Aylsham’s biggest
Aylsham Football Club
Playing field
8.2 ha (20 acres)
11 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.8 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Pashley · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Aylsham · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Aylsham
The Norfolk Coast National Landscape and the Broads National Park both begin about 6 miles from the town’s edge. 74% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Aylsham add up to 2.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Aylsham grades C for the outdoors: #34 of 51 in Norfolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
74%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
31 km
2.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Norfolk Coast starts 5.5 mi out, past the 5 km
Outdoors grade
Aylsham grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Aylsham, 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 25% of UK towns#34 of 51 in Norfolk · 46th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
62out of
100
100
A park within a walk74%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
37out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Norfolk Coast begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
31out 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
Aylsham is 46th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 6,900 to 7,500 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
Aylsham2.0
Towns its size3.1
Norfolk towns1.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Aylsham2.6
Towns its size2.1
Norfolk towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Aylsham74%
Towns its size76%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Aylsham stands out most for park space per resident: only 18 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 52 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holbury Hampshire | A+ | 5.5 | 89% | 3.1 | 42% |
| 2 | Sheringham Norfolk | A+ | 11.6 | 74% | 3.4 | 32% |
| 3 | Stocksbridge South Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 100% | 4.4 | 30% |
| 4 | Bude Cornwall | A | 3.1 | 78% | 3.3 | 9% |
| 5 | Anstey Leicestershire | A | 12.9 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 6 | Liphook Hampshire | A | 3.1 | 86% | 3.8 | 64% |
| 7 | Bishop's Waltham Hampshire | A | 2.6 | 93% | 3.4 | 55% |
| 8 | Bourne End Buckinghamshire | A | 2.9 | 87% | 4 | 19% |
| 9 | Gwersyllt Clwyd | A | 14.6 | 96% | 2.5 | 2% |
| 10 | Ashley Heath Dorset | A | 24.2 | 68% | 4 | 15% |
| 11 | Darfield South Yorkshire | A | 4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 12 | Easington County Durham | A− | 5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Walton-on-the-Naze Essex | A− | 3.2 | 96% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 14 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | A− | 2.5 | 76% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 15 | Otford and Kemsing Kent | A− | 3.3 | 53% | 3.6 | 73% |
| 16 | Torpoint Cornwall | A− | 2.2 | 84% | 1.6 | 26% |
| 17 | Blackwater Hampshire | B+ | 10.6 | 74% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Chinnor Oxfordshire | B+ | 1.5 | 88% | 3.7 | 37% |
| 19 | Kiveton Park South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.8 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Malmesbury Wiltshire | B | 2 | 86% | 2.5 | 26% |
| 21 | Wroughton Wiltshire | B | 1.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 52% |
| 22 | Chapel-en-le-Frith Derbyshire | B− | 1 | 75% | 3.8 | 58% |
| 23 | Woodville Derbyshire | B− | 3.7 | 78% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Balsall Common West Midlands | B− | 3.7 | 81% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 25 | Cranfield Bedfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 72% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 26 | Borrowash Derbyshire | B− | 2.8 | 85% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 27 | Bollington Cheshire | B− | 1.3 | 56% | 4.1 | 31% |
| 28 | Blackheath West Midlands | C+ | 2.5 | 57% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Allerton Bywater West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 30 | North Baddesley Hampshire | C+ | 1.7 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 67% | 2.4 | 73% |
| 32 | Wrecclesham Surrey | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 33 | Poringland Norfolk | C+ | 1.3 | 91% | 2.1 | 5% |
| 34 | Pelton and Ouston County Durham | C+ | 2 | 64% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 35 | Murton County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 36 | West Mersea Essex | C+ | 1.9 | 69% | 2 | 0% |
| 37 | Thrapston Northamptonshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 38 | Caerleon Gwent | C | 1.9 | 64% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 39 | Horncastle Lincolnshire | C | 0.6 | 60% | 3.9 | 10% |
| 40 | Radcliffe on Trent Nottinghamshire | C | 2.5 | 76% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Hattersley Greater Manchester | C | 0.9 | 52% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 42 | Sawston Cambridgeshire | C | 1.4 | 97% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 43 | Hagley Worcestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Castle Donington Leicestershire | C | 1.8 | 85% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Crewkerne Somerset | C | 0.5 | 66% | 2.8 | 21% |
| 46 | Aylsham Norfolk | C | 2.6 | 74% | 2 | 0% |
