Cranbrook’s biggest
Cranbrook Country Park
Park or garden
25 ha (62 acres)6.1 km of path
1 h 20 minto walk all 6.1 km of path
35 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Cranbrook
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Lee Vilenski · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Cranbrook · parks, paths & countryside
Cranbrook has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Cranbrook add up to 6.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The East Devon National Landscape begins 2.3 mi from the town’s edge. Footpaths add up to 41 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.9 for every square kilometre. Cranbrook grades B+ for the outdoors: #17 of 47 in Devon. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
6.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
87%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
41 km
1.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: East Devon National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Cranbrook?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam6.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 90% of UK towns.Countryside close byThe East Devon National Landscape starts 2.3 mi south-east.
Cranbrook’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by the East Devon National Landscape close by.
Outdoors grade
Cranbrook grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Cranbrook, 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 68% of UK towns#17 of 47 in Devon · 21st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space6.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
91out of
100
100
A park within a walk87%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
61out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape1%of the land within 5 km
64out of
100
100
Footpaths1.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
28out 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
Cranbrook is 21st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,800 to 5,100 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
Cranbrook1.9
Towns its size2.6
Devon towns1.8
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Cranbrook6.4
Towns its size2.2
Devon towns1.9
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Cranbrook87%
Towns its size84%
Devon towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Cranbrook stands out most for park space per resident: only 9 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 47 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rye East Sussex | A+ | 3.5 | 89% | 3.5 | 46% |
| 2 | Pill Somerset | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 4 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 5 | Burry Port Dyfed | A+ | 11.8 | 75% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 8 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 9 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 10 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 11 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 12 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 14 | Fordingbridge Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 2 | 56% |
| 15 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 16 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 18 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 20 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 21 | Cranbrook Devon | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1.9 | 1% |
| 22 | Hildenborough Kent | B+ | 6.5 | 40% | 2.8 | 46% |
| 23 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 24 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 25 | Aspull Greater Manchester | B | 7.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 27 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Market Rasen Lincolnshire | B | 2.6 | 94% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 29 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Headley Down and Headley Hampshire | B | 2.1 | 55% | 3.4 | 44% |
| 31 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 32 | Wotton-under-Edge Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 5.4 | 60% |
| 33 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 34 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 35 | Cross Hills North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3 | 0% |
| 36 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Moulton Northamptonshire | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 43% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 39 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Billinge Merseyside | C | 0.9 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 42 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 44 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Bungay Suffolk | C | 0.5 | 78% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 46 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 48 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 51 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Gresford Clwyd | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 54 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Lepton West Yorkshire | D− | 0.9 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Cranbrook’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 Cranbrook
The biggest is Cranbrook Country Park, 25 ha (62 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 30 ha (75 acres) and 7 km of path
Parks & gardens 25 haPlaying fields 3.9 haPlay spaces 1.0 ha
The two biggest, Cranbrook Country Park and Ingrams Sports Pitches, are 95% of the named green space and carry 6 km of path between them.
Ingrams Sports Pitches
Playing field
3.9 ha (10 acres)
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.3 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Cranbrook Play Park
Play space
1.0 ha (2 acres)0.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cranbrook
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Hayes Square
Park or garden
0.4 ha (1 acres)0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Cranbrook
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Cranbrook 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 (87%)Further (13%)
Cranbrook87%
Towns its size84%
Devon towns84%
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; 12 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 411 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The East Devon National Landscape is 2.3 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
National Landscape
East Devon
2.3 mi south-east269 km²since 19631% of the land within 5 km
Official site1% of the land within 5 km of Cranbrook is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. Dartmoor National Park covers 956 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Cranbrook
41 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Cranbrook and the kilometre around it, 1.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Exeter to Honiton Way5.4 km
Rockbeare Circular3.9 km
The regional route here is the Exeter to Honiton 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 Cranbrook: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 88 | 71 | 68 | 64 | 55 | 61 | 55 | 70 | 65 | 98 | 105 | 98 |
July is the driest month (55 mm) and the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 105 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 37 nights a year. The climate in Cranbrook →
Things to do
12 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
Cranbrook is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Jacobs Ladder Beach7.6 mi from Cranbrook’s edge
DirectionsPirate Cove7.6 mi from Cranbrook’s edge
DirectionsExmouth Beach7.7 mi from Cranbrook’s edge
DirectionsBudleigh Salterton7.8 mi from Cranbrook’s edge
DirectionsRed Rock Beach9.9 mi from Cranbrook’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
Nature reserves 1
Cranbrook Country Park9.2 ha · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 3
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 12
Southbrook Meadow Play Areain town
DirectionsNorthwood Acres Play Park0.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park 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.
BroadclystClyst HonitonWest ClystWhimpleClyst St MaryWest HillCranbrook
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranbrook | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1% |
| Broadclyst 1.7 mi | D | 1.4 | 78% | 0% |
| Clyst Honiton 2.1 mi | B+ | 8.0 | 83% | 0% |
| West Clyst 2.3 mi | C− | 0.6 | 59% | 0% |
| Whimple 2.6 mi | C+ | 5.2 | 70% | 1% |
| Clyst St Mary 3.3 mi | B | 5.8 | 100% | 0% |
| West Hill 4.0 mi | D | 0.0 | 0% | 27% |
Cranbrook grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Cranbrook
What is the biggest park in Cranbrook?
Cranbrook Country Park, 25 ha (62 acres), with 6.1 km of path. Ingrams Sports Pitches (3.9 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Cranbrook near a National Park?
Yes. Dartmoor National Park begins 10 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 956 km² and has been a National Park since 1951. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the East Devon National Landscape, 2.3 mi away.
What are the best walks near Cranbrook?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Exeter to Honiton Way and Rockbeare Circular. Cranbrook Country Park alone has 6.1 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Cranbrook?
Jacobs Ladder Beach, 7.6 mi from the edge of the town, then Pirate Cove (7.6 mi). Cranbrook itself is inland.
How many people in Cranbrook live near a park?
87% 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 Cranbrook?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Cranbrook good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 28% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 91% (6.4 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 Cranbrook’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Cranbrook’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.