Parsonage Farmhouse · Photo: Roger Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and walks in Stebbing
20 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 2.0 for every square kilometre. 70% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Stebbing add up to 2.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Stebbing grades C− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Stebbing grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Stebbing, 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.
Stebbing is 45th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,000 to 1,100 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Stebbing falls furthest behind on path per km², where 35 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giggleswick North Yorkshire | A+ | 14.2 | 100% | 4.1 | 75% |
| 2 | Lizard Cornwall | A+ | 2.3 | 100% | 3.3 | 30% |
| 3 | Lympne Kent | A+ | 4 | 100% | 2.7 | 34% |
| 4 | Uplyme Devon | A+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3 | 61% |
| 5 | Frampton on Severn Gloucestershire | A+ | 11 | 100% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 6 | Bromham Wiltshire | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 13% |
| 7 | Blagdon Somerset | A | 3.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 62% |
| 8 | Colney Heath Hertfordshire | A | 8.7 | 100% | 7.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Alston Cumbria | A | 5.8 | 100% | 2.1 | 100% |
| 10 | Newnham Gloucestershire | A | 4.2 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 11 | Heather Leicestershire | A | 16.9 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 12 | Blockley Gloucestershire | A | 2.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 86% |
| 13 | Silverdale Lancashire | A | 2.3 | 46% | 3.9 | 76% |
| 14 | North Curry Somerset | A | 6.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 15 | Furness Vale Derbyshire | A− | 2 | 78% | 5 | 36% |
| 16 | Old Langho Lancashire | A− | 7.6 | 73% | 2.9 | 20% |
| 17 | Chedgrave Norfolk | A− | 3 | 100% | 1.7 | 26% |
| 18 | Plumpton Green East Sussex | A− | 4.6 | 54% | 3.6 | 37% |
| 19 | Cwmgwrach West Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 100% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 20 | Calver Derbyshire | B+ | 2.2 | 44% | 4.8 | 99% |
| 21 | Hyde Heath Buckinghamshire | B+ | 5.4 | 68% | 2.1 | 81% |
| 22 | Crowlas Cornwall | B+ | 3.3 | 73% | 1.1 | 23% |
| 23 | Blackfordby Leicestershire | B+ | 3.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 24 | Five Ash Down East Sussex | B+ | 2.8 | 0% | 4.1 | 43% |
| 25 | Avening Gloucestershire | B | 0.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 97% |
| 26 | Flamstead Hertfordshire | B | 2.1 | 82% | 2.7 | 33% |
| 27 | Sharnford Leicestershire | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Tackley Oxfordshire | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Ettington Warwickshire | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Coopersale Essex | B− | 1.1 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Carleton-in-Craven North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.4 | 100% | 2.3 | 10% |
| 32 | Chillington Devon | C+ | 0.6 | 78% | 1.3 | 55% |
| 33 | Draycott Somerset | C+ | 2.1 | 68% | 2.1 | 46% |
| 34 | Sutterton Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 35 | Upper Basildon Berkshire | C+ | 2.3 | 0% | 2 | 97% |
| 36 | Weston Staffordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 1 | 4% |
| 37 | Simister Greater Manchester | C | 16.6 | 0% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Little Melton Norfolk | C | 4.2 | 72% | 2 | 0% |
| 39 | Hilton Cambridgeshire | C | 6.8 | 70% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Huby (Hambleton) North Yorkshire | C | 2.4 | 75% | 1.5 | 2% |
| 41 | Elswick Lancashire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Freethorpe Norfolk | C− | 2.3 | 26% | 0.7 | 61% |
| 43 | Kimbolton Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.4 | 50% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Ansley Warwickshire | C− | 1.8 | 64% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Stebbing Essex | C− | 2.4 | 70% | 2 | 0% |
| 46 | Tolleshunt Knights Essex | C− | 3.4 | 41% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Gorefield Cambridgeshire | D | 2.9 | 67% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Skidby East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 2.8 | 56% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Snitterfield Warwickshire | D | 2.4 | 63% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Crundale Dyfed | D | 1.5 | 57% | 0.5 | 5% |
| 51 | Napton on the Hill Warwickshire | D | 0.4 | 69% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Aberporth Dyfed | D | 0.6 | 38% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Wisbech St Mary Cambridgeshire | D | 1.8 | 69% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Horsham St Faith Norfolk | D | 0.9 | 52% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Henham Essex | D | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% |
| 56 | Hockliffe Bedfordshire | D− | 1.2 | 49% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 57 | South Hykeham Lincolnshire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Pencader Dyfed | D− | 1.2 | 30% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Netheravon Wiltshire | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Leeming Bar North Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 0% | 0.9 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Stebbing’s built-up area.
7 in 10 Stebbing 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 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
The Dedham Vale 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.
Footpaths in and around Stebbing
20 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Stebbing and the kilometre around it, 2.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Stebbing; its footpaths are on the map above.
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 Stebbing: 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) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 40 | 39 | 41 | 48 | 54 | 54 | 59 | 45 | 65 | 64 | 61 |
March is the driest month (39 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 65 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Stebbing →
Viewpoints, hills and nature near Stebbing
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.
The nearest beaches
Stebbing is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stebbing | C− | 2.4 | 70% | 0% |
| Little Dunmow 2.6 mi | C+ | 1.1 | 89% | 0% |
| Great Dunmow 2.6 mi | B | 2.0 | 92% | 0% |
| Felsted 3.0 mi | A− | 7.5 | 81% | 0% |
| Great Bardfield 3.7 mi | C | 2.0 | 81% | 0% |
| Rayne 4.7 mi | B− | 4.3 | 64% | 0% |
| Thaxted 4.7 mi | C | 0.8 | 91% | 0% |
Felsted, 3 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 81% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Felsted has at least twice Stebbing’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Stebbing
Is Stebbing near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Dedham Vale National Landscape, 17 mi east of the village’s edge. It covers 91 km² and was designated in 1970.
What is the nearest beach to Stebbing?
Stort Beach, 15 mi from the edge of the village, then Mill Beach (17 mi). Stebbing itself is inland.
How many people in Stebbing live near a park?
70% 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 Stebbing?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Stebbing good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 30% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 57% (2.4 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 Stebbing’s overall grade.
Where Stebbing’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.