Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0

Outdoors in Staplehurst · parks, paths & countryside

Parks and walks in Staplehurst

The High Weald National Landscape begins 2.7 mi from the town’s edge. Footpaths add up to 22 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.4 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Staplehurst add up to 1.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Staplehurst grades D for the outdoors: #84 of 87 in Kent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.

1named park 2.7 mito High Weald

Green space

1.3 ha

per 1,000 residents

Typical UK town 2.1

Near a park

70%

of residents within 400 m

Typical UK town 83%

Footpaths

22 km

1.4 km per km², town + 1 km

Typical UK town 3.0 per km²

Protected landscape

of the land within 5 km

Nearest: High Weald National Landscape

Character

What kind of outdoors town is Staplehurst?

Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.

Countryside close byThe High Weald National Landscape starts 2.7 mi south-west.Few mapped footpaths1.4 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.

Staplehurst’s strongest suit is the High Weald National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.

Outdoors grade

Staplehurst grades D for the outdoors

Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Staplehurst, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.

Better than 14% of UK towns#84 of 87 in Kent · 50th of 60 UK towns its size

Public green space1.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces

22out of
100

A park within a walk70%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)

30out of
100

National Park or National Landscape1%of the land within 5 km

64out of
100

Footpaths1.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it

14out of
100

The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland

42out 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.

Towns its size

Staplehurst is 50th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors

The 60 UK towns and cities of 5,900 to 6,500 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

Staplehurst1.4

Towns its size2.6

Kent towns2.6

All UK towns3.0

Green space, ha per 1,000 residents

Staplehurst1.3

Towns its size2.0

Kent towns2.3

All UK towns2.1

Residents within 400 m of a park

Staplehurst70%

Towns its size80%

Kent towns78%

All UK towns83%

Staplehurst falls furthest behind on path per km², where 55 of the 59 others do better.

Show as a table

	Town	Outdoors	Green space	Near a park	Path per km²	Protected
1	Netley Hampshire	A⁺	16.3	100%	4.1	4%
2	Stone Kent	A⁺	3.1	100%	6.2	0%
3	Bagshot Surrey	A	10.5	100%	5.2	0%
4	Wingerworth Derbyshire	A	9	86%	4	0%
5	Leiston Suffolk	A	1.7	95%	2.7	35%
6	Boldon Colliery Tyne and Wear	A	5.3	95%	5.4	0%
7	Barnton Cheshire	A⁻	10	94%	3.8	0%
8	Marston Moretaine Bedfordshire	A⁻	17.4	88%	4.2	0%
9	Alcester Warwickshire	A⁻	4.1	100%	3.5	0%
10	Ackworth Moor Top West Yorkshire	A⁻	4.6	91%	4.6	0%
11	Burghfield Common Berkshire	A⁻	2.1	100%	2.9	8%
12	Dodworth South Yorkshire	A⁻	2.3	97%	5.5	0%
13	Broadbridge Heath West Sussex	B⁺	1.6	95%	4.3	3%
14	Crofton West Yorkshire	B⁺	3.6	95%	2.9	0%
15	Axminster Devon	B	0.9	100%	2.4	66%
16	Hindhead Surrey	B	1.7	37%	5.9	66%
17	Galleywood Essex	B	10.3	61%	4.2	0%
18	Throckley Tyne and Wear	B	3.1	89%	3.2	0%
19	Wixams Bedfordshire	B	5.3	100%	1.6	0%
20	Newbiggin-by-the-Sea Northumberland	B	2.2	77%	2.5	0%
21	East Wittering West Sussex	B	1.1	78%	1.9	27%
22	Oundle Northamptonshire	B⁻	2.4	100%	2.4	0%
23	Bovey Tracey Devon	B⁻	2.2	66%	2.5	55%
24	Yapton West Sussex	B⁻	1.8	63%	2	15%
25	Upton West Yorkshire	B⁻	2.2	100%	2.2	0%
26	Great Torrington Devon	B⁻	2.6	88%	2.7	0%
27	Danbury Essex	B⁻	3.9	34%	4.3	0%
28	South Molton Devon	C⁺	2.2	96%	1.3	0%
29	Annesley Woodhouse Nottinghamshire	C⁺	1.1	96%	3.8	0%
30	Kirby Cross Essex	C⁺	2.4	44%	2.5	0%
31	Waltham Lincolnshire	C⁺	2.2	84%	1.3	19%
32	Oakdale Gwent	C⁺	5.2	79%	2.1	0%
33	Lower Willingdon East Sussex	C⁺	0.8	57%	4.2	33%
34	Tetbury Gloucestershire	C⁺	1.2	66%	2.6	88%
35	Bagillt Clwyd	C⁺	1.3	87%	1.8	0%
36	Malton North Yorkshire	C⁺	2.3	43%	2.4	24%
37	Strensall North Yorkshire	C	1.3	89%	3.2	0%
38	Bowdon Greater Manchester	C	1.8	81%	3	0%
39	Cross Hands and Pen-y-groes Dyfed	C	9.7	70%	1.4	0%
40	Ilminster Somerset	C⁻	2.3	61%	2.8	0%
41	Ottery St Mary Devon	C⁻	1.2	71%	1.7	34%
42	Gildersome West Yorkshire	C⁻	1.2	81%	2.9	0%
43	Studley Warwickshire	C⁻	1.6	63%	3.3	0%
44	Great Shelford and Stapleford Cambridgeshire	C⁻	2.6	63%	2.2	0%
45	Weaverham Cheshire	C⁻	0.7	81%	3	0%
46	Stainforth South Yorkshire	C⁻	2.2	80%	1.5	0%
47	Boston Spa West Yorkshire	C⁻	1.2	86%	1.9	0%
48	Cottenham Cambridgeshire	D	1.3	86%	1.7	0%
49	Washingborough and Heighington Lincolnshire	D	1.8	66%	2.2	0%
50	Staplehurst Kent	D	1.3	70%	1.4	1%
51	Arlesey Bedfordshire	D	0.9	51%	3.2	0%
52	Finningley South Yorkshire	D	2	65%	1.3	0%
53	Werrington Staffordshire	D	1.1	42%	2.9	0%
54	Wem Shropshire	D	1.2	77%	1.5	0%
55	Aintree Merseyside	D	1.3	43%	2.5	0%
56	Selston Nottinghamshire	D	0.9	61%	2.3	0%
57	Earls Barton Northamptonshire	D	1.5	71%	1.2	0%
58	Thurcroft South Yorkshire	D⁻	0.5	56%	2	0%
59	Abercynon Mid Glamorgan	D⁻	1.1	55%	1.6	0%
60	Tadcaster North Yorkshire	D⁻	0.6	58%	1.7	0%

