Diss’ biggest
The Park
Park or garden
2.0 ha (5 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Diss
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Vieve Forward · CC BY-SA 2.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Diss · parks, paths & countryside
80% of Diss’ residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
53 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.5 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Diss add up to 1.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Diss grades C for the outdoors: #31 of 51 in Norfolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
80%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
53 km
3.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: the Broads National Park
Outdoors grade
Diss grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Diss, 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 32% of UK towns#31 of 51 in Norfolk · 51st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
29out of
100
100
A park within a walk80%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
47out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
70out 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
Diss is 51st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 9,100 to 10,100 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
Diss3.5
Towns its size3.1
Norfolk towns1.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Diss1.5
Towns its size2.7
Norfolk towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Diss80%
Towns its size87%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Diss stands out most for path per km²: only 22 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 50 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanage Dorset | A+ | 6.9 | 95% | 4.2 | 47% |
| 2 | Caldicot Gwent | A+ | 4.2 | 92% | 3 | 2% |
| 3 | Brynteg Clwyd | A | 8.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 4 | Ilfracombe Devon | A | 2 | 86% | 3 | 28% |
| 5 | Bordon Hampshire | A | 8.6 | 54% | 6.7 | 49% |
| 6 | Linthwaite and Slaithwaite West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 7 | New Mills Derbyshire | A | 2.4 | 84% | 5.1 | 34% |
| 8 | Beccles Suffolk | A | 4.5 | 87% | 3.2 | 20% |
| 9 | South Merstham Surrey | A | 3.7 | 84% | 3.7 | 20% |
| 10 | Nuthall and Watnall Nottinghamshire | A | 6.3 | 97% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire | A | 2.8 | 88% | 3.7 | 21% |
| 12 | Greasby Merseyside | A | 5.9 | 74% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 13 | Southborough Kent | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 2.5 | 57% |
| 14 | Whiteley Hampshire | A− | 3 | 52% | 4.4 | 2% |
| 15 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | A− | 10.4 | 89% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 16 | Esher Surrey | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Shelf and Northowram West Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 88% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Billingshurst West Sussex | A− | 2.9 | 95% | 3.1 | 3% |
| 19 | Kings Hill Kent | A− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 20 | Thurnscoe South Yorkshire | A− | 9.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Shaftesbury Dorset | A− | 2.8 | 92% | 2.3 | 44% |
| 22 | Aveley Essex | A− | 3.4 | 84% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 23 | Irthlingborough Northamptonshire | A− | 4.7 | 94% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Yarm North Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | B+ | 3.1 | 72% | 3.5 | 13% |
| 26 | Sandiacre Derbyshire | B+ | 2.6 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Shildon County Durham | B | 2.8 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 28 | Pontllanfraith Gwent | B | 3.7 | 93% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Hemsworth West Yorkshire | B | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Ludlow Shropshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2.1 | 16% |
| 31 | Gatley Greater Manchester | B | 5.7 | 66% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 32 | North Wingfield and Holmewood Derbyshire | B | 2.7 | 84% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Queensbury West Yorkshire | B | 2.6 | 91% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Tiptree Essex | B | 2.7 | 90% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Immingham Lincolnshire | B | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Perton Staffordshire | B | 2.4 | 93% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Pembroke Dock Dyfed | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 1.1 | 25% |
| 38 | Yaxley Cambridgeshire | B− | 2.6 | 90% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Caernarfon Gwynedd | B− | 1.7 | 83% | 1.4 | 14% |
| 40 | Horbury West Yorkshire | B− | 2.5 | 75% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Mildenhall Suffolk | B− | 2.1 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 42 | Radstock Somerset | B− | 1.1 | 93% | 2.9 | 1% |
| 43 | Knottingley West Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Whitchurch Shropshire | B− | 2.7 | 86% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Mold Clwyd | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 1.6 | 17% |
| 47 | Brandon County Durham | C+ | 2.2 | 72% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Crook County Durham | C+ | 1.5 | 85% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Lydney Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.1 | 52% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 50 | Barwell Leicestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Diss Norfolk | C | 1.5 | 80% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Milnrow Greater Manchester | C | 2.9 | 58% | 3 | 0% |
| 53 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | C | 1.2 | 70% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 54 | Totnes Devon | C | 0.4 | 65% | 3.3 | 11% |
| 55 | Polegate East Sussex | C− | 0.8 | 64% | 2.2 | 24% |
| 56 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.8 | 52% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Broughton Astley Leicestershire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Brandon Suffolk | D | 0.8 | 39% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Littleport Cambridgeshire | D | 1 | 71% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Pheasey West Midlands | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 2.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Diss’ 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 Diss
The biggest is The Park, 2.0 ha (5 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Fair Green
Park or garden
2.1 ha (5 acres)0.4 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi south-westfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Diss Cricket Club
Playing field
2.2 ha (5 acres)0.1 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Diss
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Diss’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).
Within 400 m (80%)Further (20%)
Diss80%
Towns its size87%
Norfolk towns73%
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; 20 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 480 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Broads National Park is 13 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
The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
6 waymarked walks pass through or near Diss
53 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Diss and the kilometre around it, 3.5 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
Angles Way10.3 km
Diss Circular Walk9.3 km
Boudicca Way3.7 km
Diss Town Starter Walk3.1 km
The Commons Walk2.9 km
A Taste of the Angles Way1.8 km
Close to home, the Diss Circular Walk has 9 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Angles Way and Boudicca 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 Diss: May to July and 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) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 53 | 45 | 40 | 37 | 47 | 54 | 52 | 69 | 53 | 59 | 60 | 57 |
April 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 69 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 47 nights a year. The climate in Diss →
Things to do
20 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
Diss is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
The Beach19 mi from Diss’ edge
DirectionsHonolulu Beach21 mi from Diss’ 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 3
Frenze Beck Nature Reserve6.2 ha · 0.0 mi from town
DirectionsRoyden Fen16 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsWortham Ling SSSI52 ha · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 5
Plus 5 picnic sites 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.
Roydon (South Norfolk)ScoleDickleburghEyeRickinghall and BotesdaleGislinghamDiss
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diss | C | 1.5 | 80% | 0% |
| Roydon (South Norfolk) 1.2 mi | B− | 4.3 | 50% | 0% |
| Scole 1.9 mi | C− | 2.1 | 51% | 0% |
| Dickleburgh 3.3 mi | C+ | 1.9 | 100% | 0% |
| Eye 4.0 mi | C | 2.0 | 66% | 0% |
| Rickinghall and Botesdale 5.4 mi | D | 1.7 | 61% | 0% |
| Gislingham 6.0 mi | B | 3.1 | 100% | 0% |
Gislingham, 6 miles away, grades B, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Roydon (South Norfolk) has at least twice Diss’ green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Diss
What is the biggest park in Diss?
The Park, 2.0 ha (5 acres), with 0.8 km of path. Fair Green (2.1 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Diss near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 13 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
What are the best walks near Diss?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Angles Way, Diss Circular Walk and Boudicca Way.
What is the nearest beach to Diss?
The Beach, 19 mi from the edge of the town, then Honolulu Beach (21 mi). Diss itself is inland.
How many people in Diss live near a park?
80% 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 Diss?
May to July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Diss good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 70% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 29% (1.5 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 Diss’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Diss’ 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.