Sutton Valence’s biggest
The Green
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Sutton Valence
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Sutton Valence · parks, paths & countryside
Sutton Valence has more park space per resident than nearly 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Sutton Valence add up to 5.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Kent Downs National Landscape begins 2.8 mi from the village’s edge. Footpaths add up to 15 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 1.0 for every square kilometre. Sutton Valence grades C+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
5.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
71%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
15 km
1.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Sutton Valence?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam5.6 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 89% of UK towns.Countryside close byThe Kent Downs National Landscape starts 2.8 mi north-east.Few mapped footpaths1.0 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Sutton Valence’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by the Kent Downs National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Sutton Valence grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Sutton Valence, 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 39% of UK towns27th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space5.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
89out of
100
100
A park within a walk71%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
32out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape1%of the land within 5 km
64out of
100
100
Footpaths1.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
8out 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.
Villages its size
Sutton Valence is 27th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,400 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
Sutton Valence1.0
Villages its size2.0
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Sutton Valence5.6
Villages its size1.9
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Sutton Valence71%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Sutton Valence stands out most for park space per resident: only 8 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 47 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Runton and Beeston Regis Norfolk | A+ | 25 | 100% | 4.8 | 34% |
| 2 | Sandridge Hertfordshire | A+ | 18.8 | 100% | 6.4 | 0% |
| 3 | Newburn Tyne and Wear | A | 12.1 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 4 | Whiteshill and Randwick Gloucestershire | A | 4.5 | 60% | 7 | 64% |
| 5 | Penrhyndeudraeth Gwynedd | A | 2.5 | 100% | 1 | 68% |
| 6 | Balcombe West Sussex | A | 2.9 | 100% | 2.2 | 90% |
| 7 | Three Crosses West Glamorgan | A | 2.4 | 100% | 1.3 | 39% |
| 8 | Sedbergh Cumbria | A | 1.9 | 83% | 5 | 92% |
| 9 | Chaldon Surrey | A− | 7.4 | 50% | 4.9 | 24% |
| 10 | Heath and Reach Bedfordshire | A− | 3.3 | 100% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 11 | Five Oak Green Kent | A− | 3 | 100% | 2 | 30% |
| 12 | Llandovery Dyfed | A− | 13.3 | 100% | 1 | 22% |
| 13 | Little Kingshill Buckinghamshire | A− | 6.5 | 50% | 2.9 | 90% |
| 14 | Holme Cumbria | A− | 2.8 | 100% | 1.8 | 25% |
| 15 | Princetown Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 100% | 2.3 | 100% |
| 16 | Burnhope County Durham | B+ | 3.1 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Horspath Oxfordshire | B | 14 | 54% | 5 | 0% |
| 18 | Cowling North Yorkshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 6 | 0% |
| 19 | Staveley Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 85% | 2.5 | 89% |
| 20 | Hellifield North Yorkshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 2.2 | 38% |
| 21 | Alconbury Cambridgeshire | B | 5.1 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 22 | Brigstock Northamptonshire | B− | 8.2 | 84% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 23 | Netherne on-the-Hill Surrey | B− | 1.6 | 40% | 5.9 | 19% |
| 24 | Robertsbridge East Sussex | C+ | 2 | 38% | 2.7 | 100% |
| 25 | Gosfield Essex | C+ | 3.7 | 85% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Pirton Hertfordshire | C+ | 2.4 | 57% | 2.3 | 24% |
| 27 | Sutton Valence Kent | C+ | 5.6 | 71% | 1 | 1% |
| 28 | Killinghall North Yorkshire | C+ | 1 | 100% | 1.6 | 7% |
| 29 | Gelligaer Gwent | C+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Lavendon Buckinghamshire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 31 | Castor and Ailsworth Cambridgeshire | C | 3.4 | 41% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Ryhall Rutland | C | 1.9 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Newborough Cambridgeshire | C | 2.1 | 100% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 34 | Ticehurst East Sussex | C | 1.4 | 75% | 0.8 | 100% |
| 35 | Brabourne Lees Kent | C | 0.9 | 0% | 3.2 | 34% |
| 36 | Patrington East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 3.6 | 79% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 37 | Warton Warwickshire | C− | 1.1 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Cogenhoe Northamptonshire | C− | 1.5 | 78% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Burniston North Yorkshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 0.9 | 49% |