The map

Parks, footpaths & countryside

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Staplehurst’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 Staplehurst

The biggest is Dickens Gate Wildlife Area, 1.5 ha (4 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.

Staplehurst’s biggest

Dickens Gate Wildlife Area

Park or garden

1.5 ha (4 acres)0.3 km of path

2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Staplehurst

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Close to home

7 in 10 Staplehurst 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 (70%)Further (31%)

Staplehurst70%

Towns its size80%

Kent towns78%

All UK towns83%

About 1,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 3 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 2,060 residents.

National Parks & National Landscapes

The High Weald National Landscape is 2.7 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

High Weald

2.7 mi south-west1,462 km²since 19831% of the land within 5 km

Official site

National Landscape

Kent Downs

6.5 mi north-east879 km²since 1968

Official site

1% of the land within 5 km of Staplehurst is National Park or National Landscape, more than 63% of UK towns.

Footpaths & waymarked walks

Footpaths in and around Staplehurst

22 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Staplehurst and the kilometre around it, 1.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).

No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Staplehurst; its footpaths are on the map above.

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 Staplehurst: 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)	8.4	9.9	11.7	13.8	15.5	16.5	16.1	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)	73	51	42	45	51	49	43	56	51	80	78	77

March is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 80 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Staplehurst →

Things to do

3 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.

1Nature reserves 3Playgrounds0.2× towns its size 1Campsites

The nearest beaches

Staplehurst is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.

The Beach5.6 mi from Staplehurst’s edge

Directions

Camber Sands18 mi from Staplehurst’s edge

Directions

Cockleshell Hard19 mi from Staplehurst’s edge

Directions

Fairlight Glen Naturist Beach20 mi from Staplehurst’s edge

Directions

Rock-a-Nore Beach20 mi from Staplehurst’s edge

Directions

Good 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

Nature reserves 1

Wimpey Field Nature Reserve2.1 ha · 0.0 mi from town

Directions

Playgrounds 3

Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.

Campsites 1

Plus 1 campsite 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.

MardenHeadcornSutton ValenceCranbrookCoxheathBiddendenStaplehurst

ABCDOutdoors Grade

Town	Outdoors	Green space, ha per 1,000	Near a park	Protected within 5 km
Staplehurst	D	1.3	70%	1%
Marden 2.6 mi	C	1.8	71%	3%
Headcorn 3.3 mi	D⁻	1.6	48%	0%
Sutton Valence 3.8 mi	C⁺	5.6	71%	1%
Cranbrook 4.9 mi	A	5.8	82%	65%
Coxheath 5.0 mi	D	1.2	48%	0%
Biddenden 5.2 mi	A⁻	4.2	100%	20%

Cranbrook, 4.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Sutton Valence, Cranbrook and Biddenden have at least twice Staplehurst’s green space per resident.

Questions about the outdoors in Staplehurst

What is the biggest park in Staplehurst?

Dickens Gate Wildlife Area, 1.5 ha (4 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.

Is Staplehurst near a National Park?

The nearest protected landscape is the High Weald National Landscape, 2.7 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,462 km² and was designated in 1983.

What is the nearest beach to Staplehurst?

The Beach, 5.6 mi from the edge of the town, then Camber Sands (18 mi). Staplehurst itself is inland.

How many people in Staplehurst live near a park?

70% 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 Staplehurst?

May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

Is Staplehurst good for walking?

Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 14% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 22% (1.3 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 Staplehurst’s overall grade.

Sources

Where Staplehurst’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.