Buckfastleigh’s biggest
Duckspond Playing Field
Playing field
2.7 ha (7 acres)
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Buckfastleigh
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Buckfastleigh · parks, paths & countryside
Buckfastleigh is inside Dartmoor National Park
Footpaths add up to 17 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.3 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Buckfastleigh add up to 2.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Buckfastleigh grades B+ for the outdoors: #21 of 47 in Devon. 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
89%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
17 km
1.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
53%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Dartmoor National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Buckfastleigh?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside Dartmoor National ParkBuckfastleigh sits inside it: 956 km² of protected landscape.Few mapped footpaths1.3 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Buckfastleigh’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Buckfastleigh grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Buckfastleigh, 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 65% of UK towns#21 of 47 in Devon · 12th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
68out of
100
100
A park within a walk89%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
65out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape53%of the land within 5 km
92out of
100
100
Footpaths1.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
13out 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
Buckfastleigh is 12th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,600 to 2,800 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
Buckfastleigh1.3
Towns its size2.3
Devon towns1.8
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Buckfastleigh2.9
Towns its size1.7
Devon towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Buckfastleigh89%
Towns its size78%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Buckfastleigh stands out most for park space per resident: only 13 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 49 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lindford Hampshire | A+ | 17.1 | 100% | 4.7 | 42% |
| 2 | Settle North Yorkshire | A+ | 6.4 | 100% | 3.6 | 73% |
| 3 | Hadston Northumberland | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 2 | 1% |
| 4 | Yorkley and Whitecroft Gloucestershire | A | 3.3 | 74% | 6.4 | 1% |
| 5 | Penmaenmawr Clwyd | A | 1.7 | 78% | 3.4 | 39% |
| 6 | Martlesham Heath Suffolk | A− | 3.5 | 68% | 4.6 | 25% |
| 7 | Jacksdale and Westwood Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.7 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Newington Kent | A− | 2.3 | 78% | 2.3 | 21% |
| 9 | Combe Martin Devon | A− | 1.8 | 88% | 1.5 | 37% |
| 10 | Newhey Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Perranporth Cornwall | B+ | 1.3 | 75% | 3.4 | 4% |
| 12 | Buckfastleigh Devon | B+ | 2.9 | 89% | 1.3 | 53% |
| 13 | Broadway Worcestershire | B | 2 | 65% | 3.6 | 56% |
| 14 | Farington Moss Lancashire | B | 5.9 | 93% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Boverton South Glamorgan | B | 4.3 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 16 | Ormesby St Margaret Norfolk | B | 2.1 | 79% | 0.8 | 21% |
| 17 | Sutton-in-Craven North Yorkshire | B | 1.8 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 18 | Mancetter and Witherley Warwickshire | B− | 3.1 | 88% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Alltwen West Glamorgan | B− | 4.2 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Cliffe Woods Kent | B− | 1.7 | 62% | 2.5 | 1% |
| 21 | Denby Dale West Yorkshire | B− | 0.7 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 22 | Pucklechurch Gloucestershire | C+ | 1.2 | 64% | 4.2 | 20% |
| 23 | Pimperne Dorset | C+ | 1.9 | 72% | 1.9 | 89% |
| 24 | Shevington Moor Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.1 | 90% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Great Totham Essex | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Ashington West Sussex | C+ | 1.3 | 86% | 2.3 | 21% |
| 27 | Hurworth-on-Tees County Durham | C+ | 4.5 | 93% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Hambrook and Nutbourne West Sussex | C+ | 1.2 | 28% | 2 | 69% |
| 29 | Snettisham Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 73% | 1.3 | 32% |
| 30 | Rhostyllen Clwyd | C+ | 1.1 | 68% | 3.7 | 10% |
| 31 | Bosham West Sussex | C+ | 1.2 | 48% | 1.4 | 58% |
| 32 | Lostock Gralam Cheshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 33 | Catterick North Yorkshire | C | 3.6 | 89% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 34 | Badsey Worcestershire | C | 2.8 | 54% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 35 | Asfordby Leicestershire | C | 4 | 57% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Woolton Hill and Highclere Hampshire | C | 1.2 | 60% | 2.3 | 70% |
| 37 | Kidwelly Dyfed | C | 2.8 | 56% | 1 | 0% |
| 38 | Buckden Cambridgeshire | C | 2.9 | 85% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Shelley West Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 81% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Wittering Cambridgeshire | C− | 3.1 | 83% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Swavesey Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.8 | 80% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 42 | South Wonston Hampshire | C− | 1.6 | 42% | 2.6 | 7% |
