Deal’s biggest
Walmer Green
Park or garden
4.6 ha (11 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Deal · parks, paths & countryside
Deal is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 45% of the area within 5 km. The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 0.7 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Deal add up to 1.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Deal grades B+ for the outdoors: #39 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
86%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
60 km
2.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
6%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
The sea
45%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Deal?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast45% of the area within 5 km is sea; 2 beaches mapped.Countryside close byThe Kent Downs National Landscape starts 0.7 mi south.On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.Less park per person1.0 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Deal’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the Kent Downs National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Deal grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Deal, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B+
Better than 69% of UK towns#39 of 87 in Kent · 24th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
12out of
100
100
A park within a walk86%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
58out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape6%of the land within 5 km
69out of
100
100
Footpaths2.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
50out of
100
100
The sea45%of the area within 5 km
98out 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.
Towns its size
Deal is 24th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 26,700 to 31,700 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
Deal2.7
Towns its size3.3
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Deal1.0
Towns its size2.2
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Deal86%
Towns its size84%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Deal falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 55 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yate Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.3 | 99% | 6.8 | 11% |
| 2 | Jarrow Tyne and Wear | A+ | 5.3 | 90% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 3 | Northfleet Kent | A | 2 | 85% | 7.7 | 4% |
| 4 | Stalybridge Greater Manchester | A | 5 | 82% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 5 | Ashington Northumberland | A | 5.6 | 83% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 6 | Penarth South Glamorgan | A | 3.5 | 83% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 7 | Witney Oxfordshire | A | 2.5 | 88% | 4.6 | 19% |
| 8 | Woodley Berkshire | A | 5 | 81% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 9 | Lancing and Sompting West Sussex | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3 | 37% |
| 10 | Prestwich Greater Manchester | A | 9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 11 | Totton Hampshire | A | 1.6 | 94% | 4.4 | 50% |
| 12 | Burntwood Staffordshire | A− | 5.3 | 81% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 13 | Ewell Surrey | A− | 7.5 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Stretford Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 15 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | A− | 3.4 | 65% | 5.3 | 16% |
| 16 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | A− | 1.7 | 73% | 3.2 | 18% |
| 17 | Cleethorpes Lincolnshire | A− | 3 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Daventry Northamptonshire | A− | 4.1 | 99% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Eston North Yorkshire | B+ | 2.9 | 93% | 2.8 | 2% |
| 20 | Harpenden Hertfordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 84% | 2.9 | 2% |
| 21 | Cramlington Northumberland | B+ | 2.3 | 91% | 6.6 | 0% |
| 22 | Haverhill Suffolk | B+ | 2.4 | 91% | 5 | 0% |
| 23 | Longbenton Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.3 | 80% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 24 | Deal Kent | B+ | 1 | 86% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 25 | Farnworth Greater Manchester | B+ | 3 | 85% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Pontypool Gwent | B+ | 3.6 | 93% | 1.8 | 7% |
| 27 | Colwyn Bay Clwyd | B+ | 1.9 | 77% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 28 | Windsor Berkshire | B | 5.5 | 83% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 29 | Shipley West Yorkshire | B | 2.1 | 87% | 6 | 0% |
| 30 | Consett County Durham | B | 1.7 | 87% | 3.1 | 19% |
| 31 | Darwen Lancashire | B | 2.2 | 89% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Witham Essex | B | 1.9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Egham Surrey | B | 4.1 | 63% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 34 | Bushey Hertfordshire | B | 3.1 | 77% | 4 | 0% |
| 35 | Atherton Greater Manchester | B | 3.8 | 83% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Rhyl Clwyd | B | 1 | 84% | 2.2 | 7% |
| 37 | Evesham Worcestershire | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 3.5 | 4% |
| 38 | Stanford-le-Hope Essex | B− | 2.6 | 84% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Radcliffe Greater Manchester | B− | 1.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Melton Mowbray Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Kendal Cumbria | C+ | 0.9 | 67% | 4 | 33% |
| 42 | Horley Surrey | C+ | 1.9 | 84% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Newton Abbot Devon | C+ | 2.6 | 62% | 2.3 | 6% |
| 44 | Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire | C | 1.6 | 84% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 45 | Newark-on-Trent Nottinghamshire | C | 2.2 | 91% | 2 | 0% |
| 46 | Walton-on-Thames Surrey | C | 1.6 | 81% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Bedworth Warwickshire | C | 1.5 | 87% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Frome Somerset | C | 1.3 | 78% | 2.4 | 9% |
| 49 | Barnstaple Devon | C | 1.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 0.7 | 92% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Wickford Essex | C | 2.4 | 59% | 3 | 0% |
| 52 | Congleton Cheshire | C | 1.7 | 72% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Hertford Hertfordshire | C | 0.9 | 65% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Rushden Northamptonshire | C− | 1.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Heywood Greater Manchester | C− | 1.3 | 80% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Heswall Merseyside | C− | 1.1 | 56% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Port Talbot West Glamorgan | C− | 1.3 | 68% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Ormskirk Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Spalding Lincolnshire | D | 1.1 | 85% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Wisbech Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 79% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Deal’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 Deal
The biggest is Walmer Green, 4.6 ha (11 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 18 ha (45 acres) and 3 km of path
Parks & gardens 9.5 haPlaying fields 9.0 ha
The two biggest, Walmer Green and Hawkshill Common, are 42% of the named green space.
Hawkshill Common
Park or garden · 10 m outside town
3.1 ha (8 acres)1.3 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.3 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.2 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Marke Wood Recreation Ground
Playing field
6.6 ha (16 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.7 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
North Deal Playing Field
Playing field
2.3 ha (6 acres)0.2 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi northfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Victoria Park
Park or garden
1.7 ha (4 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Deal
Directionsto the park
Close to home
9 in 10 Deal 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 (86%)Further (14%)
Deal86%
Towns its size84%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 4,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 23 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,261 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 0.7 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
6% of the land within 5 km of Deal is National Park or National Landscape, more than 68% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Deal is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
60 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Deal and the kilometre around it, 2.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
Saxon Shore Way8.9 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate8.8 km
Miner's Way Trail6.3 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Deal. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Saxon Shore Way and Miner's Way 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 Deal
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Deal’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IIWalmer Castle0.6 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 Deal: May to September
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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.6 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 73 | 59 | 43 | 44 | 47 | 55 | 53 | 55 | 56 | 94 | 96 | 85 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 96 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 17 nights a year. The climate in Deal →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Deal
45% of the area within 5 km of Deal is sea. 2 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
St Margaret's Bay3.1 mi from town
DirectionsThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
23 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 23
Plus 23 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 6
Mongeham Farm0.2 mi from town
DirectionsSolley's Farm0.6 mi from town
DirectionsKingsdown International Camping Centre0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 3 campsites without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
KingsdownEastrySt Margaret's at CliffeSandwichEythorneWhitfieldDeal
ABCDOutdoors Grade
St Margaret's at Cliffe, 4.4 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 90% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Eastry, St Margaret's at Cliffe and Sandwich have at least twice Deal’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Deal
What is the biggest park in Deal?
Walmer Green, 4.6 ha (11 acres), with 0.7 km of path. Hawkshill Common (3.1 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Deal near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 0.7 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Deal?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Saxon Shore Way, King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate and Miner's Way Trail.
How many people in Deal live near a park?
86% 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 Deal?
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 Deal are historic?
Walmer Castle (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Deal good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 50% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 12% (1.0 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 Deal’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Deal’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.