Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: 177777 · CC BY-SA 3.0Parks and playing fields in Long Ashton add up to 10.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 56 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.7 for every square kilometre. The Mendip Hills National Landscape begins 5.2 mi from the town’s edge. Long Ashton grades B+ for the outdoors: #18 of 49 in Somerset. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Long Ashton’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Long Ashton, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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.
The 60 UK towns and cities of 5,000 to 5,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Long Ashton stands out most for park space per resident: only 3 of the other 59 have more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cookham Berkshire | A+ | 8.3 | 96% | 4.3 | 19% |
| 2 | Weston Dorset | A+ | 2.5 | 95% | 7.6 | 0% |
| 3 | Whitehill Hampshire | A+ | 10.2 | 74% | 5.1 | 58% |
| 4 | Hungerford Berkshire | A+ | 9.1 | 85% | 3.2 | 100% |
| 5 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | A− | 2.7 | 70% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 6 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 7 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 8 | Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire | A− | 5.6 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 9 | Hoylake Merseyside | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 10 | Eynsham Oxfordshire | A− | 3 | 94% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 11 | Northam Devon | A− | 6.8 | 43% | 2 | 16% |
| 12 | Huthwaite Nottinghamshire | B+ | 8.1 | 75% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 13 | Sonning Common Oxfordshire | B+ | 2.6 | 60% | 3.7 | 74% |
| 14 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 15 | Drighlington West Yorkshire | B+ | 4.1 | 92% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Whitchurch Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 75% | 3.3 | 43% |
| 17 | New Alresford Hampshire | B+ | 2 | 94% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 18 | Waverley and Catcliffe South Yorkshire | B+ | 8.8 | 65% | 5 | 0% |
| 19 | Long Ashton Somerset | B+ | 10.2 | 66% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Dartmouth Devon | B+ | 2.1 | 71% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 21 | Battle East Sussex | B+ | 1.7 | 64% | 4.3 | 84% |
| 22 | Fremington Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 2.1 | 10% |
| 23 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 24 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 25 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 26 | Benson Oxfordshire | B | 6 | 44% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 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 | Redbourn Hertfordshire | B | 2.4 | 70% | 3.2 | 11% |
| 30 | Iver Heath Buckinghamshire | B | 28.9 | 53% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Virginia Water Surrey | B | 14.5 | 72% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | B− | 1.6 | 84% | 7.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Abercarn Gwent | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 34 | Whitburn Tyne and Wear | B− | 2.5 | 46% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 36 | Brynmawr Gwent | C+ | 1.2 | 68% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 37 | Sacriston County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 72% | 4 | 0% |
| 38 | Helsby Cheshire | C+ | 1.4 | 66% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 39 | Oakley Hampshire | C | 1.7 | 56% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 40 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Havercroft and Ryhill West Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Bovingdon Hertfordshire | C | 1.4 | 55% | 2.3 | 26% |
| 44 | Shevington Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Odiham Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Looe Cornwall | C− | 0.1 | 47% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 47 | Long Stratton Norfolk | C− | 1 | 89% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Jaywick Essex | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Bayston Hill Shropshire | C− | 1.8 | 70% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Llangefni Gwynedd | C− | 1.8 | 95% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | C− | 1.4 | 37% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Potton Bedfordshire | D | 1.3 | 77% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Blackrod Greater Manchester | D | 1 | 83% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Moorends South Yorkshire | D | 2.2 | 39% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Winslow Buckinghamshire | D− | 1.4 | 59% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Harleston Norfolk | D− | 0.2 | 42% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Appley Bridge Greater Manchester | D− | 0.5 | 44% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Somerton Somerset | D− | 0.6 | 48% | 1 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Long Ashton’s built-up area.
The biggest is Ashton Park, 304 ha (752 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
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 1,800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 346 residents.
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.
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Long Ashton scores 0% on it even though the Mendip Hills National Landscape is 5.2 mi away.
56 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Long Ashton and the kilometre around it, 4.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Close to home, the Community Forest Path has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 5 regional routes pass through, including the Monarch's Way, Samaritans Way South West, River Avon Trail and Severn Way (3) Worcester to Bristol.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Long Ashton’s named parks.
304 ha. Part of Ashton Court, a registered historic park (Grade II*). 1 listed structure stands inside it or at its edge.
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 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 95 | 65 | 61 | 58 | 61 | 61 | 69 | 79 | 68 | 96 | 99 | 97 |
April is the driest month (58 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 99 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 34 nights a year. The climate in Long Ashton →
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.
Long Ashton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Plus 6 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Plus 15 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
Plus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Pill, 3.5 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Ashton Park, 304 ha (752 acres), with 22.7 km of path. Kings Croft Childrens Play Area (0.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
The nearest protected landscape is the Mendip Hills National Landscape, 5.2 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 198 km² and was designated in 1989.
10 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Monarch's Way, Long Ashton Village Circular Walk and Samaritans Way South West. Ashton Park alone has 22.7 km of path.
Sugar Loaf Beach, 6.4 mi from the edge of the town, then Ladye Bay (7.8 mi). Long Ashton itself is inland.
66% 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%.
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.
Ashton Court (Grade II*) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
For paths, yes: 4.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 90% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 96% (10.2 ha per 1,000 residents).
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 Long Ashton’s overall grade.
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.