Photo: Peter Fleming · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and walks in Prees Higher Heath
Footpaths add up to 8 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 0.9 for every square kilometre. 26% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Prees Higher Heath add up to 0.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Prees Higher Heath grades D− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Prees Higher Heath grades D− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Prees Higher Heath, 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.
How Prees Higher Heath compares with UK villages of 1,200 to 1,300
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,200 to 1,300 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Prees Higher Heath falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 53 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastington Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.2 | 100% | 3.7 | 22% |
| 2 | Holmbridge West Yorkshire | A+ | 2.5 | 100% | 4.2 | 45% |
| 3 | Kirton Suffolk | A+ | 2.5 | 100% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 4 | Hoddlesden Lancashire | A | 11.4 | 100% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 5 | Rotherfield East Sussex | A | 5.6 | 100% | 1.7 | 91% |
| 6 | Thurgoland South Yorkshire | A | 2.5 | 100% | 4.1 | 1% |
| 7 | Haydon Bridge Northumberland | A | 7.2 | 100% | 1.7 | 26% |
| 8 | Cronton Merseyside | A | 6.8 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 9 | Lower Halstow Kent | A− | 1.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 4% |
| 10 | Nutley East Sussex | A− | 2.2 | 75% | 4.5 | 80% |
| 11 | East Hanney Oxfordshire | A− | 5.7 | 100% | 1.8 | 4% |
| 12 | Caldy Merseyside | A− | 19.3 | 47% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 13 | Thorpe Surrey | A− | 5.2 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 14 | Bonds Lancashire | A− | 1.7 | 100% | 3.5 | 16% |
| 15 | Herstmonceux East Sussex | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 1.5 | 36% |
| 16 | Foulridge Lancashire | A− | 9.4 | 23% | 5.4 | 4% |
| 17 | Felsted Essex | A− | 7.5 | 81% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 18 | Walberton West Sussex | B+ | 1.8 | 100% | 1.9 | 39% |
| 19 | Toll Bar South Yorkshire | B+ | 10.9 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 20 | King's Somborne Hampshire | B+ | 5.2 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Sharpness Gloucestershire | B+ | 2.1 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 22 | Canewdon Essex | B | 2.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 23 | Stoke Holy Cross Norfolk | B | 2.2 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 24 | Horton Kirby Kent | B | 5.9 | 78% | 1.7 | 21% |
| 25 | Keinton Mandeville Somerset | B | 3.8 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 26 | Alconbury Weald Cambridgeshire | B | 5 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Portreath Cornwall | B | 1.1 | 78% | 2.3 | 8% |
| 28 | Corse Gloucestershire | B | 2.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 1% |
| 29 | Clarborough Nottinghamshire | B | 4 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Brightwell-cum-Sotwell Oxfordshire | B− | 2.5 | 72% | 2.2 | 40% |
| 31 | Gilmorton Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Chulmleigh Devon | C+ | 3.5 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 33 | East Morton West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 89% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 34 | Trimdon Grange County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Crondall Hampshire | C+ | 3.6 | 73% | 1.8 | 1% |
| 36 | Husbands Bosworth Leicestershire | C+ | 3 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 37 | Clehonger Herefordshire | C+ | 0.6 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 38 | Thorpe on the Hill West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.2 | 64% | 4 | 0% |
| 39 | Westhampnett West Sussex | C | 0.2 | 79% | 2.6 | 33% |
| 40 | Lavenham Suffolk | C | 4.2 | 59% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Ampleforth North Yorkshire | C | 2.3 | 27% | 1.7 | 95% |
| 42 | Medomsley County Durham | C | 1.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Warwick Bridge Cumbria | C | 6.5 | 78% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 44 | West Clandon Surrey | C | 1.9 | 49% | 2.1 | 28% |
| 45 | Clifton upon Dunsmore Warwickshire | C | 2.2 | 79% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 46 | South Killingholme Lincolnshire | C | 1.7 | 68% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Wolverley Worcestershire | C− | 7.2 | 23% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Crays Hill Essex | C− | 10.6 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Little Downham Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.8 | 61% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Sproatley East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 8.6 | 47% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 51 | Kirby-le-Soken Essex | C− | 0.7 | 0% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 52 | Trewoon Cornwall | D | 0.9 | 71% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 53 | Coup Green Lancashire | D | 0.6 | 70% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Horton and Broadway Somerset | D | 0.5 | 45% | 1.9 | 14% |
| 55 | Beckingham Nottinghamshire | D | 2.6 | 28% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Walesby Nottinghamshire | D− | 1.1 | 50% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Rillington North Yorkshire | D− | 1 | 75% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 58 | Blackwell Worcestershire | D− | 0.7 | 29% | 2 | 0% |
| 59 | Sutton on Trent Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.5 | 39% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 60 | Prees Higher Heath Shropshire | D− | 0.7 | 26% | 0.9 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Prees Higher Heath’s built-up area.
3 in 10 Prees Higher Heath 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 900 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 409 residents.
The Shropshire Hills National Landscape is 16 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.
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Prees Higher Heath
8 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Prees Higher Heath and the kilometre around it, 0.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
2 regional routes pass through, including the Shropshire Way - Whitchurch to Ellesmere and Shropshire Way - Wem to Whitchurch.
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 Prees Higher Heath: May 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 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 62 | 51 | 48 | 50 | 57 | 66 | 65 | 66 | 65 | 80 | 70 | 75 |
March is the driest month (48 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 80 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 43 nights a year. The climate in Prees Higher Heath →
3 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prees Higher Heath | D− | 0.7 | 26% | 0% |
| Prees 1.4 mi | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 0% |
| Whitchurch 3.8 mi | B− | 2.7 | 86% | 0% |
| Wem 5.0 mi | D | 1.2 | 77% | 0% |
| Market Drayton 6.8 mi | C− | 1.5 | 88% | 0% |
| Audlem 7.9 mi | D− | 0.6 | 50% | 0% |
| Malpas 8.6 mi | D | 1.6 | 61% | 0% |
Whitchurch, 3.8 miles away, grades B−, the best next door: 86% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Whitchurch, Market Drayton and Malpas have at least twice Prees Higher Heath’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Prees Higher Heath
Is Prees Higher Heath near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, 16 mi south of the village’s edge. It covers 808 km² and was designated in 1959.
What are the best walks near Prees Higher Heath?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Shropshire Way - Whitchurch to Ellesmere and Shropshire Way - Wem to Whitchurch.
How many people in Prees Higher Heath live near a park?
26% 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 Prees Higher Heath?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Prees Higher Heath good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 0.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 5% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 7% (0.7 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 Prees Higher Heath’s overall grade.
Where Prees Higher Heath’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.