Hawley’s biggest
King George's Field
Playing field · 90 m outside town
0.9 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of Hawley
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0DOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Hawley · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Hawley
The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 2.5 mi from the village’s edge. 24% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Hawley add up to 0.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Hawley grades D for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
0.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
24%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
18 km
2.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
3%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Hawley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byThe Kent Downs National Landscape starts 2.5 mi south.Less park per person0.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Hawley’s strongest suit is the Kent Downs National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Hawley grades D for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Hawley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
D
Better than 14% of UK towns53rd of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space0.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
6out of
100
100
A park within a walk24%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
5out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape3%of the land within 5 km
66out of
100
100
Footpaths2.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
53out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland: 2.6% sea, under the 5% that counts
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
Hawley is 53rd 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
Hawley2.8
Villages its size2.4
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Hawley0.7
Villages its size2.0
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Hawley24%
Villages its size85%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Hawley stands out most for path per km²: only 20 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 53 of the 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 | Tatsfield Surrey | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 3.1 | 34% |
| 3 | Troon Cornwall | A+ | 6.2 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 4 | Winsley Wiltshire | A | 12.4 | 79% | 4.2 | 38% |
| 5 | Chilton Oxfordshire | A | 5.4 | 88% | 2.8 | 70% |
| 6 | Cromford Derbyshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 6.6 | 12% |
| 7 | Cowfold West Sussex | A | 2.6 | 100% | 3.6 | 15% |
| 8 | Gomshall Surrey | A | 1.9 | 89% | 4.8 | 87% |
| 9 | West Horsley Surrey | A | 3 | 74% | 5.2 | 40% |
| 10 | Startforth County Durham | A | 6 | 78% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 11 | Maresfield East Sussex | A | 2.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 44% |
| 12 | Sherston Wiltshire | A | 3.7 | 100% | 1.4 | 75% |
| 13 | Sherfield on Loddon Hampshire | A− | 8.3 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Weston Rhyn Shropshire | A− | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 10% |
| 15 | Distington Cumbria | A− | 4.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Wharncliffe Side South Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 47% | 6.4 | 22% |
| 17 | Bradwell Derbyshire | A− | 1.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 18 | Carway Dyfed | B+ | 17 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 19 | Appleton Thorn Cheshire | B+ | 5.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 20 | Handcross West Sussex | B | 9.6 | 58% | 1.9 | 87% |
| 21 | Barrow Lancashire | B | 0.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 27% |
| 22 | Wymeswold Leicestershire | B | 2.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 23 | Motcombe Dorset | B | 9.5 | 74% | 1.5 | 25% |
| 24 | Trevor Clwyd | B | 2 | 60% | 3.5 | 55% |
| 25 | Bentley Hampshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 22% |
| 26 | Cefn Cribwr Mid Glamorgan | B | 6.5 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 27 | Sampford Peverell Devon | B− | 3 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 28 | Kingswood Kent | B− | 3.8 | 23% | 2.7 | 11% |
| 29 | Clwt-y-bont Gwynedd | B− | 0.8 | 100% | 2.1 | 19% |
| 30 | Steeple Bumpstead Essex | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Trub Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Houghton Cambridgeshire | C+ | 2.2 | 81% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 33 | Pilning Gloucestershire | C+ | 2 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 34 | Launton Oxfordshire | C+ | 0.7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 35 | Thorner West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 74% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Great Waldingfield Suffolk | C | 2 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 37 | East Hendred Oxfordshire | C | 1.4 | 29% | 2.8 | 47% |
| 38 | Great Bardfield Essex | C | 2 | 81% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 39 | Brailsford Derbyshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Ringstead Northamptonshire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 41 | Tickton East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 2 | 100% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 42 | Winterley Cheshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Chelford Cheshire | C | 1.8 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Easebourne West Sussex | C | 0.4 | 0% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 45 | Blunham Bedfordshire | C | 2.2 | 77% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Walkern Hertfordshire | C− | 2.4 | 52% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.7 | 78% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Cottingham and Middleton Northamptonshire | C− | 12.1 | 53% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Penperlleni Gwent | C− | 0.6 | 80% | 1.7 | 17% |
| 50 | Newton St Loe Somerset | C− | 0 | 0% | 3.5 | 17% |
| 51 | Cowbit Lincolnshire | C− | 0.9 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Penrhyn-coch Dyfed | D | 0.7 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Hawley Kent | D | 0.7 | 24% | 2.8 | 3% |
| 54 | Perham Down Wiltshire | D | 0.8 | 42% | 2.2 | 17% |
| 55 | Billingborough Lincolnshire | D | 2.4 | 45% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Skelton (York) North Yorkshire | D | 1.4 | 77% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Stillington County Durham | D | 1.4 | 77% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Bomere Heath Shropshire | D− | 1.8 | 0% | 1.7 | 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 Hawley’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 Hawley
The biggest is King George's Field, 0.9 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
2 in 10 Hawley 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 (24%)Further (76%)
Hawley24%
Villages its size85%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 1,100 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 13 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 107 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 2.5 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
3% of the land within 5 km of Hawley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 65% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
3 waymarked walks pass through or near Hawley
18 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Hawley and the kilometre around it, 2.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
RegionalLocal
Darent Valley Path5.3 km
1066 Harold's Way4.3 km
Circular Walk from Darent Valley Path D1.0 km
Close to home, the Darent Valley Path has 5 km of local walk within 2 km of the village. The regional route here is the 1066 Harold's Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hawley: 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 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 46 | 37 | 40 | 46 | 48 | 42 | 54 | 49 | 64 | 64 | 59 |
March is the driest month (37 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 24 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 64 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 37 nights a year. The climate in Hawley →
Things to do
13 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
Hawley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Northfleet Beach4.4 mi from Hawley’s edge
DirectionsDock Beach10 mi from Hawley’s edge
DirectionsKelson Beach11 mi from Hawley’s edge
DirectionsEgypt Bay Beach15 mi from Hawley’s edge
DirectionsSt Mary's Bay Beach16 mi from Hawley’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 13
Queens Gardens Playground0.8 mi from town
DirectionsCedar Road Play Area0.9 mi from town
DirectionsThe Romans1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 10 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.
DarenthSouth Darenth and Sutton at HoneDartfordHextableHorton KirbyJoyden's WoodHawley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawley | D | 0.7 | 24% | 3% |
| Darenth 1.4 mi | A− | 1.8 | 100% | 1% |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone 1.5 mi | C | 1.8 | 43% | 10% |
| Dartford 1.7 mi | A | 3.9 | 72% | 1% |
| Hextable 1.8 mi | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 9% |
| Horton Kirby 2.3 mi | B | 5.9 | 78% | 21% |
| Joyden's Wood 2.4 mi | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 4% |
Hextable, 1.8 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Darenth, South Darenth and Sutton at Hone and Dartford have at least twice Hawley’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Hawley
What is the biggest park in Hawley?
King George's Field, 0.9 ha (2 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Hawley near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 2.5 mi south of the village’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Hawley?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Darent Valley Path, 1066 Harold's Way and Circular Walk from Darent Valley Path D.
What is the nearest beach to Hawley?
Northfleet Beach, 4.4 mi from the edge of the village, then Dock Beach (10 mi). Hawley itself is inland.
How many people in Hawley live near a park?
24% 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 Hawley?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Hawley good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 53% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 6% (0.7 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 Hawley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Hawley’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.