Outdoors in Gillingham · parks, paths & countryside
Gillingham is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 13% of the area within 5 km. Footpaths add up to 300 km in the city and the kilometre around it, 5.3 for every square kilometre. The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 0.0 mi from the city’s edge. Gillingham grades A for the outdoors: #15 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Gillingham’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by dense footpaths. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Gillingham grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Gillingham, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 94% of UK towns#15 of 87 in Kent · 4th of 60 UK cities its size
Public green space1.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
32out of 100
A park within a walk86%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
60out of 100
National Park or National Landscape23%of the land within 5 km
80out of 100
Footpaths5.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
95out of 100
The sea13%of the area within 5 km
87out of 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.
Cities its size
Gillingham is 4th of 60 UK cities its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 78,200 to 143,400 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
Gillingham5.3
Cities its size4.1
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Gillingham1.6
Cities its size2.4
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Gillingham86%
Cities its size86%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Against cities its size, Gillingham stands out most for path per km²: only 12 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 50 of the others do better.
The biggest is Capstone Farm Country Park, 65 ha (159 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 25 named parks by size: 156 ha (386 acres) and 27 km of path
Parks & gardens 129 haPlaying fields 27 haPlay spaces 0.3 ha
The two biggest, Capstone Farm Country Park and Riverside Country Park, are 61% of the named green space and carry 18 km of path between them. 13 of the 25 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
9 in 10 Gillingham 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%)
Gillingham86%
Cities its size86%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 15,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 107 playgrounds are mapped in and around the city, about one for every 1,014 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 0.0 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
National Landscape
Kent Downs
0.0 mi south879 km²since 196823% of the land within 5 km
23% of the land within 5 km of Gillingham is National Park or National Landscape, more than 80% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Gillingham is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
300 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Gillingham and the kilometre around it, 5.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the city.
NationalRegionalLocal
Saxon Shore Way26.2 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Iwade to Grain26.2 km
Rochester Riverside Walk1.8 km
Strood Community Trail1.7 km
1066 Harold's Way0.7 km
Augustine Camino0.4 km
Medway Valley Walk0.4 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Gillingham. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Saxon Shore Way, 1066 Harold's Way, Augustine Camino and Medway Valley Walk.
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 Gillingham
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Gillingham’s named parks.
Registered · Grade IIThe Officers' Terrace, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham0.7 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 Gillingham: May to September
The city’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
23
20
15
11
8
Rain (mm)
63
48
39
44
47
48
43
51
51
72
71
65
March is the driest month (39 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 72 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Gillingham →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Gillingham
13% of the area within 5 km of Gillingham is sea. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
The 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
6 viewpoints and 107 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the city in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK city its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Rochester, 3.4 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 92% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Upchurch has at least twice Gillingham’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Gillingham
What is the biggest park in Gillingham?
Capstone Farm Country Park, 65 ha (159 acres), with 12.4 km of path, just outside the built-up area. Riverside Country Park (30 ha) is second. 25 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the city or within 400 m of it.
Is Gillingham near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 0.0 mi south of the city’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Gillingham?
7 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the city, including the Saxon Shore Way, King Charles III England Coast Path: Iwade to Grain and Rochester Riverside Walk. Capstone Farm Country Park alone has 12.4 km of path.
How many people in Gillingham 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 Gillingham?
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 Gillingham are historic?
The Officers' Terrace, The Historic Dockyard, Chatham (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is Gillingham good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 95% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 32% (1.6 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 Gillingham’s overall grade.
National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0