Hextable’s biggest
Swanley Park
Park or garden
17 ha (43 acres)2.6 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.6 km of path
24 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi south-westfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Hextable · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Hextable lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
52 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.1 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Hextable add up to 6.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 1.2 mi from the town’s edge. Hextable grades A+ for the outdoors: #5 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
6.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
52 km
5.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
9%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Hextable?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.A town of footpaths5.1 km of path per km², more than 93% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Room to roam6.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 91% of UK towns.Countryside close byThe Kent Downs National Landscape starts 1.2 mi south.
Hextable’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Hextable grades A+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Hextable, 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 98% of UK towns#5 of 87 in Kent · 1st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space6.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
92out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape9%of the land within 5 km
71out of
100
100
Footpaths5.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
93out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
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.
Towns its size
Hextable is 1st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,900 to 4,300 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
Hextable5.1
Towns its size3.0
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Hextable6.7
Towns its size1.9
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Hextable100%
Towns its size84%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Hextable stands out most for park space per resident: only 6 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hextable Kent | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 5.1 | 9% |
| 2 | Darley Dale Derbyshire | A+ | 3.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 51% |
| 3 | Telscombe Cliffs East Sussex | A+ | 3 | 58% | 5.1 | 42% |
| 4 | Southbourne West Sussex | A | 1.3 | 92% | 3.3 | 64% |
| 5 | Pitstone Buckinghamshire | A | 1.6 | 100% | 4.2 | 40% |
| 6 | Tenby Dyfed | A | 2.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 21% |
| 7 | Chickerell Dorset | A | 1.5 | 88% | 3 | 27% |
| 8 | Bisley Surrey | A | 8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Milton Cambridgeshire | A | 10.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 10 | Holt Norfolk | A | 8.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 40% |
| 11 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | A | 4.6 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 12 | Bowerhill Wiltshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Hunstanton Norfolk | A− | 3.7 | 71% | 1.4 | 31% |
| 14 | Prestbury Gloucestershire | A− | 1.6 | 80% | 5.3 | 51% |
| 15 | Bearwood Dorset | B+ | 2.5 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Lofthouse and Robin Hood West Yorkshire | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Carbis Bay Cornwall | B+ | 0.5 | 88% | 2.8 | 20% |
| 18 | Cheddleton Staffordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 19 | Bramley and Wonersh Surrey | B+ | 1.7 | 77% | 3.5 | 59% |
| 20 | Tangmere West Sussex | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 21 | Grange-over-Sands Cumbria | B | 1.5 | 46% | 2.6 | 40% |
| 22 | Calverley West Yorkshire | B | 1.5 | 92% | 6 | 0% |
| 23 | Brampton Cumbria | B | 2 | 92% | 2.2 | 9% |
| 24 | Saltford Somerset | B | 1.6 | 75% | 3.6 | 24% |
| 25 | Bourton-on-the-Water Gloucestershire | B | 0.9 | 79% | 3.3 | 100% |
| 26 | Penrhyn Bay Clwyd | B− | 0.6 | 68% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 27 | Little Paxton Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.8 | 87% | 3 | 0% |
| 28 | Tumble Dyfed | B− | 19.5 | 93% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 29 | Stoney Stanton Leicestershire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Topsham Devon | B− | 1.9 | 76% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 31 | Martock Somerset | B− | 2.9 | 85% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Easington Lane Tyne and Wear | B− | 0.9 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 33 | South Cerney Gloucestershire | B− | 2.5 | 77% | 2.4 | 7% |
| 34 | Ystradgynlais Powys | C+ | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 36% |
| 35 | Send Surrey | C+ | 2.6 | 28% | 3.3 | 5% |
| 36 | Old Tupton Derbyshire | C+ | 2.3 | 73% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 37 | Eaton Bray and Edlesborough Bedfordshire | C+ | 2.6 | 72% | 1.7 | 29% |
| 38 | Thorpe Hesley South Yorkshire | C+ | 1.8 | 80% | 4 | 0% |
| 39 | Heacham Norfolk | C+ | 1.5 | 53% | 1.1 | 29% |
| 40 | Holmfield West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.8 | 74% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 41 | Knebworth Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 81% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire | C | 3.7 | 43% | 3 | 0% |
