Shildon’s biggest
Shildon Recreation Ground
Park or garden
13 ha (31 acres)2.0 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
18 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Shildon
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Shildon · parks, paths & countryside
93% of Shildon’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Footpaths add up to 56 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Shildon add up to 2.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Shildon grades B for the outdoors: #17 of 52 in County Durham. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
93%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
56 km
3.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: North Pennines National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Shildon grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Shildon, 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 63% of UK towns#17 of 52 in County Durham · 27th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
65out of
100
100
A park within a walk93%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
72out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
67out 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
Shildon is 27th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 9,100 to 10,200 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
Shildon3.3
Towns its size3.1
County Durham towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Shildon2.8
Towns its size2.5
County Durham towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Shildon93%
Towns its size86%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caldicot Gwent | A+ | 4.2 | 92% | 3 | 2% |
| 2 | Brynteg Clwyd | A | 8.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 3 | Ilfracombe Devon | A | 2 | 86% | 3 | 28% |
| 4 | Bordon Hampshire | A | 8.6 | 54% | 6.7 | 49% |
| 5 | Linthwaite and Slaithwaite West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 6 | New Mills Derbyshire | A | 2.4 | 84% | 5.1 | 34% |
| 7 | Beccles Suffolk | A | 4.5 | 87% | 3.2 | 20% |
| 8 | South Merstham Surrey | A | 3.7 | 84% | 3.7 | 20% |
| 9 | Nuthall and Watnall Nottinghamshire | A | 6.3 | 97% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire | A | 2.8 | 88% | 3.7 | 21% |
| 11 | Greasby Merseyside | A | 5.9 | 74% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 12 | Southborough Kent | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 2.5 | 57% |
| 13 | Whiteley Hampshire | A− | 3 | 52% | 4.4 | 2% |
| 14 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | A− | 10.4 | 89% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Esher Surrey | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Shelf and Northowram West Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 88% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Kings Hill Kent | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 18 | Padiham Lancashire | A− | 1.5 | 95% | 4.5 | 18% |
| 19 | Shaftesbury Dorset | A− | 2.8 | 92% | 2.3 | 44% |
| 20 | Bingham Nottinghamshire | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 21 | Aveley Essex | A− | 3.4 | 84% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 22 | Irthlingborough Northamptonshire | A− | 4.7 | 94% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 23 | Yarm North Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 24 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 3.5 | 13% |
| 25 | Woodbridge Suffolk | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 26 | Sandiacre Derbyshire | B+ | 2.6 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Shildon County Durham | B | 2.8 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Pontllanfraith Gwent | B | 3.7 | 93% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Hemsworth West Yorkshire | B | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Ludlow Shropshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 31 | North Wingfield and Holmewood Derbyshire | B | 2.7 | 84% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Queensbury West Yorkshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Tiptree Essex | B | 2.7 | 90% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Immingham Lincolnshire | B | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Perton Staffordshire | B | 2.4 | 93% | 3 | 0% |
| 36 | Pembroke Dock Dyfed | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 1.1 | 25% |
| 37 | Yaxley Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.6 | 90% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Caernarfon Gwynedd | B− | 1.7 | 83% | 1.4 | 14% |
| 39 | Horbury West Yorkshire | B− | 2.5 | 75% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Mildenhall Suffolk | B− | 2.1 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 41 | Radstock Somerset | B− | 1.1 | 93% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 42 | Knottingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Whitchurch Shropshire | B− | 2.7 | 86% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 44 | Mold Clwyd | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 1.6 | 17% |
| 45 | Brandon County Durham | C+ | 2.2 | 72% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Crook County Durham | C+ | 1.5 | 85% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Lydney Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.1 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Diss Norfolk | C | 1.5 | 80% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Milnrow Greater Manchester | C | 2.9 | 58% | 3 | 0% |
| 50 | Barnham West Sussex | C | 1.3 | 70% | 2.3 | 32% |
| 51 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | C | 1.2 | 70% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 52 | Totnes Devon | C | 0.4 | 65% | 3.3 | 11% |
| 53 | Catshill Worcestershire | C | 1.4 | 82% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 54 | Polegate East Sussex | C− | 0.8 | 64% | 2.2 | 24% |
| 55 | Broughton Astley Leicestershire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Brandon Suffolk | D | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Littleport Cambridgeshire | D | 1 | 71% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Pocklington East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.6 | 65% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Pheasey West Midlands | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Ponteland Northumberland | D− | 1.1 | 36% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Shildon’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 Shildon
The biggest is Shildon Recreation Ground, 13 ha (31 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Shildon Scout Memorial Field
Playing field
2.1 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Shildon’s homes are to 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 (93%)Further (7%)
Shildon93%
Towns its size86%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
About 700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 643 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North Pennines National Landscape is 9.0 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
Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Shildon
56 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Shildon and the kilometre around it, 3.3 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
Locomotion & Historic Shildon2.4 km
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 Shildon: May, June 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 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 51 | 47 | 57 | 49 | 69 | 76 | 78 | 59 | 64 | 69 | 65 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 78 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 52 nights a year. The climate in Shildon →
Things to do
15 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
Shildon is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Shippersea Bay17 mi from Shildon’s edge
DirectionsHawthorn Hive17 mi from Shildon’s edge
DirectionsBlast Beach17 mi from Shildon’s edge
DirectionsNorth Sands18 mi from Shildon’s edge
DirectionsMiddleton Beach18 mi from Shildon’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
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 15
Plus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Gurney Valley Traveller stop over area0.7 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.
Bishop AucklandSchool AycliffeCoundon and LeeholmeHeighingtonNewton AycliffeWest AucklandShildon
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shildon | B | 2.8 | 93% | 0% |
| Bishop Auckland 2.1 mi | B− | 2.7 | 85% | 0% |
| School Aycliffe 2.2 mi | D− | 0.0 | 0% | 0% |
| Coundon and Leeholme 2.4 mi | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Heighington 2.6 mi | D | 2.6 | 64% | 0% |
| Newton Aycliffe 2.7 mi | B | 2.1 | 94% | 0% |
| West Auckland 3.2 mi | C− | 1.1 | 91% | 0% |
Newton Aycliffe, 2.7 miles away, grades B, the best next door: 94% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Shildon
What is the biggest park in Shildon?
Shildon Recreation Ground, 13 ha (31 acres), with 2 km of path. Shildon Scout Memorial Field (2.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Shildon near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 15 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the North Pennines National Landscape, 9.0 mi away.
What are the best walks near Shildon?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Locomotion & Historic Shildon. Shildon Recreation Ground alone has 2 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Shildon?
Shippersea Bay, 17 mi from the edge of the town, then Hawthorn Hive (17 mi). Shildon itself is inland.
How many people in Shildon live near a park?
93% 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 Shildon?
May, June and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Shildon good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 67% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 65% (2.8 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 Shildon’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Shildon’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.