| 47 | Hethersett Norfolk | C | 2.1 | 65% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Market Warsop Nottinghamshire | C | 2.1 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Wivenhoe Essex | C− | 0.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt Leicestershire | C− | 2.1 | 82% | 2 | 0% |
| 51 | Southwell Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 59% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Calverton Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 62% | 3 | 0% |
| 53 | Breaston and Draycott Derbyshire | C− | 1.1 | 73% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Pickering North Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.7 | 19% |
| 55 | Shefford Bedfordshire | D | 1.1 | 67% | 3 | 0% |
| 56 | Wellesbourne Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 88% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Deeping St James Lincolnshire | D | 0.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Beddau Mid Glamorgan | D | 1 | 77% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Featherstone Staffordshire | D− | 1.2 | 52% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Albrighton Shropshire | D− | 0.8 | 32% | 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 Aylsham’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 Aylsham
The biggest is Aylsham Football Club, 8.2 ha (20 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Greenlanes Community Garden
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Aylsham
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 Aylsham 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 (74%)Further (26%)
Aylsham74%
Towns its size76%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
About 1,800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 10 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 718 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Norfolk Coast and the Broads both start about 6 miles from Aylsham
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
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Aylsham scores 0% on it even though the Norfolk Coast National Landscape is 5.5 mi away. The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
15 waymarked walks pass through or near Aylsham
31 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Aylsham and the kilometre around it, 2.0 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
Aylsham Town Circular11.5 km
Weavers’ Way7.6 km
Aylsham Circular5.8 km
Marriott's Way3.8 km
Drabblegate Circular3.8 km
Aylsham Workhouse3.1 km
Brady's Walk, Blickling Estate3.0 km
Lake Walk, Blickling Estate2.3 km
Bure Circular2.0 km
RAF Blickling Walk, Blickling Estate2.0 km
Bure Valley Short Loop1.7 km
Multi-Use Trail, Blickling Estate1.5 km
Blickling, Calthorpe and Great Wood walk0.7 km
Mausoleum Walk, Blickling Estate0.5 km
Mount Walk, Blickling Estate0.4 km
Close to home, the Aylsham Town Circular has 12 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Weavers’ Way and Marriott's 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 Aylsham: 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 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 57 | 46 | 46 | 41 | 43 | 63 | 54 | 63 | 57 | 70 | 74 | 66 |
April is the driest month (41 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 74 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Aylsham →
Things to do
10 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
Aylsham is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Holkham Naturist Beach23 mi from Aylsham’s edge
DirectionsCorton Sands28 mi from Aylsham’s edge
DirectionsCorton Beach28 mi from Aylsham’s edge
DirectionsGunton Sands29 mi from Aylsham’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.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 1
Abel Heath - Open Access Land6.1 ha · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 10
Plus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Top Farm1.1 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.
HevinghamCawstonBadersfieldReephamNorth WalshamHorsfordAylsham
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aylsham | C | 2.6 | 74% | 0% |
| Hevingham 3.4 mi | D | 1.8 | 0% | 0% |
| Cawston 3.9 mi | D | 2.7 | 71% | 0% |
| Badersfield 4.4 mi | D− | 0.3 | 53% | 2% |
| Reepham 6.0 mi | C− | 2.3 | 66% | 0% |
| North Walsham 6.1 mi | C− | 1.3 | 69% | 10% |
| Horsford 6.3 mi | B+ | 6.5 | 97% | 0% |
Horsford, 6.3 miles away, grades B+, the best next door: 97% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Horsford has at least twice Aylsham’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Aylsham
What is the biggest park in Aylsham?
Aylsham Football Club, 8.2 ha (20 acres). Greenlanes Community Garden (0.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Aylsham near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 5.6 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Norfolk Coast National Landscape, 5.5 mi away.
What are the best walks near Aylsham?
15 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Aylsham Town Circular, Weavers’ Way and Aylsham Circular.
What is the nearest beach to Aylsham?
Holkham Naturist Beach, 23 mi from the edge of the town, then Corton Sands (28 mi). Aylsham itself is inland.
How many people in Aylsham live near a park?
74% 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 Aylsham?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Aylsham good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 31% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 62% (2.6 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 Aylsham’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Aylsham’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.