North Walsham’s biggest
War Memorial Park
Park or garden
5.1 ha (12 acres)0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of North Walsham
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Pashley · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in North Walsham · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in North Walsham
The Norfolk Coast National Landscape and the Broads National Park both begin about 3 miles from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in North Walsham add up to 1.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 69% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. North Walsham grades C− for the outdoors: #39 of 51 in Norfolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
69%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
38 km
2.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
10%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Norfolk Coast National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is North Walsham?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside both waysNorfolk Coast starts 1.7 mi north-east, the Broads 2.5 mi south-east.Less park per person1.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
North Walsham’s strongest suit is two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
North Walsham grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is North Walsham, 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 21% of UK towns#39 of 51 in Norfolk · 49th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
20out of
100
100
A park within a walk69%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
30out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape10%of the land within 5 km
71out of
100
100
Footpaths2.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
30out 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
North Walsham is 49th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 12,100 to 13,500 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
North Walsham2.0
Towns its size3.1
Norfolk towns1.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
North Walsham1.3
Towns its size2.1
Norfolk towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
North Walsham69%
Towns its size78%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
North Walsham falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 50 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitby North Yorkshire | A+ | 4 | 100% | 2.9 | 53% |
| 2 | Farncombe Surrey | A+ | 5.7 | 92% | 3.8 | 54% |
| 3 | Sidmouth Devon | A | 2.6 | 73% | 2.9 | 60% |
| 4 | Newhaven East Sussex | A | 1.9 | 84% | 2.9 | 50% |
| 5 | Rhosllannerchrugog Clwyd | A | 3.5 | 98% | 2.8 | 31% |
| 6 | Southwick West Sussex | A | 1.1 | 100% | 2.6 | 34% |
| 7 | Houghton-le-Spring Tyne and Wear | A | 4.8 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Little Lever Greater Manchester | A | 4.5 | 97% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 9 | Wick West Sussex | A | 1.3 | 91% | 3 | 25% |
| 10 | Stoke Gifford Gloucestershire | A− | 5.7 | 87% | 5.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Blackwood Gwent | A− | 3.6 | 97% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 12 | Heckmondwike West Yorkshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Bridport Dorset | A− | 0.9 | 75% | 3.7 | 71% |
| 14 | Churchdown Gloucestershire | A− | 2.2 | 92% | 3.7 | 11% |
| 15 | Flackwell Heath and Wooburn Green Buckinghamshire | A− | 1.7 | 90% | 3.9 | 30% |
| 16 | Guiseley West Yorkshire | A− | 2.5 | 75% | 5.7 | 6% |
| 17 | Wantage Oxfordshire | A− | 2.5 | 71% | 3.9 | 47% |
| 18 | Lees Greater Manchester | A− | 2.5 | 80% | 4.4 | 4% |
| 19 | Tavistock Devon | A− | 5.9 | 83% | 1.6 | 72% |
| 20 | Audenshaw Greater Manchester | B+ | 4.6 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 21 | Ivybridge Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 86% | 3.4 | 38% |
| 22 | Berwick-upon-Tweed Northumberland | B+ | 2.5 | 62% | 2.7 | 1% |
| 23 | Ringwood Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 78% | 3.2 | 43% |
| 24 | Chorleywood Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.7 | 37% | 5.7 | 22% |
| 25 | Poulton-le-Fylde Lancashire | B+ | 3.6 | 85% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 26 | Marple Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 64% | 3.8 | 5% |
| 27 | Poynton Cheshire | B+ | 2.2 | 79% | 3.7 | 14% |
| 28 | Royal Wootton Bassett Wiltshire | B+ | 1.6 | 98% | 3.1 | 10% |
| 29 | Cudworth and Shafton South Yorkshire | B | 3.1 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Stotfold Bedfordshire | B | 2.1 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Enderby and Narborough Leicestershire | B | 1.9 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 32 | West Kirby Merseyside | B | 1.9 | 68% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Rushall and Shelfield West Midlands | B | 4.3 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth South Yorkshire | B− | 3.1 | 88% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Standish Greater Manchester | B− | 2.6 | 84% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Chigwell Essex | B− | 2.9 | 64% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Sheerness Kent | B− | 3 | 68% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Ince-in-Makerfield Greater Manchester | B− | 2 | 74% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Rochford Essex | B− | 2 | 71% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 40 | Knutsford Cheshire | C+ | 2.6 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Thame Oxfordshire | C+ | 2.9 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Huntington North Yorkshire | C+ | 2 | 72% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Street Somerset | C+ | 0.7 | 96% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Todmorden West Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 72% | 6.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Hersham Surrey | C | 2.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Ferndown Dorset | C | 0.7 | 13% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Rhondda Mid Glamorgan | C− | 1.4 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Brough East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.4 | 74% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 49 | North Walsham Norfolk | C− | 1.3 | 69% | 2 | 10% |
