Watchet’s biggest
Memorial Ground
Playing field
3.3 ha (8 acres)0.5 km of path
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Watchet
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Watchet · parks, paths & countryside
Watchet is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 42% of the area within 5 km. The Quantock Hills National Landscape and Exmoor National Park both begin about 2 miles from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Watchet add up to 1.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Watchet grades B+ for the outdoors: #17 of 49 in Somerset. 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
86%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
22 km
2.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
18%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Quantock Hills National Landscape
The sea
42%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Watchet?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast42% of the area within 5 km is sea; 8 beaches mapped.Countryside both waysQuantock Hills starts 1.2 mi east, Exmoor 1.7 mi south-west.On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.Less park per person1.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Watchet’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by two protected landscapes close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Watchet grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Watchet, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B+
Better than 68% of UK towns#17 of 49 in Somerset · 13th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
21out of
100
100
A park within a walk86%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
60out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape18%of the land within 5 km
77out of
100
100
Footpaths2.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
31out of
100
100
The sea42%of the area within 5 km
97out 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
Watchet is 13th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,500 to 3,800 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
Watchet2.0
Towns its size2.7
Somerset towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Watchet1.3
Towns its size1.7
Somerset towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Watchet86%
Towns its size79%
Somerset towns83%
All UK towns83%
Watchet falls furthest behind on path per km², where 42 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trimley St Mary Suffolk | A+ | 2.3 | 100% | 3.8 | 34% |
| 2 | Tutshill and Sedbury Gloucestershire | A+ | 2.5 | 87% | 4.5 | 32% |
| 3 | Marsden West Yorkshire | A | 1.9 | 100% | 6.5 | 33% |
| 4 | Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley Gloucestershire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 51% |
| 5 | Lingfield Surrey | A | 3.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 16% |
| 6 | Kingsbury Warwickshire | A− | 17.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 7 | Shenley Hertfordshire | A− | 6.1 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Taff's Well Mid Glamorgan | A− | 2.3 | 100% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 9 | Church Stretton Shropshire | A− | 2.2 | 68% | 4.7 | 92% |
| 10 | Stanstead Abbotts Hertfordshire | B+ | 2.5 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 11 | Keresley Newlands Warwickshire | B+ | 4.4 | 89% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 12 | Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel Staffordshire | B+ | 4.2 | 86% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Watchet Somerset | B+ | 1.3 | 86% | 2 | 18% |
| 14 | Chartham Kent | B | 2.3 | 67% | 3.3 | 44% |
| 15 | Lyme Regis Dorset | B | 1.4 | 60% | 2.5 | 56% |
| 16 | Roade Northamptonshire | B | 2.6 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 17 | Mayland Essex | B | 2.6 | 91% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Martham Norfolk | B | 1.7 | 74% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 19 | Llanfairfechan Clwyd | B | 1 | 48% | 2.9 | 38% |
| 20 | Sturminster Newton Dorset | B | 1.4 | 85% | 3.6 | 5% |
| 21 | Belton Norfolk | B− | 1.5 | 77% | 1.5 | 48% |
| 22 | Whitwell Derbyshire | B− | 1.7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 23 | Theydon Bois Essex | B− | 2.4 | 70% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 24 | Lower Nazeing Essex | B− | 23.8 | 58% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Worlingham Suffolk | B− | 1.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 24% |
| 26 | Pulborough West Sussex | B− | 1.4 | 77% | 2.7 | 50% |
| 27 | Bembridge Isle of Wight | B− | 1.5 | 50% | 2.3 | 7% |
| 28 | Penllergaer West Glamorgan | B− | 21 | 83% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Langport Somerset | B− | 2.3 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 30 | Oakworth West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.3 | 84% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 31 | Fradley Staffordshire | C+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 32 | Tutbury Staffordshire | C+ | 2.5 | 90% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Great Lumley County Durham | C+ | 1.4 | 88% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 34 | Boreham Essex | C+ | 1.1 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Hatfield Peverel Essex | C | 2 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Bransgore Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 71% | 1.2 | 49% |
| 37 | Cowbridge South Glamorgan | C | 1.2 | 86% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Haltwhistle Northumberland | C | 1.5 | 59% | 2.3 | 31% |
| 39 | Glemsford Suffolk | C− | 1.1 | 84% | 3 | 0% |
