Roydon’s biggest
Didgemere Common
Park or garden
1.8 ha (4 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Peter S · CC BY-SA 2.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Roydon · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Roydon lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
48 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 4.9 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Roydon add up to 3.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Roydon grades A for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
48 km
4.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Chilterns National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Roydon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.A village of footpaths4.9 km of path per km², more than 92% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Room to roam3.5 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 76% of UK towns.
Roydon’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Roydon grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Roydon, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 88% of UK towns10th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space3.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
77out 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 · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths4.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
92out 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.
Villages its size
Roydon is 10th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,500 to 1,700 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
Roydon4.9
Villages its size2.7
Essex towns2.7
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Roydon3.5
Villages its size2.2
Essex towns2.4
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Roydon100%
Villages its size80%
Essex towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Roydon stands out most for path per km²: only 4 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanhope County Durham | A+ | 7.7 | 100% | 3.5 | 86% |
| 2 | Melton Suffolk | A+ | 6.5 | 100% | 4.1 | 33% |
| 3 | Salcombe Devon | A+ | 2 | 100% | 3.3 | 65% |
| 4 | Finberry Kent | A+ | 4 | 100% | 5.1 | 2% |
| 5 | Dobcross Greater Manchester | A+ | 2.8 | 100% | 4.8 | 22% |
| 6 | Fairlight East Sussex | A+ | 39.6 | 50% | 3.3 | 42% |
| 7 | Crockenhill Kent | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 8 | Wood Street Village Surrey | A+ | 25.7 | 81% | 4.9 | 18% |
| 9 | Ducklington Oxfordshire | A | 10.1 | 79% | 4.8 | 4% |
| 10 | Roydon Essex | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Middle Winterslow Wiltshire | A | 7 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 12 | St Athan South Glamorgan | A | 2.2 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Sabden Lancashire | A− | 0.8 | 100% | 5 | 38% |
| 14 | Oakenshaw West Yorkshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 15 | West Wellow Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 82% | 2.7 | 51% |
| 16 | Kewstoke Somerset | A− | 1.3 | 74% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 17 | Sonning Berkshire | A− | 11.1 | 80% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 18 | Thorpe-le-Soken Essex | A− | 4.2 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 19 | East Dean and Friston East Sussex | B+ | 1.2 | 18% | 4.6 | 58% |
| 20 | Stithians Cornwall | B+ | 3.2 | 80% | 3.4 | 3% |
| 21 | King's Cliffe Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 22 | Seal Kent | B+ | 3.3 | 78% | 2.1 | 77% |
| 23 | Littlebourne Kent | B+ | 1.6 | 100% | 3 | 9% |
| 24 | Ambergate Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Farcet Cambridgeshire | B+ | 13.8 | 77% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 26 | Mount Hawke Cornwall | B | 1.4 | 85% | 2 | 6% |
| 27 | Fence Lancashire | B | 1.3 | 62% | 6.2 | 32% |
| 28 | Wick Gloucestershire | B− | 1.8 | 56% | 3.6 | 39% |
| 29 | Mundford Norfolk | B− | 3.1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Gotham Nottinghamshire | B− | 3.9 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 31 | South Witham Lincolnshire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 32 | High Harrington Cumbria | C+ | 0.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 33 | Evenwood County Durham | C+ | 3.4 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 34 | Everton Hampshire | C+ | 1.3 | 58% | 1.5 | 37% |
| 35 | Norton (Norton Juxta Kempsey) Worcestershire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 36 | Bacton and Cotton Suffolk | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Rufford Lancashire | C | 2.8 | 70% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Four Lanes Cornwall | C | 0.6 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Blisworth Northamptonshire | C | 2.2 | 81% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Buxted East Sussex | C | 1.1 | 63% | 2.4 | 52% |
| 41 | Stock Essex | C | 2.2 | 62% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 42 | Harden West Yorkshire | C | 1.8 | 40% | 5 | 0% |
| 43 | Scawby Lincolnshire | C− | 25.7 | 68% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Higher Walton Lancashire | C− | 2.2 | 61% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Arksey South Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 88% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Rawcliffe East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 47 | Glapwell Derbyshire | C− | 2.2 | 60% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Horsmonden Kent | C− | 0.5 | 79% | 0.9 | 50% |
| 49 | Baston Lincolnshire | C− | 2.3 | 78% | 1 | 0% |
| 50 | Ainsworth Greater Manchester | D | 0.4 | 64% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Whittlesford Cambridgeshire | D | 2.3 | 57% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Henstridge Somerset | D | 1.8 | 47% | 2 | 0% |
| 53 | Moulton Lincolnshire | D | 1.9 | 75% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 54 | St Erme and Trispen Cornwall | D | 0.3 | 69% | 1.2 | 2% |
| 55 | Findern Derbyshire | D | 1.8 | 40% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Wood End (North Warwickshire) Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 74% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Camblesforth North Yorkshire | D | 0.3 | 81% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Edgmond Shropshire | D− | 1.7 | 33% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Walpole St Peter and Walpole St Andrew Norfolk | D− | 1.7 | 52% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 60 | School Aycliffe County Durham | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Roydon’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 Roydon
The biggest is Didgemere Common, 1.8 ha (4 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Green
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Roydon
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Roydon’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 (100%)Further (0%)
Roydon100%
Villages its size80%
Essex towns84%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 4 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 397 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Chilterns National Landscape is 19 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
Footpaths & waymarked walks
9 waymarked walks pass through or near Roydon
48 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Roydon and the kilometre around it, 4.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
RegionalLocalOther waymarked
Stort Valley Way9.3 km
Three Forests Way8.6 km
London to Walsingham - stage 027.0 km
Harcamlow Way6.3 km
Parndon Trail3.2 km
Greenwich Meridian Trail2.3 km
Lea Valley Walk2.3 km
Hertfordshire Way0.5 km
New River Path0.3 km
Close to home, the London to Walsingham - stage 02 has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the village. 6 regional routes pass through, including the Three Forests Way, Harcamlow Way, Greenwich Meridian Trail and Lea Valley Walk.
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 Roydon: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.7 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 45 | 37 | 40 | 46 | 50 | 49 | 59 | 49 | 69 | 66 | 58 |
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 69 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Roydon →
The coast
Beaches near Roydon
0% of the area within 5 km of Roydon is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 3 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Stort Beach2.3 mi from town
DirectionsSea: 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
2 viewpoints and 4 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
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Rye Meads26 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Grow Walkies0.2 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.
Stanstead AbbottsHoddesdonLower NazeingHarlowGreat AmwellHertford HeathRoydon
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roydon | A | 3.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Stanstead Abbotts 2.0 mi | B+ | 2.5 | 92% | 0% |
| Hoddesdon 2.4 mi | A− | 6.5 | 82% | 0% |
| Lower Nazeing 2.5 mi | B− | 23.8 | 58% | 0% |
| Harlow 3.0 mi | A | 3.7 | 99% | 0% |
| Great Amwell 3.2 mi | B− | 5.7 | 0% | 0% |
| Hertford Heath 3.7 mi | B+ | 1.6 | 100% | 0% |
Roydon grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. Lower Nazeing has at least twice Roydon’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Roydon
What is the biggest park in Roydon?
Didgemere Common, 1.8 ha (4 acres), with 0.8 km of path. The Green (0.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Roydon near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Chilterns National Landscape, 19 mi north-west of the village’s edge. It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Roydon?
9 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Stort Valley Way, Three Forests Way and London to Walsingham - stage 02.
How many people in Roydon 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 Roydon?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Roydon good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 92% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 77% (3.5 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 Roydon’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Roydon’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.