Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0North Elmham has more park space per resident than nearly 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in North Elmham add up to 4.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 10 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 1.0 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 71% of residents. North Elmham grades C− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors village is North Elmham?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
North Elmham’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by its historic parks. Where it falls short is footpaths.
North Elmham grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is North Elmham, 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.
North Elmham is 42nd of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,100 to 1,200 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against villages its size, North Elmham stands out most for park space per resident: only 9 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 48 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porlock Somerset | A+ | 2.9 | 75% | 5.2 | 71% |
| 2 | Longhoughton Northumberland | A+ | 4.7 | 100% | 1.2 | 27% |
| 3 | Halmer End and Alsagers Bank Staffordshire | A | 33.2 | 100% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 4 | Egloshayle Cornwall | A | 7.3 | 100% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 5 | Ovingham Northumberland | A | 6.5 | 100% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 6 | Bures Suffolk | A | 5.4 | 100% | 2.5 | 14% |
| 7 | Dove Holes Derbyshire | A | 5.1 | 100% | 1.5 | 52% |
| 8 | Brighstone Isle of Wight | A | 2.2 | 55% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 9 | Rock Cornwall | A− | 3.2 | 39% | 2.5 | 37% |
| 10 | Hampsthwaite North Yorkshire | A− | 2 | 100% | 2.6 | 23% |
| 11 | Hurst Green East Sussex | B+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.1 | 100% |
| 12 | Shillingstone Dorset | B+ | 2.8 | 67% | 3.2 | 51% |
| 13 | St Bees Cumbria | B | 8.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Slinfold West Sussex | B | 2.4 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 15 | Gislingham Suffolk | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Acomb Northumberland | B | 2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 17 | Moresby Parks Cumbria | B− | 1.2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 18 | Thorpe End Norfolk | B− | 0.7 | 100% | 2.5 | 10% |
| 19 | Stretton-on-Dunsmore Warwickshire | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Penybanc Dyfed | B− | 7.4 | 35% | 2.4 | 1% |
| 21 | Datchworth Hertfordshire | C+ | 10.8 | 76% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 22 | Coddington Nottinghamshire | C+ | 2.9 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 23 | Tansley Derbyshire | C+ | 1.6 | 73% | 3.4 | 4% |
| 24 | Child Okeford Dorset | C+ | 1.7 | 45% | 3.3 | 42% |
| 25 | Coldeast Devon | C+ | 1.6 | 47% | 3.6 | 30% |
| 26 | Grampound Road Cornwall | C+ | 3.6 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Haswell County Durham | C+ | 3.2 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Allithwaite Cumbria | C+ | 1.9 | 60% | 1 | 17% |
| 29 | Baslow Derbyshire | C+ | 1.6 | 45% | 2.8 | 98% |
| 30 | Chesterton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.8 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 31 | Blackmore Essex | C+ | 3.6 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 32 | Wadworth South Yorkshire | C+ | 2.7 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Dickleburgh Norfolk | C+ | 1.9 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 34 | Stoke Hammond Buckinghamshire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Cold Norton Essex | C | 1.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Carlyon Bay Cornwall | C | 0.7 | 0% | 2.4 | 12% |
| 37 | Rearsby Leicestershire | C | 1.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Yoxall Staffordshire | C | 1.9 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Barrington Cambridgeshire | C | 3.6 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Raglan Gwent | C− | 3.9 | 0% | 1.2 | 1% |
| 41 | Hordle Hampshire | C− | 0 | 0% | 1.6 | 41% |
| 42 | North Elmham Norfolk | C− | 4.7 | 71% | 1 | 0% |
| 43 | Owston Ferry Lincolnshire | C− | 1.6 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Southfields Essex | C− | 2.8 | 0% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Old Leake Lincolnshire | C− | 3.6 | 75% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Chilworth Hampshire | C− | 1.1 | 24% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Chudleigh Knighton Devon | C− | 1 | 46% | 2.5 | 16% |
| 48 | Guilsfield Powys | C− | 3.6 | 71% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 49 | Abbotskerswell Devon | C− | 4.2 | 49% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Bratton Wiltshire | C− | 1.9 | 25% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Spofforth North Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Long Whatton Leicestershire | D | 2.8 | 63% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Ullesthorpe Leicestershire | D | 1.5 | 75% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 54 | Pant Shropshire | D | 0.3 | 0% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Outlane West Yorkshire | D | 0.5 | 0% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Aston Oxfordshire | D | 2.2 | 62% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Llanybydder Dyfed | D | 2.2 | 60% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Melton Constable Norfolk | D | 1.6 | 76% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Standlake Oxfordshire | D− | 1.7 | 42% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Moor End Gloucestershire | D− | 0 | 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 North Elmham’s built-up area.
7 in 10 North Elmham 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).
About 300 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 village, about one for every 391 residents.
The Norfolk Coast National Landscape is 11 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.
The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
3 waymarked walks pass through or near North Elmham
10 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in North Elmham 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.
The regional route here is the Walsingham Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
A registered historic park in North Elmham
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside North Elmham’s named parks.
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
The best walking months in North Elmham: May and July 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 46 | 48 | 43 | 50 | 67 | 55 | 66 | 56 | 70 | 70 | 63 |
April is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 70 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in North Elmham →
3 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
North Elmham is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
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 3
Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Elmham | C− | 4.7 | 71% | 0% |
| Swanton Morley 2.7 mi | C+ | 3.5 | 94% | 0% |
| Foulsham 3.6 mi | D− | 1.4 | 29% | 0% |
| Dereham 4.8 mi | B− | 1.8 | 90% | 0% |
| Mattishall 7.0 mi | D− | 1.4 | 58% | 0% |
| Reepham 7.2 mi | C− | 2.3 | 66% | 0% |
| Fakenham 7.2 mi | C+ | 5.2 | 81% | 0% |
Dereham, 4.8 miles away, grades B−, the best next door: 90% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in North Elmham
Is North Elmham near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 16 mi south-east of the village’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, 11 mi away.
What are the best walks near North Elmham?
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Walsingham Way, London to Walsingham - stage 09 and London to Walsingham - stage 10.
What is the nearest beach to North Elmham?
Holkham Naturist Beach, 16 mi from the edge of the village, then West Sands (22 mi). North Elmham itself is inland.
How many people in North Elmham 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 North Elmham?
May and July to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Which parks in North Elmham are historic?
Elmham House (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Is North Elmham good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 7% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 86% (4.7 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 North Elmham’s overall grade.
Where North Elmham’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.