| 40 | Bramhope West Yorkshire | C− | 1.8 | 0% | 2.7 | 2% |
| 41 | Hawkhurst Kent | C− | 1.1 | 60% | 1.4 | 100% |
| 42 | Tylorstown and Pontygwaith Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.3 | 63% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Fulbourn Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.7 | 74% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Pwllheli Gwynedd | C− | 0.1 | 23% | 1.3 | 2% |
| 45 | West Parley Dorset | C− | 1.6 | 20% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Bloxham Oxfordshire | C− | 2.6 | 71% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Snaith East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.2 | 89% | 2 | 0% |
| 48 | Kempsey Worcestershire | D | 0.9 | 40% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Windlesham Surrey | D | 2 | 57% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Hoveton and Wroxham Norfolk | D | 1.4 | 65% | 0.8 | 18% |
| 51 | Langford Bedfordshire | D | 1.4 | 63% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Spilsby Lincolnshire | D | 0 | 0% | 2.2 | 23% |
| 53 | Wilsden West Yorkshire | D | 0.6 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 54 | St Columb Major Cornwall | D | 1 | 89% | 1 | 0% |
| 55 | Willaston (Cheshire East) Cheshire | D | 1 | 82% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Bilton East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.3 | 66% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Upwell and Outwell Norfolk | D− | 1.8 | 43% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Wollaston Northamptonshire | D− | 1.2 | 11% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Llanharry Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 50% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Copmanthorpe North Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 38% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Watchet’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 Watchet
The biggest is Memorial Ground, 3.3 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
9 in 10 Watchet 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 (86%)Further (14%)
Watchet86%
Towns its size79%
Somerset towns83%
All UK towns83%
About 500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 228 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
Quantock Hills and Exmoor both start about 2 miles from Watchet
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
18% of the land within 5 km of Watchet is National Park or National Landscape, more than 76% of UK towns. Exmoor National Park covers 693 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Watchet is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
22 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Watchet 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.
National
King Charles III England Coast Path: Brean Down to Minehead6.7 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Watchet.
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 Watchet: 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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 82 | 59 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 50 | 48 | 56 | 52 | 85 | 87 | 87 |
July is the driest month (48 mm) and the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 87 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 20 nights a year. The climate in Watchet →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Watchet
42% of the area within 5 km of Watchet is sea. 8 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 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.
Things to do
16 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
Playgrounds 16
Helwell Street Hummockin town
DirectionsWatchet Childrens Play Area and Outdoor Gymin town
DirectionsPirate Ships0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlay Fort0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 12 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Warren Bay Holliday Village0.3 mi from town
DirectionsWarren Farm Campsite0.7 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
WillitonMineheadNether StoweyWiveliscombeBishops LydeardMilvertonWatchet
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watchet | B+ | 1.3 | 86% | 18% |
| Williton 1.2 mi | B+ | 1.1 | 88% | 31% |
| Minehead 6.6 mi | A+ | 1.4 | 95% | 47% |
| Nether Stowey 7.6 mi | C+ | 1.9 | 18% | 39% |
| Wiveliscombe 9.5 mi | B− | 2.3 | 100% | 0% |
| Bishops Lydeard 10.4 mi | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 23% |
| Milverton 11.2 mi | C− | 2.1 | 70% | 0% |
Minehead, 6.6 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 95% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Bishops Lydeard has at least twice Watchet’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Watchet
What is the biggest park in Watchet?
Memorial Ground, 3.3 ha (8 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Watchet near a National Park?
Yes. Exmoor National Park begins 1.7 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 693 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Quantock Hills National Landscape, 1.2 mi away.
What are the best walks near Watchet?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the King Charles III England Coast Path: Brean Down to Minehead.
How many people in Watchet live near a park?
86% 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 Watchet?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Watchet good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 31% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 21% (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 Watchet’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Watchet’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.