Photo: Mick Garratt · CC BY-SA 2.0Brotton is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 33% of the area within 5 km. The North York Moors National Park begins 2.8 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Brotton add up to 1.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Brotton grades A− for the outdoors: #13 of 54 in North Yorkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors town is Brotton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Brotton’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by the North York Moors National Park close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Brotton grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Brotton, 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.
Brotton is 6th 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.
Against towns its size, Brotton stands out most for path per km²: only 17 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 42 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ventnor Isle of Wight | A+ | 4.5 | 61% | 3.7 | 25% |
| 2 | St Ives Cornwall | A | 0.8 | 89% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 3 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | A− | 2.7 | 70% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 4 | Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire | A− | 5.6 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 5 | Hoylake Merseyside | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 6 | Brotton North Yorkshire | A− | 1.4 | 89% | 3 | 2% |
| 7 | Eynsham Oxfordshire | A− | 3 | 94% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 8 | Steyning West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 86% | 3.7 | 58% |
| 9 | Merley Dorset | B+ | 3.9 | 64% | 4.1 | 6% |
| 10 | Highbridge Somerset | B+ | 2.9 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Carlton in Lindrick Nottinghamshire | B+ | 9 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Sonning Common Oxfordshire | B+ | 2.6 | 60% | 3.7 | 74% |
| 13 | Aston Clinton Buckinghamshire | B+ | 3.1 | 61% | 3.8 | 29% |
| 14 | Llantwit Major South Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Drighlington West Yorkshire | B+ | 4.1 | 92% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Whitchurch Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 75% | 3.3 | 43% |
| 17 | Cottam Lancashire | B+ | 6.4 | 92% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 18 | New Alresford Hampshire | B+ | 2 | 94% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 19 | Waverley and Catcliffe South Yorkshire | B+ | 8.8 | 65% | 5 | 0% |
| 20 | Shrivenham and Watchfield Oxfordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 96% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 21 | Dartmouth Devon | B+ | 2.1 | 71% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 22 | Newent Gloucestershire | B+ | 3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Battle East Sussex | B+ | 1.7 | 64% | 4.3 | 84% |
| 24 | Fremington Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 2.1 | 10% |
| 25 | Benson Oxfordshire | B | 6 | 44% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 26 | Askern South Yorkshire | B | 8.5 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 27 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Rowlands Gill Tyne and Wear | B | 4.9 | 84% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Shinfield Berkshire | B | 1.6 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 30 | Llandrindod Wells Powys | B− | 4.5 | 88% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | B− | 1.6 | 84% | 7.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Midhurst West Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 28% | 4.3 | 100% |
| 33 | Brynmawr Gwent | C+ | 1.2 | 68% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 34 | Quorndon Leicestershire | C+ | 2.7 | 81% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Helsby Cheshire | C+ | 1.4 | 66% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 36 | Rainford Merseyside | C+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 37 | Oakley Hampshire | C | 1.7 | 56% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 38 | Coningsby and Tattershall Lincolnshire | C | 2.7 | 79% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Bovingdon Hertfordshire | C | 1.4 | 55% | 2.3 | 26% |
| 40 | Shevington Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Waterbeach Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 94% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Looe Cornwall | C− | 0.1 | 47% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 43 | Welshpool Powys | C− | 2.6 | 82% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | Ludgershall Wiltshire | C− | 0.7 | 72% | 1.9 | 32% |
| 45 | Llangefni Gwynedd | C− | 1.8 | 95% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Ingatestone Essex | C− | 3.2 | 56% | 2 | 0% |
| 47 | Measham Leicestershire | C− | 1.3 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | C− | 1.4 | 37% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Long Sutton Lincolnshire | D | 2.2 | 81% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Takeley and Little Canfield Essex | D | 1 | 45% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 51 | Potton Bedfordshire | D | 1.3 | 77% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Blackrod Greater Manchester | D | 1 | 83% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Wigton Cumbria | D | 2.4 | 65% | 1 | 0% |
| 54 | Thornton West Yorkshire | D | 0.4 | 54% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Pontardawe West Glamorgan | D | 2.3 | 60% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Treherbert Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.2 | 73% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Eye Cambridgeshire | D | 1.4 | 77% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 58 | Winslow Buckinghamshire | D− | 1.4 | 59% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Ravenshead Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 60 | Kirton Lincolnshire | D− | 0.6 | 58% | 0.5 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Brotton’s built-up area.
9 in 10 Brotton 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 600 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 415 residents.
The North York Moors National Park is 2.8 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.
North York Moors
2% of the land within 5 km of Brotton is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. North York Moors National Park covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
Brotton is on the Cleveland Way
29 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Brotton and the kilometre around it, 3.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
The Cleveland Way, a national route, passes Brotton. Close to home, the Cleveland Street has 6 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
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 Brotton: July 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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 49 | 45 | 43 | 48 | 46 | 73 | 57 | 64 | 61 | 65 | 77 | 63 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 77 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 30 nights a year. The climate in Brotton →
The coast and beaches near Brotton
33% of the area within 5 km of Brotton is sea. 5 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 4 with a name.
The King Charles III England Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
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
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Nature reserves 1
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 13
Plus 13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brotton | A− | 1.4 | 89% | 2% |
| Carlin How 1.4 mi | A+ | 3.1 | 100% | 13% |
| Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) 1.6 mi | B+ | 1.7 | 82% | 9% |
| Saltburn-by-the-Sea 2.0 mi | A | 4.7 | 92% | 0% |
| Lingdale 2.2 mi | B− | 1.4 | 100% | 31% |
| Boosbeck 2.2 mi | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 22% |
| Loftus 2.3 mi | A− | 1.9 | 90% | 31% |
Carlin How, 1.4 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Carlin How, Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Boosbeck have at least twice Brotton’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Brotton
Is Brotton near a National Park?
Yes. North York Moors National Park begins 2.8 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
What are the best walks near Brotton?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Cleveland Way, King Charles III England Coast Path: Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge and Cleveland Street.
How many people in Brotton live near a park?
89% 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 Brotton?
July to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Brotton good for walking?
About average for paths: 3.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 59% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 25% (1.4 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 Brotton’s overall grade.
Where Brotton’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.