Photo: Timothy Titus · CC BY-SA 4.0Upton St Leonards has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
54 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 7.5 for every square kilometre. The Cotswolds National Landscape reaches the edge of Upton St Leonards. Parks and playing fields in Upton St Leonards add up to 5.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Upton St Leonards grades A+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors village is Upton St Leonards?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Upton St Leonards’ strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by plenty of park space.
Upton St Leonards grades A+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Upton St Leonards, 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.
Upton St Leonards is 2nd of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,100 to 1,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against villages its size, Upton St Leonards stands out most for path per km²: none of the other 59 has more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corton Suffolk | A+ | 4.4 | 100% | 3 | 5% |
| 2 | Upton St Leonards Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 80% | 7.5 | 43% |
| 3 | Fairlands Surrey | A+ | 2.8 | 100% | 5 | 11% |
| 4 | Ditchling East Sussex | A | 7.4 | 77% | 4 | 57% |
| 5 | Horsted Keynes West Sussex | A− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.3 | 83% |
| 6 | Wenvoe South Glamorgan | A− | 5.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 7 | Chatburn Lancashire | A− | 1.7 | 100% | 2.6 | 59% |
| 8 | Boosbeck North Yorkshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.9 | 22% |
| 9 | Camber East Sussex | A− | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 5% |
| 10 | Grange Moor West Yorkshire | A− | 4.3 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 11 | Gotherington Gloucestershire | B+ | 2.7 | 72% | 3.7 | 33% |
| 12 | St Erth Cornwall | B+ | 0.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 4% |
| 13 | Walton Somerset | B+ | 3 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Borth Dyfed | B | 3.1 | 74% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Oakley Buckinghamshire | B | 2.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 16 | High Pittington County Durham | B | 1.6 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 17 | Cropston Leicestershire | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 18 | Jacobs Well Surrey | B | 1.4 | 77% | 4.7 | 8% |
| 19 | Curdworth Warwickshire | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 20 | Bishop Middleham County Durham | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 21 | Plaxtol Kent | B− | 2.6 | 57% | 2.5 | 40% |
| 22 | Harpur Hill Derbyshire | B− | 3.1 | 31% | 2.3 | 60% |
| 23 | Kelly Bray Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 22% |
| 24 | Thurlton Norfolk | B− | 1.5 | 100% | 0.7 | 39% |
| 25 | Roydon (South Norfolk) Norfolk | B− | 4.3 | 50% | 4 | 0% |
| 26 | Beaumaris Gwynedd | B− | 2.7 | 30% | 0.8 | 18% |
| 27 | Latchingdon Essex | B− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Grovesend West Glamorgan | C+ | 3.5 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Gainford County Durham | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Lacey Green and Loosley Row Buckinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 27% | 2.4 | 82% |
| 31 | Whimple Devon | C+ | 5.2 | 70% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 32 | Brinklow Warwickshire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 33 | St Cleer Cornwall | C | 3 | 29% | 1.6 | 32% |
| 34 | Three Legged Cross Dorset | C | 1.5 | 77% | 2.6 | 1% |
| 35 | Bow Devon | C | 1.9 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Swindon Staffordshire | C | 2.5 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 37 | Mannings Heath West Sussex | C | 1 | 71% | 1.9 | 44% |
| 38 | Baldwin's Gate Staffordshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 39 | North Newbald East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Maiden Newton Dorset | C− | 1.1 | 27% | 2 | 100% |
| 41 | Wetheral Cumbria | C− | 3.8 | 51% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Crowle Worcestershire | C− | 2.4 | 34% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Eastrington East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 3 | 65% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Beachley Gloucestershire | C− | 0.3 | 0% | 1.2 | 14% |
| 45 | Fochriw Gwent | C− | 1 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Capel Hendre Dyfed | D | 0.8 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Benwick Cambridgeshire | D | 0.3 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Orwell Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 78% | 2 | 0% |
| 49 | Ramsey Island Essex | D | 1.4 | 39% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Pelynt Cornwall | D | 0 | 0% | 0.6 | 13% |
| 51 | Chawley Oxfordshire | D | 0.3 | 0% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Great Doddington Northamptonshire | D | 1.3 | 69% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Reawla Cornwall | D | 0.2 | 0% | 2 | 3% |
| 54 | High Legh Cheshire | D− | 1.9 | 50% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 55 | Moulton Chapel Lincolnshire | D− | 1.5 | 60% | 0 | 0% |
| 56 | Kentford Suffolk | D− | 1.9 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Austrey Warwickshire | D− | 1.7 | 0% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 58 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Clipsham Rutland | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Llanfyllin Powys | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.6 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Upton St Leonards’ built-up area.
8 in 10 Upton St Leonards 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 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 21 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 54 residents.
National Parks and National Landscapes around Upton St Leonards
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.
Cotswolds
43% of the land within 5 km of Upton St Leonards is National Park or National Landscape, more than 89% of UK towns.
3 waymarked walks pass through or near Upton St Leonards
54 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Upton St Leonards and the kilometre around it, 7.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
The Cotswold Way, a national route, passes Upton St Leonards. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Glevum Way and Wysis 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 Upton St Leonards: 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 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 70 | 49 | 49 | 50 | 57 | 59 | 63 | 67 | 58 | 77 | 79 | 77 |
February is the driest month (49 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 79 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Upton St Leonards →
2 viewpoints, 21 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
Upton St Leonards 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.
Up high. Nut Hill, at 120 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Upton St Leonards.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Nature reserves 3
Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 21
Plus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upton St Leonards | A+ | 5.2 | 80% | 43% |
| Brockworth 1.6 mi | A+ | 2.5 | 95% | 46% |
| Gloucester 1.8 mi | A | 2.7 | 93% | 22% |
| Painswick 3.3 mi | B+ | 1.3 | 81% | 83% |
| Churchdown 3.7 mi | A− | 2.2 | 92% | 11% |
| Quedgeley and Hardwicke 3.7 mi | A | 2.1 | 99% | 21% |
| Longford 3.7 mi | A | 11.9 | 100% | 0% |
Upton St Leonards grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. Longford has at least twice Upton St Leonards’ green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Upton St Leonards
Is Upton St Leonards near a National Park?
It covers 2,041 km² and was designated in 1966.
What are the best walks near Upton St Leonards?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Glevum Way, Wysis Way and Cotswold Way.
What is the nearest beach to Upton St Leonards?
Fossil Beach, 23 mi from the edge of the village. Upton St Leonards itself is inland.
How many people in Upton St Leonards live near a park?
80% 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 Upton St Leonards?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Upton St Leonards good for walking?
For paths, yes: 7.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 99% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 88% (5.2 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 Upton St Leonards’ overall grade.
Where Upton St Leonards’ 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.