| 43 | Kirkburton West Yorkshire | C | 1.4 | 86% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Warton (Fylde) Lancashire | C | 1.3 | 92% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 45 | South Darenth and Sutton at Hone Kent | C | 1.8 | 43% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 46 | Brayton North Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Langley Park County Durham | C | 0.8 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Deanshanger Northamptonshire | C | 1.5 | 93% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 49 | Wynyard County Durham | C | 10.7 | 64% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 50 | Beck Row Suffolk | C | 5.3 | 76% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Great Glen Leicestershire | C | 1.4 | 91% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Nelson Gwent | C | 2.1 | 88% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Brookmans Park Hertfordshire | C− | 2.5 | 43% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 54 | Crowle Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 91% | 1 | 0% |
| 55 | Doddinghurst Essex | D | 1.6 | 60% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 56 | Middleton Cheney Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 70% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Gnosall Staffordshire | D | 1.2 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Cricklade Wiltshire | D | 0.3 | 9% | 3 | 0% |
| 59 | Llantrisant Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Little Eriswell Suffolk | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Hextable’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 Hextable
The biggest is Swanley Park, 17 ha (43 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Hextable Park
Playing field
3.8 ha (9 acres)0.5 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Hextable
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Hextable Gardens
Park or garden
1.4 ha (3 acres)0.5 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.4 mi south-westfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Hextable’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).
Within 400 m (100%)Further (0%)
Hextable100%
Towns its size84%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 20 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 205 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 1.2 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.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
9% of the land within 5 km of Hextable is National Park or National Landscape, more than 70% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Hextable
52 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Hextable and the kilometre around it, 5.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Southwark Cathedral to Otford4.5 km
Faesten Dic Path3.1 km
The regional route here is the Southwark Cathedral to Otford.
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 Hextable: 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) | 8.3 | 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 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 45 | 36 | 41 | 46 | 48 | 41 | 52 | 50 | 64 | 64 | 61 |
March is the driest month (36 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 64 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Hextable →
Things to do
20 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
Hextable is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Northfleet Beach6.2 mi from Hextable’s edge
DirectionsDock Beach9.3 mi from Hextable’s edge
DirectionsKelson Beach9.6 mi from Hextable’s edge
DirectionsEgypt Bay Beach16 mi from Hextable’s edge
DirectionsSt Mary's Bay Beach17 mi from Hextable’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.
Up high. Broom Hill, at 93 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Hextable.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 1
Broom Hill93 m (305 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 20
The Barnyard Soft Playin town
DirectionsIn Awe & Wonder0.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 18 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Paxwood0.3 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Joyden's WoodSwanleyHawleyCrockenhillSouth Darenth and Sutton at HoneDartfordHextable
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hextable | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 9% |
| Joyden's Wood 1.1 mi | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 4% |
| Swanley 1.2 mi | B+ | 1.8 | 78% | 20% |
| Hawley 1.8 mi | D | 0.7 | 24% | 3% |
| Crockenhill 2.4 mi | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 27% |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone 2.7 mi | C | 1.8 | 43% | 10% |
| Dartford 2.8 mi | A | 3.9 | 72% | 1% |
Hextable grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Hextable
What is the biggest park in Hextable?
Swanley Park, 17 ha (43 acres), with 2.6 km of path. Hextable Park (3.8 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Hextable near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 1.2 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Hextable?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Southwark Cathedral to Otford and Faesten Dic Path. Swanley Park alone has 2.6 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Hextable?
Northfleet Beach, 6.2 mi from the edge of the town, then Dock Beach (9.3 mi). Hextable itself is inland.
How many people in Hextable 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 Hextable?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Hextable good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 93% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 92% (6.7 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 Hextable’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Hextable’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.