Wickham Bishops’ biggest
Church Green
Park or garden
0.2 ha (0 acres)
0.4 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Wickhambishops · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Wickham Bishops · parks, paths & countryside
91% of Wickham Bishops’ residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Wickham Bishops add up to 3.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 23 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 1.8 for every square kilometre. Wickham Bishops grades C+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
91%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
23 km
1.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Dedham Vale National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Wickham Bishops?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam3.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 75% of UK towns.Historic parksGarden of Great Ruffins is a registered historic park (Grade II).
Wickham Bishops’ strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by its historic parks.
Outdoors grade
Wickham Bishops grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Wickham Bishops, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C+
Better than 42% of UK towns34th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space3.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
75out of
100
100
A park within a walk91%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
69out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
24out 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
Wickham Bishops is 34th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,800 to 2,000 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
Wickham Bishops1.8
Villages its size2.3
Essex towns2.7
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Wickham Bishops3.4
Villages its size2.4
Essex towns2.4
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Wickham Bishops91%
Villages its size81%
Essex towns84%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Wickham Bishops stands out most for park space per resident: only 18 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 39 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westbourne West Sussex | A+ | 9.6 | 100% | 4.1 | 57% |
| 2 | Capel-le-Ferne Kent | A+ | 21.8 | 88% | 4 | 52% |
| 3 | Badshot Lea Surrey | A+ | 25.9 | 100% | 5.2 | 25% |
| 4 | Kirkby Stephen Cumbria | A+ | 4.9 | 100% | 3.7 | 65% |
| 5 | Colyton Devon | A+ | 3.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 79% |
| 6 | Brading Isle of Wight | A+ | 2.9 | 84% | 4.2 | 21% |
| 7 | Chilworth Surrey | A+ | 10.8 | 80% | 6.1 | 59% |
| 8 | Scholes (near Hade Edge) West Yorkshire | A+ | 3.8 | 100% | 4.7 | 16% |
| 9 | Ravenstone Leicestershire | A− | 5.3 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 10 | Ickleford Hertfordshire | A− | 3.7 | 82% | 3.7 | 11% |
| 11 | South Nutfield Surrey | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.7 | 11% |
| 12 | Lower Broadheath Worcestershire | A− | 6 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 13 | Goosnargh Lancashire | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.5 | 6% |
| 14 | Lyminge Kent | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 2.1 | 90% |
| 15 | Highnam Gloucestershire | B+ | 12 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 16 | Polesworth Warwickshire | B+ | 13.5 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 17 | Wingates Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 18 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | B+ | 2.8 | 83% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Southgate West Glamorgan | B+ | 1.1 | 21% | 3.7 | 56% |
| 20 | Chinley Derbyshire | B+ | 1.2 | 78% | 4.4 | 53% |
| 21 | Partridge Green West Sussex | B | 2.1 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 22 | Shurdington Gloucestershire | B | 2.7 | 47% | 3.3 | 42% |
| 23 | Wrotham Kent | B | 1.6 | 100% | 1.6 | 49% |
| 24 | Beare Green Surrey | B | 1.6 | 70% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 25 | Stanwick Northamptonshire | B− | 7.9 | 82% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Dilton Marsh Wiltshire | B− | 2.1 | 67% | 3.5 | 4% |
| 27 | Hutton Cranswick East Riding of Yorkshire | B− | 5 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Wrea Green Lancashire | B− | 3.5 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 29 | Whitland Dyfed | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Wooler Northumberland | B− | 3.3 | 81% | 0.8 | 26% |
| 31 | Stow-on-the-Wold Gloucestershire | B− | 3.4 | 64% | 1.2 | 88% |
| 32 | Oxenhope West Yorkshire | B− | 1.8 | 80% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Leeswood Clwyd | C+ | 4 | 83% | 0.7 | 2% |
| 34 | Wickham Bishops Essex | C+ | 3.4 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Hockley Heath West Midlands | C+ | 2.6 | 86% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Northiam East Sussex | C+ | 2.2 | 76% | 0.8 | 100% |
| 37 | Stratton Cornwall | C+ | 0.8 | 23% | 3 | 8% |
| 38 | High Spen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 3.3 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Hatton Warwickshire | C | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 40 | Ramsden Heath Essex | C | 2.3 | 82% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Presteigne Powys | C | 3.2 | 61% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Sleights North Yorkshire | C | 0.9 | 30% | 1.5 | 80% |
| 43 | Rode Heath Cheshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Newton Poppleford Devon | C | 1.4 | 44% | 2.3 | 60% |
