Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY-SA 3.0Almost everyone in Eccles lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 0.2 mi from the village’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Eccles add up to 3.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 15 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 2.4 for every square kilometre. Eccles grades A for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors village is Eccles?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Eccles’ strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by protected countryside on the doorstep.
Eccles grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Eccles, 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.
Eccles is 6th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,600 to 1,800 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against villages its size, Eccles stands out most for park space per resident: only 12 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pease Pottage West Sussex | A+ | 4.1 | 100% | 7.4 | 65% |
| 2 | Guston Kent | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 2.5 | 25% |
| 3 | Trimley St Martin Suffolk | A+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2.9 | 43% |
| 4 | Penwithick Cornwall | A | 15 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 5 | Wroxall Isle of Wight | A | 1.2 | 84% | 4.6 | 33% |
| 6 | Eccles Kent | A | 3.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 30% |
| 7 | Hutton Somerset | A | 1.8 | 100% | 2.2 | 22% |
| 8 | Flimby Cumbria | A | 1.7 | 100% | 2.3 | 2% |
| 9 | Grain Kent | A | 13 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Southwell Dorset | A | 0.7 | 100% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Upchurch Kent | A | 4 | 76% | 2.3 | 7% |
| 12 | Wickwar Gloucestershire | A− | 2 | 100% | 3.5 | 15% |
| 13 | Lynemouth Northumberland | A− | 3.5 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Seascale Cumbria | A− | 2.1 | 81% | 2.2 | 27% |
| 15 | Clayhanger West Midlands | A− | 17.4 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Bathampton Somerset | A− | 1 | 85% | 5.5 | 62% |
| 17 | Ripley Surrey | A− | 15 | 64% | 3.6 | 2% |
| 18 | Harthill South Yorkshire | B+ | 3.6 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 19 | Appledore Devon | B+ | 1.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 20 | Starcross Devon | B+ | 1.9 | 100% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 21 | Aldbourne Wiltshire | B+ | 3.2 | 84% | 1.8 | 100% |
| 22 | Kingsdown Kent | B+ | 1.1 | 67% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 23 | Blewbury Oxfordshire | B | 3.1 | 54% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 24 | Silkstone South Yorkshire | B | 1 | 100% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Bryn Dyfed | B− | 2.9 | 67% | 1.4 | 1% |
| 26 | Streethouse West Yorkshire | B− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Flockton West Yorkshire | B− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Shaldon Devon | B− | 1.7 | 85% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Woodsetts South Yorkshire | B− | 2 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 30 | Allhallows Kent | B− | 3.2 | 76% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 31 | Summit Greater Manchester | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Trethomas Gwent | B− | 6.9 | 48% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 33 | Feniton Devon | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 17% |
| 34 | Dunvant West Glamorgan | C+ | 4.3 | 36% | 1.8 | 30% |
| 35 | Langho Lancashire | C+ | 1.6 | 74% | 3 | 7% |
| 36 | Pilling Lancashire | C+ | 4.2 | 46% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 37 | North Leigh Oxfordshire | C+ | 2.3 | 56% | 2.4 | 26% |
| 38 | Rocester Staffordshire | C+ | 15.2 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Harvington Worcestershire | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Minsterley Shropshire | C+ | 1.1 | 77% | 2.4 | 38% |
| 41 | Leeming North Yorkshire | C− | 5 | 76% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 42 | West Thorney West Sussex | C− | 0.4 | 0% | 0.9 | 55% |
| 43 | Embsay North Yorkshire | C− | 0.9 | 38% | 2.5 | 47% |
| 44 | High Bentham North Yorkshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 45 | Lower Quinton Warwickshire | C− | 2 | 49% | 1.3 | 18% |
| 46 | Modbury Devon | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.2 | 41% |
| 47 | Higher Kinnerton Clwyd | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Whitehill County Durham | C− | 0.3 | 0% | 7.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Charminster Dorset | D | 0.3 | 0% | 2 | 56% |
| 50 | Holt Wiltshire | D | 1.1 | 45% | 2.1 | 2% |
| 51 | Shrewton Wiltshire | D | 1.4 | 42% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Leverington Cambridgeshire | D | 2.8 | 59% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Dobwalls Cornwall | D | 1.4 | 28% | 1.5 | 15% |
| 54 | Tiddington Warwickshire | D | 0.2 | 79% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Point Clear Essex | D | 0.1 | 0% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Soughton Clwyd | D | 0.4 | 67% | 1.3 | 3% |
| 57 | Monk Fryston and Hillam North Yorkshire | D | 2.7 | 40% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Welford-on-Avon Warwickshire | D− | 0.4 | 48% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Swffryd Gwent | D− | 1.4 | 17% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Hambleton North Yorkshire | D− | 0.1 | 52% | 1.1 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Eccles’ built-up area.
How close Eccles’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).
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 7 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 244 residents.
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 0.2 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.
Kent Downs
30% of the land within 5 km of Eccles is National Park or National Landscape, more than 83% of UK towns.
Eccles is on the North Downs Way
15 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Eccles and the kilometre around it, 2.4 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 North Downs Way, a national route, passes Eccles. 3 regional routes pass through, including the Augustine Camino, Medway Valley Walk and Otford to Canterbury Cathedral.
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 Eccles: 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 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 50 | 43 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 41 | 53 | 49 | 72 | 75 | 70 |
July is the driest month (41 mm) and the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 75 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. The climate in Eccles →
7 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
Eccles 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.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 1
Picnic sites 1
Playgrounds 7
Plus 7 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.
Halling, 2.9 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Snodland and West Malling have at least twice Eccles’ green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Eccles
Is Eccles near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 0.2 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Eccles?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Augustine Camino, Medway Valley Walk and Otford to Canterbury Cathedral.
What is the nearest beach to Eccles?
The Beach, 8.0 mi from the edge of the village, then Egypt Bay Beach (12 mi). Eccles itself is inland.
How many people in Eccles live near a park?
100% 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 Eccles?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Eccles good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 42% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 79% (3.7 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 Eccles’ overall grade.
Where Eccles’ 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.