Minster (Thanet)’s biggest
Minster Recreation Ground
Playing field
4.8 ha (12 acres)0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi southfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Rod Grealish · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Minster (Thanet) · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Minster (Thanet)
The sea makes up 22% of the area within 5 km. 34 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.2 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 64% of residents. Minster (Thanet) grades C for the outdoors: #72 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
64%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
34 km
1.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
The sea
22%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Minster (Thanet)?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.Few mapped footpaths1.2 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Minster (Thanet)’s strongest suit is the King Charles III England Coast Path. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Minster (Thanet) grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Minster (Thanet), the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C
Better than 28% of UK towns#72 of 87 in Kent · 42nd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
53out of
100
100
A park within a walk64%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
24out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
11out of
100
100
The sea22%of the area within 5 km
90out 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
Minster (Thanet) is 42nd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,600 to 4,900 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
Minster (Thanet)1.2
Towns its size2.7
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Minster (Thanet)2.3
Towns its size2.3
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Minster (Thanet)64%
Towns its size80%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Minster (Thanet) falls furthest behind on path per km², where 52 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 2 | Rownhams and Nursling Hampshire | A+ | 4.9 | 86% | 6.7 | 12% |
| 3 | Marple Bridge Greater Manchester | A | 9.9 | 80% | 4.4 | 13% |
| 4 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 5 | Huntington Staffordshire | A | 3.7 | 74% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 6 | Carleton Lancashire | A | 3 | 86% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 7 | Rudheath Cheshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 8 | Writtle Essex | A− | 5.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 9 | Cringleford Norfolk | A− | 1.7 | 94% | 7.4 | 0% |
| 10 | Dersingham Norfolk | A− | 3.1 | 76% | 1.9 | 39% |
| 11 | Brampton South Yorkshire | A− | 4.4 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Liss Hampshire | A− | 2.3 | 87% | 2.6 | 98% |
| 13 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 14 | Saxmundham Suffolk | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 1.9 | 3% |
| 15 | Hugglescote Leicestershire | B+ | 4.2 | 91% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Borough Green Kent | B+ | 2.5 | 93% | 1.9 | 50% |
| 17 | Bodicote Oxfordshire | B+ | 10.2 | 86% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 18 | Kings Worthy Hampshire | B+ | 3.9 | 66% | 3 | 23% |
| 19 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 20 | Callington Cornwall | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.1 | 21% |
| 21 | Whaley Bridge Derbyshire | B | 1.6 | 44% | 4.3 | 53% |
| 22 | Coedpoeth Clwyd | B | 1.4 | 100% | 1.9 | 24% |
| 23 | Lyneham Wiltshire | B− | 1.5 | 94% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 24 | Lenham and Harrietsham Kent | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 2.4 | 47% |
| 25 | High Lane Greater Manchester | B− | 1.5 | 67% | 4.6 | 12% |
| 26 | Chalfont St Giles Buckinghamshire | B− | 1.8 | 57% | 3.5 | 37% |
| 27 | Kelvedon and Feering Essex | B− | 3.5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Astley Greater Manchester | B− | 3.5 | 78% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 29 | Bromham Bedfordshire | B− | 3.8 | 87% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Llay Clwyd | B− | 10.6 | 85% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 31 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 32 | Dudley Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.6 | 69% | 4 | 0% |
| 33 | Bramley Hampshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 34 | Dickens Heath West Midlands | C+ | 3.2 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Loughor West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.1 | 70% | 1.2 | 6% |
| 36 | Cross Hills North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Ripponden West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Edwalton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 58% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Datchet Berkshire | C | 8.4 | 72% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Minster (Thanet) Kent | C | 2.3 | 64% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Makeney Derbyshire | C | 2.1 | 56% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Mynydd Isa Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 87% | 2 | 3% |
| 45 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 46 | Winterton Lincolnshire | C | 1.6 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Kinver Staffordshire | C | 3.1 | 60% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 48 | Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire | C− | 1.9 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 49 | Barton-under-Needwood Staffordshire | C− | 2.3 | 70% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea Lancashire | C− | 0.7 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Bricket Wood Hertfordshire | C− | 1.7 | 43% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Middleton St George County Durham | C− | 1.8 | 94% | 1 | 0% |