| 40 | Mid Lavant West Sussex | C− | 1.3 | 33% | 1.8 | 62% |
| 41 | Ruishton Somerset | C− | 0.6 | 60% | 2.7 | 4% |
| 42 | Marnhull Dorset | C− | 1.8 | 41% | 3 | 0% |
| 43 | East Rainton Tyne and Wear | D | 1.4 | 34% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Hook East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.1 | 19% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 45 | Shipton Bellinger Hampshire | D | 1.5 | 79% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Pontyates Dyfed | D | 4.6 | 39% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Ranskill Nottinghamshire | D | 0.4 | 100% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Keadby Lincolnshire | D | 1.7 | 84% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 49 | Flore Northamptonshire | D | 1.6 | 62% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Westonzoyland Somerset | D | 3.1 | 30% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Copplestone Devon | D | 1.1 | 88% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Blakedown Worcestershire | D | 0.8 | 79% | 2 | 0% |
| 53 | Gosberton Lincolnshire | D | 1.1 | 86% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Byram North Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 19% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Four Crosses Powys | D− | 1.9 | 53% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Markham Gwent | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Guilden Sutton Cheshire | D− | 0.3 | 56% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Shadwell West Yorkshire | D− | 0.3 | 25% | 2 | 0% |
| 59 | Easton Norfolk | D− | 1 | 0% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 60 | Woodford Northamptonshire | D− | 0 | 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 Sutton Valence’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 Sutton Valence
The biggest is The Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Sutton Valence 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 (71%)Further (29%)
Sutton Valence71%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
About 400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 6 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 243 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Kent Downs National Landscape is 2.8 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
National Landscape
Kent Downs
2.8 mi north-east879 km²since 19681% of the land within 5 km
Official site1% of the land within 5 km of Sutton Valence is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Sutton Valence
15 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Sutton Valence and the kilometre around it, 1.0 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
Greensand Way6.6 km
Scenic Green Trail Stage 43.3 km
The regional route here is the Greensand 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 Sutton Valence: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.6 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 72 | 51 | 42 | 45 | 51 | 47 | 46 | 61 | 57 | 84 | 80 | 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 84 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Sutton Valence →
The coast
Beaches near Sutton Valence
0% of the area within 5 km of Sutton Valence is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km.
The Beach2.0 mi from town
DirectionsSea: 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 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Plus 2 campsites 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.
KingswoodHeadcornStaplehurstBearstedCoxheathLenham and HarrietshamSutton Valence
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutton Valence | C+ | 5.6 | 71% | 1% |
| Kingswood 1.9 mi | B− | 3.8 | 23% | 11% |
| Headcorn 3.4 mi | D− | 1.6 | 48% | 0% |
| Staplehurst 3.8 mi | D | 1.3 | 70% | 1% |
| Bearsted 3.9 mi | A | 5.5 | 76% | 39% |
| Coxheath 4.1 mi | D | 1.2 | 48% | 0% |
| Lenham and Harrietsham 4.5 mi | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 47% |
Bearsted, 3.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 76% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Sutton Valence
What is the biggest park in Sutton Valence?
The Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Sutton Valence near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Kent Downs National Landscape, 2.8 mi north-east of the village’s edge. It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Sutton Valence?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Greensand Way and Scenic Green Trail Stage 4.
How many people in Sutton Valence live near a park?
71% 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 Sutton Valence?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Sutton Valence good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 8% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 89% (5.6 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 Sutton Valence’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Sutton Valence’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.