Bickington’s biggest
Mead Park Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
0.4 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Bickington · parks, paths & countryside
Bickington is on the coast, on the South West Coast Path
The sea makes up 7% of the area within 5 km. The North Devon National Landscape begins 3.4 mi from the village’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Bickington add up to 1.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Bickington grades B for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
20 km
2.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
North Devon starts 3.4 mi out, past the 5 km
The sea
7%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Bickington?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast7% of the area within 5 km is sea; 6 beaches mapped.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byThe North Devon National Landscape starts 3.4 mi west.Less park per person1.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Bickington’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by parks close to every home. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Bickington grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Bickington, 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 62% of UK towns18th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space1.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
24out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · North Devon begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
47out of
100
100
The sea7%of the area within 5 km
85out 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
Bickington is 18th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,000 to 2,200 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
Bickington2.6
Villages its size2.6
Devon towns1.8
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Bickington1.4
Villages its size2.1
Devon towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Bickington100%
Villages its size70%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Bickington stands out most for homes near a park: none of the other 59 has more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 37 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mullion Cornwall | A+ | 3.7 | 100% | 2.5 | 64% |
| 2 | Hay-on-Wye Powys | A+ | 9.3 | 100% | 3.8 | 21% |
| 3 | Wye Kent | A+ | 4.7 | 100% | 3.1 | 71% |
| 4 | Crickhowell Powys | A+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 5 | Charlton Hampshire | A+ | 5.6 | 87% | 5.2 | 19% |
| 6 | Chigwell Row Essex | A | 30.3 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 7 | Springwell Tyne and Wear | A | 5 | 100% | 6.7 | 0% |
| 8 | Eton Wick Berkshire | A | 17.4 | 100% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 9 | Carlton South Yorkshire | A | 23.1 | 87% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 10 | Marldon Devon | A− | 4.1 | 70% | 2.7 | 3% |
| 11 | Chipping Campden Gloucestershire | A− | 2.1 | 100% | 2 | 74% |
| 12 | Church Warsop Nottinghamshire | B+ | 4.1 | 85% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Holbrook Suffolk | B+ | 1.1 | 74% | 2.7 | 52% |
| 14 | Carnon Downs and Devoran Cornwall | B+ | 0.3 | 87% | 2.5 | 36% |
| 15 | Bermuda Warwickshire | B | 4.7 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 16 | Yarnfield Staffordshire | B | 6.6 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Alveston Gloucestershire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Bickington Devon | B | 1.4 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 19 | Ellington Northumberland | B | 2.5 | 86% | 2 | 0% |
| 20 | East Peckham Kent | B− | 14.5 | 66% | 2 | 1% |
| 21 | Bishop's Tachbrook Warwickshire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 22 | Hutton Lancashire | B− | 6.6 | 90% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 23 | Wardle Greater Manchester | B− | 1 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 24 | Westoning Bedfordshire | B− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.9 | 10% |
| 25 | Aspley Guise Bedfordshire | B− | 2.2 | 69% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Brantham Suffolk | C+ | 1 | 27% | 2.6 | 42% |
| 27 | Gregson Lane Lancashire | C+ | 1.7 | 86% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Pembrey Dyfed | C+ | 0.3 | 48% | 2.6 | 11% |
| 29 | Luddenden Foot West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.2 | 68% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 30 | Hixon Staffordshire | C+ | 0.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 11% |
| 31 | Market Bosworth Leicestershire | C | 10.9 | 25% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Galgate Lancashire | C | 1.1 | 58% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 33 | Bredon Worcestershire | C | 2.1 | 66% | 1.6 | 25% |
| 34 | Linton Derbyshire | C | 1.8 | 76% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Benllech Gwynedd | C | 0.1 | 17% | 1.8 | 27% |
| 36 | Maesycwmmer Gwent | C− | 1.9 | 73% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Micklefield West Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 48% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 38 | Rudgwick West Sussex | C− | 2.5 | 16% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Seamer (Scarborough) North Yorkshire | C− | 2.2 | 58% | 1 | 18% |
| 40 | Crich Derbyshire | C− | 0.6 | 69% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Sutton Bonington Nottinghamshire | C− | 2.7 | 28% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Stainburn Cumbria | C− | 0.1 | 72% | 2 | 0% |
| 43 | Radley Oxfordshire | C− | 2.1 | 36% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Underwood Gwent | C− | 1.9 | 87% | 1 | 0% |
| 45 | Winwick Cheshire | C− | 3.2 | 48% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 46 | Ilchester Somerset | C− | 3.5 | 40% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Scholar Green Cheshire | C− | 0.7 | 65% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Stone Buckinghamshire | D | 2.2 | 57% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 49 | Bardney Lincolnshire | D | 4.1 | 49% | 1 | 0% |
| 50 | Stretham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 60% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Merriott Somerset | D | 1.1 | 39% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Hersden Kent | D | 2 | 63% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Meden Vale Nottinghamshire | D | 0.3 | 58% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Thurlby Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 54% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Preston East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 52% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Great Eccleston Lancashire | D | 1.2 | 72% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 57 | West Hill Devon | D | 0 | 0% | 1.2 | 27% |
| 58 | Wymott Lancashire | D− | 0.3 | 10% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Keelby Lincolnshire | D− | 1 | 71% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 60 | Wythall Worcestershire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 2 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Bickington’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 Bickington
The biggest is Mead Park Play Area, 0.0 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Taw View
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Bickington
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
Everyone in Bickington lives 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Bickington100%
Villages its size70%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 132 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North Devon National Landscape is 3.4 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
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Bickington scores 0% on it even though the North Devon National Landscape is 3.4 mi away. Exmoor National Park covers 693 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Bickington is on the South West Coast Path
20 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Bickington and the kilometre around it, 2.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalRegionalLocal
South West Coast Path (Section 6: Braunton to Instow)8.9 km
Barnstaple Heritage Trail0.7 km
Macmillan Way West0.5 km
The South West Coast Path, a national route, passes Bickington. The regional route here is the Macmillan Way West.
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 Bickington: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 109 | 81 | 70 | 61 | 61 | 72 | 80 | 87 | 78 | 121 | 121 | 123 |
May is the driest month (61 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 123 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 25 nights a year. The climate in Bickington →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Bickington
7% of the area within 5 km of Bickington is sea. 6 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Basett's Ridge1.1 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
16 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
Playgrounds 16
Plus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Tarka Holiday Park1.1 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.
FremingtonBarnstapleChivenor and WraftonBrauntonLandkeyAppledoreBickington
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bickington | B | 1.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Fremington 1.7 mi | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 10% |
| Barnstaple 1.8 mi | C | 1.6 | 92% | 0% |
| Chivenor and Wrafton 2.4 mi | C− | 0.6 | 0% | 17% |
| Braunton 3.8 mi | B | 1.6 | 78% | 24% |
| Landkey 4.1 mi | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Appledore 4.6 mi | B+ | 1.2 | 100% | 16% |
Appledore, 4.6 miles away, grades B+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Bickington
What is the biggest park in Bickington?
Mead Park Play Area, 0.0 ha (0 acres). Taw View (0.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Bickington near a National Park?
Yes. Exmoor National Park begins 8.5 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 693 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the North Devon National Landscape, 3.4 mi away.
What are the best walks near Bickington?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the South West Coast Path (Section 6: Braunton to Instow), Barnstaple Heritage Trail and Macmillan Way West.
How many people in Bickington live near a park?
100% 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 Bickington?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Bickington good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 47% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 24% (1.4 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 Bickington’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Bickington’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.