| 50 | Porth Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.8 | 63% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe South Yorkshire | D | 2 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Amesbury Wiltshire | D | 1.8 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Northallerton North Yorkshire | D | 1.1 | 70% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Driffield East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 2.1 | 75% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Mountsorrel Leicestershire | D | 0.9 | 56% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Flint Clwyd | D | 1 | 56% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 57 | Mountain Ash Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.4 | 56% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wombourne Staffordshire | D | 0.8 | 78% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Balderton Nottinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 64% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Thorne South Yorkshire | D− | 1.6 | 65% | 0.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is North Walsham’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 North Walsham
The biggest is War Memorial Park, 5.1 ha (12 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 11 ha (27 acres) and 1 km of path
Parks & gardens 6.0 haPlaying fields 5.0 haPlay spaces 0.1 ha
The two biggest, War Memorial Park and North Walsham Town Football Club, are 90% of the named green space.
North Walsham Town Football Club
Playing field
5.0 ha (12 acres)0.3 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Trackside Park
Park or garden
1.0 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of North Walsham
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Patch Meadow
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of North Walsham
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
7 in 10 North Walsham 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 (69%)Further (31%)
North Walsham69%
Towns its size78%
Norfolk towns73%
All UK towns83%
About 3,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 13 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 987 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Norfolk Coast and the Broads both start about 3 miles from North Walsham
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
Norfolk Coast
1.7 mi north-east446 km²since 19689% of the land within 5 km
Official site10% of the land within 5 km of North Walsham is National Park or National Landscape, more than 71% of UK towns. The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
10 waymarked walks pass through or near North Walsham
38 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in North Walsham 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
Weavers’ Way8.2 km
Bittern Line Walk 57.8 km
Felmingham Circular Walk6.3 km
Peasant’ Revolt Circular5.5 km
Bryant's Heath Circular5.2 km
Paston Way4.3 km
Walsham Wood Circular3.7 km
North Walsham and Dilham Canal3.3 km
Commons Circular3.3 km
North Walsham Heritage Walk0.9 km
Close to home, the Bittern Line Walk 5 has 8 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Weavers’ Way and Paston 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 North Walsham: 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 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 46 | 49 | 38 | 43 | 62 | 56 | 66 | 58 | 72 | 75 | 66 |
April is the driest month (38 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 75 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in North Walsham →
Things to do
13 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 1
Pigney's Wood21 ha · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 13
North Walsham Memorial Park Play Areain town
DirectionsPlus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 3
Stoney Brook0.5 mi from town
DirectionsModel Farm1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 campsite 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.
MundesleyBadersfieldAylshamColtishall and HorsteadStalhamSuttonNorth Walsham
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Walsham | C− | 1.3 | 69% | 10% |
| Mundesley 4.4 mi | B | 1.8 | 79% | 24% |
| Badersfield 4.6 mi | D− | 0.3 | 53% | 2% |
| Aylsham 6.1 mi | C | 2.6 | 74% | 0% |
| Coltishall and Horstead 6.4 mi | C− | 2.1 | 57% | 8% |
| Stalham 6.5 mi | B− | 1.9 | 85% | 23% |
| Sutton 7.3 mi | D− | 0.0 | 0% | 29% |
Mundesley, 4.4 miles away, grades B, the best next door: 79% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Aylsham has at least twice North Walsham’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in North Walsham
What is the biggest park in North Walsham?
War Memorial Park, 5.1 ha (12 acres), with 0.7 km of path. North Walsham Town Football Club (5.0 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is North Walsham near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 2.5 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, 1.7 mi away.
What are the best walks near North Walsham?
10 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Weavers’ Way, Bittern Line Walk 5 and Felmingham Circular Walk.
How many people in North Walsham live near a park?
69% 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 Walsham?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is North Walsham good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 30% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 20% (1.3 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 Walsham’s overall grade.
Sources
Where North Walsham’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.