| 53 | Sowerby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.5 | 77% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Bailrigg Lancashire | C− | 0 | 0% | 3.4 | 18% |
| 55 | Stretton Staffordshire | C− | 3.7 | 49% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Crowland Lincolnshire | C− | 2.8 | 70% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 58 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 59 | Markfield Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Chilton County Durham | D− | 1.1 | 68% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Minster (Thanet)’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 Minster (Thanet)
The biggest is Minster Recreation Ground, 4.8 ha (12 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 10 ha (25 acres)
Parks & gardens 4.0 haPlaying fields 6.1 ha
The two biggest, Minster Recreation Ground and Abbey Green, are 71% of the named green space. 3 of the 5 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Abbey Green
Park or garden
2.4 ha (6 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Manston Park
Park or garden
1.6 ha (4 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
2.5 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Marjorie Chapman Meadow
Playing field · 210 m outside town
1.3 ha (3 acres)0.1 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
2.3 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Allied Forces Memorial Garden
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
1.6 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
6 in 10 Minster (Thanet) 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 (64%)Further (36%)
Minster (Thanet)64%
Towns its size80%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 1,700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 30 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 158 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 8.8 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
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Minster (Thanet) is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
34 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Minster (Thanet) and the kilometre around it, 1.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegionalLocal
Augustine Camino10.4 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate4.4 km
Saxon Shore Way3.8 km
Pegwell Bay Country Park Long Nature Trail1.7 km
Pegwell Bay Country Park Short Nature Trail0.8 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Minster (Thanet). 2 regional routes pass through, including the Augustine Camino and Saxon Shore 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 Minster (Thanet): 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 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 52 | 41 | 37 | 38 | 48 | 47 | 48 | 50 | 49 | 73 | 69 | 63 |
March is the driest month (37 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 73 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 21 nights a year. The climate in Minster (Thanet) →
The coast
Minster (Thanet) is near the sea
22% of the area within 5 km of Minster (Thanet) is sea. 14 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 5 with a name.
Ramsgate Western Undercliffe1.5 mi from town
DirectionsMargate Main Sands2.1 mi from town
DirectionsRamsgate Sands2.5 mi from town
DirectionsWalpole Bay2.9 mi from town
DirectionsViking Bay3.0 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
30 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
Nature reserves 3
Sandwich & Pegwell Bay NNR446 ha · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPegwell Bay Country Park26 ha · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsMonkton Nature Reserve5.8 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 30
Cliffsend Play Area0.2 mi from town
DirectionsObservatory Way Play Area0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNewington Play Area0.8 mi from town
DirectionsNethercourt Play Area0.8 mi from town
DirectionsJungle Jims0.9 mi from town
DirectionsJackey Bakers Play Area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsLancaster Close Play Area1.0 mi from town
DirectionsCourtstairs Play Area1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 22 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 2
Plus 2 dog parks 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.
Cliffs EndMargateRamsgateAsh (Dover)SandwichBroadstairsMinster (Thanet)
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minster (Thanet) | C | 2.3 | 64% | 0% |
| Cliffs End 2.4 mi | A | 6.9 | 100% | 0% |
| Margate 3.6 mi | B | 1.8 | 88% | 0% |
| Ramsgate 4.0 mi | B | 1.2 | 89% | 0% |
| Ash (Dover) 4.6 mi | C | 2.3 | 72% | 0% |
| Sandwich 4.8 mi | C+ | 2.1 | 51% | 0% |
| Broadstairs 4.9 mi | B | 1.7 | 76% | 0% |
Cliffs End, 2.4 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Cliffs End has at least twice Minster (Thanet)’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Minster (Thanet)
What is the biggest park in Minster (Thanet)?
Minster Recreation Ground, 4.8 ha (12 acres), with 0.5 km of path. Abbey Green (2.4 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Minster (Thanet) near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 8.8 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Minster (Thanet)?
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Augustine Camino, King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate and Saxon Shore Way.
How many people in Minster (Thanet) live near a park?
64% 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 Minster (Thanet)?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Minster (Thanet) good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 11% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 53% (2.3 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 Minster (Thanet)’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Minster (Thanet)’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.