Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and playing fields in Cuxton add up to 25.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Kent Downs National Landscape reaches the edge of Cuxton. Footpaths add up to 52 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 4.0 for every square kilometre. Cuxton grades A+ for the outdoors: #7 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Cuxton’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by protected countryside on the doorstep.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Cuxton, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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.
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,900 to 3,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Cuxton stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rowlands Castle Hampshire | A+ | 26.1 | 100% | 5 | 48% |
| 2 | Arundel West Sussex | A+ | 4.4 | 100% | 3.8 | 56% |
| 3 | Theale Berkshire | A+ | 5 | 100% | 3.8 | 39% |
| 4 | Cuxton Kent | A+ | 25.2 | 90% | 4 | 44% |
| 5 | Horton Heath Hampshire | A+ | 10 | 100% | 3.3 | 13% |
| 6 | Beaminster Dorset | A | 4.1 | 89% | 3.4 | 100% |
| 7 | Ebbsfleet Valley Kent | A | 9 | 77% | 8.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Langwith Derbyshire | A | 19.6 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 9 | Ellistown Leicestershire | A | 7.5 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 10 | Llangollen Clwyd | A | 3.5 | 91% | 2.5 | 76% |
| 11 | Menai Bridge Gwynedd | A | 1.8 | 100% | 2.4 | 7% |
| 12 | New Marske North Yorkshire | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Bream Gloucestershire | A− | 2.2 | 82% | 4.7 | 10% |
| 14 | Rhodes Greater Manchester | B+ | 16.6 | 78% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Wootton Isle of Wight | B+ | 3.7 | 67% | 1.7 | 20% |
| 16 | Porthleven Cornwall | B+ | 1.6 | 78% | 2.5 | 19% |
| 17 | Drayton Oxfordshire | B+ | 1.7 | 100% | 3 | 3% |
| 18 | Newton and Blackwell Derbyshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 19 | Wing Buckinghamshire | B | 2.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 20 | Honeybourne Worcestershire | B | 2.9 | 80% | 2.6 | 14% |
| 21 | Camelford Cornwall | B | 2 | 100% | 1.5 | 33% |
| 22 | Upper Beeding West Sussex | B | 0.6 | 83% | 3.9 | 62% |
| 23 | Fleur-de-lis and Pengam Gwent | B | 6 | 54% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Weldon Northamptonshire | B | 8.2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 25 | Newbold Verdon Leicestershire | B− | 2.3 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 26 | Bugbrooke Northamptonshire | B− | 3.7 | 80% | 3 | 0% |
| 27 | Long Hanborough Oxfordshire | B− | 1.3 | 89% | 2.7 | 18% |
| 28 | Harwell Oxfordshire | B− | 1.4 | 85% | 2.3 | 42% |
| 29 | Crumbles East Sussex | B− | 0.3 | 44% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Henley-in-Arden Warwickshire | C+ | 4.6 | 58% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 31 | Etwall Derbyshire | C+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Capel St Mary Suffolk | C+ | 1.5 | 59% | 3 | 24% |
| 33 | Dymchurch Kent | C+ | 1.6 | 58% | 1 | 13% |
| 34 | Thaxted Essex | C | 0.8 | 91% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 35 | Swillington West Yorkshire | C | 2.2 | 68% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 36 | Hendy and Fforest Dyfed | C | 2.1 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Swanmore Hampshire | C | 1.4 | 69% | 1.9 | 54% |
| 38 | Sutton Courtenay Oxfordshire | C | 1.2 | 23% | 4 | 6% |
| 39 | West Chiltington West Sussex | C | 1.5 | 18% | 2.7 | 38% |
| 40 | Bottesford Leicestershire | C | 3.9 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Haddenham Cambridgeshire | C | 2.2 | 86% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Ogmore Vale Mid Glamorgan | C | 4.3 | 79% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Fenstanton Cambridgeshire | C− | 0.8 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 44 | Cullingworth West Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 72% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Great Leighs Essex | C− | 1.5 | 87% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Lostwithiel Cornwall | C− | 1.6 | 67% | 1.5 | 11% |
| 47 | West Auckland County Durham | C− | 1.1 | 91% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 48 | Burnopfield County Durham | C− | 1.5 | 50% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 49 | South Petherton Somerset | C− | 1.1 | 61% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 50 | St Mary's Bay Kent | D | 0 | 0% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 51 | Cleobury Mortimer Shropshire | D | 0.8 | 64% | 2 | 2% |
| 52 | Kelsall Cheshire | D | 1 | 57% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Gobowen Shropshire | D | 1.2 | 50% | 1.2 | 2% |
| 54 | Skellingthorpe Lincolnshire | D | 1.2 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Gilberdyke East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.7 | 90% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Thurston Suffolk | D | 1.6 | 39% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Bampton Oxfordshire | D | 1.1 | 63% | 2 | 0% |
| 58 | Queniborough Leicestershire | D | 1.4 | 48% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 59 | Kirton in Lindsey Lincolnshire | D− | 1.7 | 57% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Boroughbridge North Yorkshire | D− | 0.4 | 60% | 1.6 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Cuxton’s built-up area.
The biggest is Ranscombe Farm Country Park, 282 ha (697 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
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; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 203 residents.
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.
44% of the land within 5 km of Cuxton is National Park or National Landscape, more than 89% of UK towns.
52 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Cuxton and the kilometre around it, 4.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
The North Downs Way, a national route, passes Cuxton. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Otford to Canterbury Cathedral, 1066 Harold's Way, Medway Valley Walk and Augustine Camino.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
The town’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 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 58 | 46 | 51 | 52 | 52 | 47 | 58 | 58 | 82 | 83 | 78 |
March is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 83 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Cuxton →
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Cuxton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
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. Mill Hill, at 70 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Cuxton.
Plus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Halling, 1.4 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Ranscombe Farm Country Park, 282 ha (697 acres), with 18.4 km of path. Borstal Cricket Club (2.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
9 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Otford to Canterbury Cathedral, North Downs Way (Eastern) and 1066 Harold's Way. Ranscombe Farm Country Park alone has 18.4 km of path.
Northfleet Beach, 7.9 mi from the edge of the town, then Egypt Bay Beach (8.1 mi). Cuxton itself is inland.
90% 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%.
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
For paths, yes: 4.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 82% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 99% (25.2 ha per 1,000 residents).
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 Cuxton’s overall grade.
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.