Priest's House · Photo: Robin Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and walks in Doddinghurst
60% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Doddinghurst add up to 1.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 31 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.4 for every square kilometre. Doddinghurst grades D for the outdoors: #79 of 81 in Essex. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Doddinghurst grades D for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Doddinghurst, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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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.
Doddinghurst is 54th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,900 to 4,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Doddinghurst falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 47 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hextable Kent | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 5.1 | 9% |
| 2 | Darley Dale Derbyshire | A+ | 3.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 51% |
| 3 | Southbourne West Sussex | A | 1.3 | 92% | 3.3 | 64% |
| 4 | Pitstone Buckinghamshire | A | 1.6 | 100% | 4.2 | 40% |
| 5 | Cranbrook Kent | A | 5.8 | 82% | 2.9 | 65% |
| 6 | Tenby Dyfed | A | 2.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 21% |
| 7 | Chickerell Dorset | A | 1.5 | 88% | 3 | 27% |
| 8 | Bisley Surrey | A | 8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Milton Cambridgeshire | A | 10.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 10 | Holt Norfolk | A | 8.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 40% |
| 11 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | A | 4.6 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 12 | Bowerhill Wiltshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Prestbury Gloucestershire | A− | 1.6 | 80% | 5.3 | 51% |
| 14 | Bearwood Dorset | B+ | 2.5 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Lofthouse and Robin Hood West Yorkshire | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Carbis Bay Cornwall | B+ | 0.5 | 88% | 2.8 | 20% |
| 17 | Cheddleton Staffordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 18 | Bramley and Wonersh Surrey | B+ | 1.7 | 77% | 3.5 | 59% |
| 19 | Tangmere West Sussex | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 20 | Grange-over-Sands Cumbria | B | 1.5 | 46% | 2.6 | 40% |
| 21 | Calverley West Yorkshire | B | 1.5 | 92% | 6 | 0% |
| 22 | Brampton Cumbria | B | 2 | 92% | 2.2 | 9% |
| 23 | Saltford Somerset | B | 1.6 | 75% | 3.6 | 24% |
| 24 | Bourton-on-the-Water Gloucestershire | B | 0.9 | 79% | 3.3 | 100% |
| 25 | Little Paxton Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.8 | 87% | 3 | 0% |
| 26 | Tumble Dyfed | B− | 19.5 | 93% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Stoney Stanton Leicestershire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Topsham Devon | B− | 1.9 | 76% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Martock Somerset | B− | 2.9 | 85% | 3 | 0% |
| 30 | Easington Lane Tyne and Wear | B− | 0.9 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 31 | South Cerney Gloucestershire | B− | 2.5 | 77% | 2.4 | 7% |
| 32 | Lower Stondon Bedfordshire | B− | 2.7 | 73% | 2.2 | 5% |
| 33 | Ystradgynlais Powys | C+ | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 34 | Send Surrey | C+ | 2.6 | 28% | 3.3 | 5% |
| 35 | Old Tupton Derbyshire | C+ | 2.3 | 73% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 36 | Thorpe Hesley South Yorkshire | C+ | 1.8 | 80% | 4 | 0% |
| 37 | Heacham Norfolk | C+ | 1.5 | 53% | 1.1 | 29% |
| 38 | Holmfield West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.8 | 74% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Knebworth Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 81% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire | C | 3.7 | 43% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Kirkburton West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 86% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 42 | Warton (Fylde) Lancashire | C | 1.3 | 92% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 43 | South Darenth and Sutton at Hone Kent | C | 1.8 | 43% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 44 | Brayton North Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Langley Park County Durham | C | 0.8 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Deanshanger Northamptonshire | C | 1.5 | 93% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Oaklands Hertfordshire | C | 2 | 7% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 48 | Wynyard County Durham | C | 10.7 | 64% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Beck Row Suffolk | C | 5.3 | 76% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Great Glen Leicestershire | C | 1.4 | 91% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Brookmans Park Hertfordshire | C− | 2.5 | 43% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Swanland East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 53 | Crowle Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 91% | 1 | 0% |
| 54 | Doddinghurst Essex | D | 1.6 | 60% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Middleton Cheney Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 70% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 56 | North Ferriby East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 33% | 1 | 0% |
| 57 | Gnosall Staffordshire | D | 1.2 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Cricklade Wiltshire | D | 0.3 | 9% | 3 | 0% |
| 59 | Llantrisant Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Little Eriswell Suffolk | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.5 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Doddinghurst’s built-up area.
6 in 10 Doddinghurst 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).
About 1,600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 4 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,017 residents.
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 17 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.
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Doddinghurst
31 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Doddinghurst and the kilometre around it, 2.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
The regional route here is the St Peter's Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
The best walking months in Doddinghurst: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 44 | 37 | 41 | 47 | 51 | 48 | 55 | 51 | 68 | 65 | 60 |
March is the driest month (37 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 68 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 47 nights a year. The climate in Doddinghurst →
4 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
Doddinghurst is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
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
Playgrounds 4
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doddinghurst | D | 1.6 | 60% | 0% |
| Kelvedon Hatch 1.0 mi | B− | 7.3 | 77% | 0% |
| Blackmore 1.8 mi | C+ | 3.6 | 75% | 0% |
| Brentwood 3.2 mi | B− | 3.9 | 69% | 0% |
| Chipping Ongar 3.3 mi | C+ | 2.5 | 83% | 0% |
| Ingatestone 3.3 mi | C− | 3.2 | 56% | 0% |
| Shelley 4.0 mi | C+ | 0.7 | 100% | 0% |
Brentwood, 3.2 miles away, grades B−, the best next door: 69% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Kelvedon Hatch, Blackmore and Brentwood have at least twice Doddinghurst’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Doddinghurst
Is Doddinghurst near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 17 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Doddinghurst?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the St Peter's Way.
What is the nearest beach to Doddinghurst?
Stort Beach, 11 mi from the edge of the town, then Northfleet Beach (14 mi). Doddinghurst itself is inland.
How many people in Doddinghurst live near a park?
60% 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 Doddinghurst?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Doddinghurst good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 42% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 32% (1.6 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 Doddinghurst’s overall grade.
Where Doddinghurst’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.