| 45 | Barrow Suffolk | C− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 46 | Chivenor and Wrafton Devon | C− | 0.6 | 0% | 1.7 | 17% |
| 47 | Black Notley Essex | C− | 1.6 | 36% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Littlethorpe Leicestershire | C− | 0.4 | 57% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Stocksfield Northumberland | C− | 2.2 | 40% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 50 | Brompton-on-Swale North Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 71% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Manby Lincolnshire | D | 1.4 | 68% | 0.8 | 2% |
| 52 | Cropwell Bishop Nottinghamshire | D | 0.7 | 45% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Hutton Rudby North Yorkshire | D | 1.6 | 35% | 1.1 | 13% |
| 54 | Little Plumstead Norfolk | D | 0.6 | 64% | 1 | 16% |
| 55 | Shawbury Shropshire | D− | 2.2 | 30% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Wheldrake North Yorkshire | D− | 1.4 | 72% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Colnbrook Berkshire | D− | 0.6 | 68% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Weeting Norfolk | D− | 1.2 | 68% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Goostrey Cheshire | D− | 0.3 | 42% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Shippon Oxfordshire | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 2 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Wickham Bishops’ 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 Wickham Bishops
The biggest is Church Green, 0.2 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Wickham Bishops’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 (91%)Further (9%)
Wickham Bishops91%
Villages its size81%
Essex towns84%
All UK towns83%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 385 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Dedham Vale National Landscape is 12 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
Footpaths in and around Wickham Bishops
23 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Wickham Bishops and the kilometre around it, 1.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Wickham Bishops; 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.
History along the way
A registered historic park in Wickham Bishops
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Wickham Bishops’ named parks.
Registered · Grade IIGarden of Great Ruffins1.4 ha
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
When to get out
The best walking months in Wickham Bishops: 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 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 50 | 39 | 33 | 37 | 43 | 49 | 43 | 51 | 45 | 65 | 57 | 55 |
March is the driest month (33 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 39 nights a year. The climate in Wickham Bishops →
Things to do
5 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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
Wickham Bishops is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Mill Beach3.3 mi from Wickham Bishops’ edge
DirectionsEast Point Beach5.7 mi from Wickham Bishops’ edge
DirectionsWeymarks Beach10 mi from Wickham Bishops’ edge
DirectionsSt Osyth Naturist Beach16 mi from Wickham Bishops’ edge
DirectionsBell Wharf Beach16 mi from Wickham Bishops’ 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.
Up high. Beacon Hill, at 90 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Wickham Bishops.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 1
Beacon Hill90 m (295 ft) · 0.2 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Whetmead Local Nature Reserve11 ha · 0.7 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 5
Witham Town Park Playground1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Olivers Dog Walking Field0.9 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.
Great TothamWithamHatfield PeverelMaldonTiptreeKelvedon and FeeringWickham Bishops
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wickham Bishops | C+ | 3.4 | 91% | 0% |
| Great Totham 0.8 mi | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 0% |
| Witham 2.3 mi | B | 1.9 | 94% | 0% |
| Hatfield Peverel 3.2 mi | C | 2.0 | 84% | 0% |
| Maldon 3.4 mi | B+ | 2.8 | 82% | 0% |
| Tiptree 4.0 mi | B | 2.7 | 90% | 0% |
| Kelvedon and Feering 4.3 mi | B− | 3.5 | 94% | 0% |
Maldon, 3.4 miles away, grades B+, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Wickham Bishops
What is the biggest park in Wickham Bishops?
Church Green, 0.2 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Wickham Bishops near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Dedham Vale National Landscape, 12 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 91 km² and was designated in 1970.
What is the nearest beach to Wickham Bishops?
Mill Beach, 3.3 mi from the edge of the village, then East Point Beach (5.7 mi). Wickham Bishops itself is inland.
How many people in Wickham Bishops live near a park?
91% 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 Wickham Bishops?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in Wickham Bishops are historic?
Garden of Great Ruffins (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Wickham Bishops good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 24% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 75% (3.4 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 Wickham Bishops’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Wickham Bishops’ 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.