| 43 | Wolston Warwickshire | C− | 1.6 | 89% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Cheswick Green West Midlands | C− | 1 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Codicote Hertfordshire | C− | 0.4 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Newick East Sussex | C− | 1.7 | 35% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 47 | Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen West Glamorgan | C− | 1.1 | 80% | 0.8 | 26% |
| 48 | Tarvin Cheshire | C− | 1.2 | 90% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | West Clyst Devon | C− | 0.6 | 59% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Clifton Bedfordshire | C− | 1.7 | 64% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Kirkbymoorside North Yorkshire | C− | 0.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 37% |
| 52 | Christleton and Waverton Cheshire | D | 2.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Willington Derbyshire | D | 1.8 | 67% | 2 | 0% |
| 54 | Brierley South Yorkshire | D | 0.7 | 82% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Harbury Warwickshire | D | 1.6 | 73% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Larkhill Wiltshire | D | 1.1 | 68% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Ambrosden Oxfordshire | D | 1 | 78% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Berinsfield Oxfordshire | D | 0.1 | 0% | 2.1 | 11% |
| 59 | Repton Derbyshire | D | 0.8 | 36% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 60 | St Martins Shropshire | D | 0.6 | 59% | 0.8 | 2% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Buckfastleigh’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 Buckfastleigh
The biggest is Duckspond Playing Field, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Victoria Park
Playing field
0.4 ha (1 acres)
Centralin the middle of Buckfastleigh
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Buckfastleigh 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 (89%)Further (11%)
Buckfastleigh89%
Towns its size78%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 9 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 302 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Buckfastleigh
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 Park
Dartmoor
Buckfastleigh is inside it956 km²since 195153% of the land within 5 km
Official site53% of the land within 5 km of Buckfastleigh is National Park or National Landscape, more than 92% of UK towns. Dartmoor National Park covers 956 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
3 waymarked walks pass through or near Buckfastleigh
17 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Buckfastleigh and the kilometre around it, 1.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Regional
Dartmoor Way8.4 km
Buckfastleigh to Totnes Trail4.0 km
Abbot's Way3.6 km
3 regional routes pass through, including the Dartmoor Way, Buckfastleigh to Totnes Trail and Abbot's Way.
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 Buckfastleigh: 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 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 204 | 184 | 153 | 117 | 103 | 106 | 105 | 127 | 126 | 212 | 221 | 257 |
May is the driest month (103 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 257 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 28 nights a year. The climate in Buckfastleigh →
Things to do
9 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
Buckfastleigh is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Preston Sands9.3 mi from Buckfastleigh’s edge
DirectionsPaignton Beach9.3 mi from Buckfastleigh’s edge
DirectionsHollicombe Beach9.4 mi from Buckfastleigh’s edge
DirectionsGoodrington Sands (North)9.6 mi from Buckfastleigh’s edge
DirectionsFairy Cove9.6 mi from Buckfastleigh’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
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 9
Ride On Tractors1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 8 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Beara Farm Campsite0.7 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.
AshburtonSouth BrentTotnesDenburyIpplepenColdeastBuckfastleigh
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Buckfastleigh grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Buckfastleigh
What is the biggest park in Buckfastleigh?
Duckspond Playing Field, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Victoria Park (0.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Buckfastleigh?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Dartmoor Way, Buckfastleigh to Totnes Trail and Abbot's Way.
What is the nearest beach to Buckfastleigh?
Preston Sands, 9.3 mi from the edge of the town, then Paignton Beach (9.3 mi). Buckfastleigh itself is inland.
How many people in Buckfastleigh live near a park?
89% 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 Buckfastleigh?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Buckfastleigh good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 13% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 68% (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 Buckfastleigh’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Buckfastleigh’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.