Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.081% of Long Sutton’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
13 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 0.7 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Long Sutton add up to 2.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Long Sutton grades D for the outdoors: #34 of 61 in Lincolnshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Long Sutton grades D for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Long Sutton, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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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.
Long Sutton is 50th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 5,200 to 5,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Long Sutton falls furthest behind on path per km², where 58 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cookham Berkshire | A+ | 8.3 | 96% | 4.3 | 19% |
| 2 | Weston Dorset | A+ | 2.5 | 95% | 7.6 | 0% |
| 3 | St Ives Cornwall | A | 0.8 | 89% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 4 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | A− | 2.7 | 70% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 5 | Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire | A− | 5.6 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 6 | Hoylake Merseyside | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Brotton North Yorkshire | A− | 1.4 | 89% | 3 | 2% |
| 8 | Eynsham Oxfordshire | A− | 3 | 94% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 9 | Steyning West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 86% | 3.7 | 58% |
| 10 | Merley Dorset | B+ | 3.9 | 64% | 4.1 | 6% |
| 11 | Highbridge Somerset | B+ | 2.9 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 12 | Carlton in Lindrick Nottinghamshire | B+ | 9 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 13 | Sonning Common Oxfordshire | B+ | 2.6 | 60% | 3.7 | 74% |
| 14 | Aston Clinton Buckinghamshire | B+ | 3.1 | 61% | 3.8 | 29% |
| 15 | Llantwit Major South Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 16 | Drighlington West Yorkshire | B+ | 4.1 | 92% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 17 | Whitchurch Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 75% | 3.3 | 43% |
| 18 | Cottam Lancashire | B+ | 6.4 | 92% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 19 | New Alresford Hampshire | B+ | 2 | 94% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 20 | Waverley and Catcliffe South Yorkshire | B+ | 8.8 | 65% | 5 | 0% |
| 21 | Shrivenham and Watchfield Oxfordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 96% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 22 | Dartmouth Devon | B+ | 2.1 | 71% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 23 | Newent Gloucestershire | B+ | 3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 24 | Battle East Sussex | B+ | 1.7 | 64% | 4.3 | 84% |
| 25 | Fremington Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 2.1 | 10% |
| 26 | Benson Oxfordshire | B | 6 | 44% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 27 | Askern South Yorkshire | B | 8.5 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 28 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Rowlands Gill Tyne and Wear | B | 4.9 | 84% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Shinfield Berkshire | B | 1.6 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Llandrindod Wells Powys | B− | 4.5 | 88% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | B− | 1.6 | 84% | 7.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Midhurst West Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 28% | 4.3 | 100% |
| 34 | Brynmawr Gwent | C+ | 1.2 | 68% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 35 | Helsby Cheshire | C+ | 1.4 | 66% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 36 | Oakley Hampshire | C | 1.7 | 56% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 37 | Coningsby and Tattershall Lincolnshire | C | 2.7 | 79% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Bovingdon Hertfordshire | C | 1.4 | 55% | 2.3 | 26% |
| 39 | Shevington Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Waterbeach Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 94% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Looe Cornwall | C− | 0.1 | 47% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 42 | Long Stratton Norfolk | C− | 1 | 89% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Welshpool Powys | C− | 2.6 | 82% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Bayston Hill Shropshire | C− | 1.8 | 70% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Ludgershall Wiltshire | C− | 0.7 | 72% | 1.9 | 32% |
| 46 | Llangefni Gwynedd | C− | 1.8 | 95% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Ingatestone Essex | C− | 3.2 | 56% | 2 | 0% |
| 48 | Measham Leicestershire | C− | 1.3 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | C− | 1.4 | 37% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Long Sutton Lincolnshire | D | 2.2 | 81% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Takeley and Little Canfield Essex | D | 1 | 45% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Potton Bedfordshire | D | 1.3 | 77% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Blackrod Greater Manchester | D | 1 | 83% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 54 | Wigton Cumbria | D | 2.4 | 65% | 1 | 0% |
| 55 | Thornton West Yorkshire | D | 0.4 | 54% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Pontardawe West Glamorgan | D | 2.3 | 60% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Treherbert Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.2 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 58 | Eye Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 77% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Winslow Buckinghamshire | D− | 1.4 | 59% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Ravenshead Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.9 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Long Sutton’s built-up area.
How close Long Sutton’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).
About 1,000 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 town, about one for every 896 residents.
The Norfolk Coast National Landscape is 9.1 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.
Footpaths in and around Long Sutton
13 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Long Sutton and the kilometre around it, 0.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Long Sutton; 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.
The best walking months in Long Sutton: 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 49 | 41 | 37 | 38 | 50 | 57 | 61 | 60 | 51 | 65 | 57 | 56 |
March is the driest month (37 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 65 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Long Sutton →
6 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
Long Sutton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
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 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Sutton | D | 2.2 | 81% | 0% |
| Fleet Hargate 2.6 mi | D | 1.7 | 76% | 0% |
| Sutton Bridge 2.9 mi | D | 1.3 | 79% | 0% |
| Sutton St James 3.7 mi | D | 0.1 | 100% | 0% |
| Holbeach 4.6 mi | D | 1.0 | 91% | 0% |
| Walpole St Peter and Walpole St Andrew 5.9 mi | D− | 1.7 | 52% | 0% |
| Whaplode 6.5 mi | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 0% |
Long Sutton grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Long Sutton
Is Long Sutton near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Norfolk Coast National Landscape, 9.1 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 446 km² and was designated in 1968.
What is the nearest beach to Long Sutton?
Snettisham Scalp, 14 mi from the edge of the town, then West Sands (22 mi). Long Sutton itself is inland.
How many people in Long Sutton live near a park?
81% 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 Long Sutton?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Long Sutton good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 0.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 3% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 51% (2.2 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 Long Sutton’s overall grade.
Where Long Sutton’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.