Benenden’s biggest
The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Recreation Field
Playing field
1.6 ha (4 acres)0.2 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Benenden
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David M Clark · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Benenden · parks, paths & countryside
Benenden is inside the High Weald National Landscape
57% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. 21 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 1.7 for every square kilometre. Benenden grades C for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
57%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
21 km
1.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
83%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: High Weald National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Benenden?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Inside the High Weald National LandscapeBenenden sits inside it: 1,462 km² of protected landscape.Historic parksBenenden is a registered historic park (Grade II).Parks can be a walk away44% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Benenden’s strongest suit is a protected landscape all round, followed by its historic parks. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Benenden grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Benenden, 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 35% of UK towns37th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space2.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
45out of
100
100
A park within a walk57%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape83%of the land within 5 km
97out of
100
100
Footpaths1.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
22out 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
Benenden is 37th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,300 to 1,500 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
Benenden1.7
Villages its size2.4
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Benenden2.0
Villages its size2.2
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Benenden57%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Benenden falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 48 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dwygyfylchi Clwyd | A+ | 3.2 | 83% | 4.3 | 28% |
| 2 | Trull Somerset | A+ | 5.9 | 100% | 3.9 | 20% |
| 3 | Troon Cornwall | A+ | 6.2 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 4 | Kingswood Gloucestershire | A | 2.1 | 100% | 3.7 | 45% |
| 5 | Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant Gwent | A | 22.1 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 6 | Cromford Derbyshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 6.6 | 12% |
| 7 | New Houghton Derbyshire | A | 33.8 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Jump South Yorkshire | A | 5.1 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 9 | Startforth County Durham | A | 6 | 78% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 10 | St Day Cornwall | A | 3.2 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Sherston Wiltshire | A | 3.7 | 100% | 1.4 | 75% |
| 12 | Hallow Worcestershire | A− | 3.7 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 13 | Wharncliffe Side South Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 47% | 6.4 | 22% |
| 14 | Wigginton North Yorkshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 15 | Shotley Gate Suffolk | A− | 1 | 100% | 1.5 | 34% |
| 16 | Grundisburgh Suffolk | B+ | 2.2 | 100% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 17 | Carway Dyfed | B+ | 17 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Stanwell Moor Surrey | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Brookwood Surrey | B+ | 8.5 | 59% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Emley West Yorkshire | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 21 | Handcross West Sussex | B | 9.6 | 58% | 1.9 | 87% |
| 22 | Wedmore Somerset | B | 4.7 | 60% | 3.1 | 1% |
| 23 | Barrow Lancashire | B | 0.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 27% |
| 24 | Trevor Clwyd | B | 2 | 60% | 3.5 | 55% |
| 25 | Woolmer Green Hertfordshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Bentley Hampshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 22% |
| 27 | Tye Green Essex | B | 2 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 28 | Abertysswg Gwent | B | 2.5 | 85% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 29 | Warkworth Northumberland | B− | 1.8 | 76% | 1.3 | 9% |
| 30 | Bishop Sutton Somerset | B− | 2.3 | 64% | 2.5 | 36% |
| 31 | Orsett Essex | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 32 | Ashton Keynes Wiltshire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 33 | Trub Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Pilning Gloucestershire | C+ | 2 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 35 | Shortlanesend Cornwall | C+ | 1 | 100% | 1.7 | 2% |
| 36 | Thorner West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 74% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 37 | Benenden Kent | C | 2 | 57% | 1.7 | 83% |
| 38 | Barlaston Staffordshire | C | 2.7 | 80% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Brailsford Derbyshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Slip End Bedfordshire | C | 1.9 | 22% | 2.3 | 28% |
| 41 | Hurley Warwickshire | C | 2.8 | 75% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 42 | Stewkley Buckinghamshire | C | 4.2 | 74% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 43 | Tickton East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 2 | 100% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 44 | Easebourne West Sussex | C | 0.4 | 0% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 45 | Blunham Bedfordshire | C | 2.2 | 77% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Salhouse Norfolk | C− | 1.9 | 71% | 1 | 17% |
| 47 | Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.7 | 78% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Penperlleni Gwent | C− | 0.6 | 80% | 1.7 | 17% |
| 49 | Blofield Heath Norfolk | C− | 2.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 17% |
| 50 | Newton Flotman Norfolk | C− | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Thorrington Essex | C− | 1.2 | 65% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Hawley Kent | D | 0.7 | 24% | 2.8 | 3% |
| 53 | Perham Down Wiltshire | D | 0.8 | 42% | 2.2 | 17% |
| 54 | Billingborough Lincolnshire | D | 2.4 | 45% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Meon Vale Warwickshire | D | 0.4 | 50% | 1.4 | 19% |
| 56 | Stillington County Durham | D | 1.4 | 77% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Barford Warwickshire | D | 2.1 | 58% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Friday Bridge Cambridgeshire | D− | 1 | 79% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Woodmansey East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 0% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 60 | Langham Rutland | D− | 0.3 | 23% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Benenden’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 Benenden
The biggest is The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Recreation Field, 1.6 ha (4 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Green
Park or garden
1.2 ha (3 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Benenden
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Thoburn Playground
Play space
0.2 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Benenden
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Benenden 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).
Within 400 m (57%)Further (44%)
Benenden57%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Benenden
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
National Landscape
High Weald
Benenden is inside it1,462 km²since 198383% of the land within 5 km
Official site83% of the land within 5 km of Benenden is National Park or National Landscape, more than 97% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Benenden
21 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Benenden and the kilometre around it, 1.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Regional
High Weald Landscape Trail8.6 km
The regional route here is the High Weald Landscape Trail.
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 Benenden
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Benenden’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IIBenenden50 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 Benenden: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 88 | 60 | 48 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 43 | 63 | 53 | 97 | 94 | 92 |
July is the driest month (43 mm) and the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 97 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Benenden →
Things to do
2 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
Benenden is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
The Beach12 mi from Benenden’s edge
DirectionsCamber Sands13 mi from Benenden’s edge
DirectionsFairlight Glen Naturist Beach14 mi from Benenden’s edge
DirectionsRock-a-Nore Beach14 mi from Benenden’s edge
DirectionsGreatstone beach18 mi from Benenden’s 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.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
CranbrookHawkhurstBiddendenNorthiamTenterdenHurst GreenBenenden
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Cranbrook, 2.7 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Cranbrook and Biddenden have at least twice Benenden’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Benenden
What is the biggest park in Benenden?
The Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Recreation Field, 1.6 ha (4 acres). The Green (1.2 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
What are the best walks near Benenden?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the village, including the High Weald Landscape Trail.
What is the nearest beach to Benenden?
The Beach, 12 mi from the edge of the village, then Camber Sands (13 mi). Benenden itself is inland.
How many people in Benenden live near a park?
57% 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 Benenden?
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 Benenden are historic?
Benenden (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Benenden good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 22% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 45% (2.0 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 Benenden’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Benenden’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.