9.0 ha (22 acres), with 1.5 km of path. Dawdon Dene Park (5.6 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Seaham near a National Park?
No National Park or National Landscape is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Seaham.
What are the best walks near Seaham?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the King Charles III England Coast Path: North Gare to South Bents, Durham Coastal Path and Heritage 100 - Seaham to Nose's Point.
How many people in Seaham live near a park?
90% 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 Seaham?
June, July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Seaham good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 69% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 67% (2.9 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 Seaham’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Seaham’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.