Bacton and Cotton’s biggest
Tailors Green
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Bacton and Cotton
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Robert Edwards · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Bacton and Cotton · parks, paths & countryside
Bacton and Cotton has more park space per resident than 8 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Bacton and Cotton add up to 4.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 70% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Footpaths add up to 33 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 2.5 for every square kilometre. Bacton and Cotton grades C+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
4.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
70%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
33 km
2.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Bacton and Cotton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam4.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 83% of UK towns.Parks can be a walk away31% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Bacton and Cotton’s strongest suit is plenty of park space. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Bacton and Cotton grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Bacton and Cotton, 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 38% of UK towns34th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space4.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
84out of
100
100
A park within a walk70%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
30out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
44out 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.
Villages its size
Bacton and Cotton is 34th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,500 to 1,600 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
Bacton and Cotton2.5
Villages its size2.6
Suffolk towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Bacton and Cotton4.4
Villages its size2.4
Suffolk towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Bacton and Cotton70%
Villages its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Bacton and Cotton stands out most for park space per resident: only 9 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 39 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanhope County Durham | A+ | 7.7 | 100% | 3.5 | 86% |
| 2 | Salcombe Devon | A+ | 2 | 100% | 3.3 | 65% |
| 3 | Finberry Kent | A+ | 4 | 100% | 5.1 | 2% |
| 4 | Dobcross Greater Manchester | A+ | 2.8 | 100% | 4.8 | 22% |
| 5 | Fairlight East Sussex | A+ | 39.6 | 50% | 3.3 | 42% |
| 6 | Crockenhill Kent | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 7 | Wood Street Village Surrey | A+ | 25.7 | 81% | 4.9 | 18% |
| 8 | Ducklington Oxfordshire | A | 10.1 | 79% | 4.8 | 4% |
| 9 | Roydon Essex | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 10 | Haverigg Cumbria | A | 4.7 | 67% | 2.5 | 11% |
| 11 | North Bradley Wiltshire | A | 3.4 | 100% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 12 | Middle Winterslow Wiltshire | A | 7 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 13 | Collett's Green Worcestershire | A | 3.5 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 14 | St Athan South Glamorgan | A | 2.2 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 15 | Sabden Lancashire | A− | 0.8 | 100% | 5 | 38% |
| 16 | Oakenshaw West Yorkshire | A− | 7.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 17 | West Wellow Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 82% | 2.7 | 51% |
| 18 | Thorpe-le-Soken Essex | A− | 4.2 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 19 | King's Cliffe Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Kimpton Hertfordshire | B+ | 3.7 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Ambergate Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 22 | Ramsbury Wiltshire | B+ | 3.9 | 62% | 2.3 | 100% |
| 23 | Tideswell Derbyshire | B | 1.5 | 100% | 1.6 | 97% |
| 24 | Mount Hawke Cornwall | B | 1.4 | 85% | 2 | 6% |
| 25 | Fence Lancashire | B | 1.3 | 62% | 6.2 | 32% |
| 26 | Potterne Wiltshire | B | 1.3 | 77% | 5.1 | 8% |
| 27 | Wick Gloucestershire | B− | 1.8 | 56% | 3.6 | 39% |
| 28 | Mundford Norfolk | B− | 3.1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 29 | Gotham Nottinghamshire | B− | 3.9 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 30 | South Witham Lincolnshire | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 31 | High Harrington Cumbria | C+ | 0.5 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 32 | Evenwood County Durham | C+ | 3.4 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Norton (Norton Juxta Kempsey) Worcestershire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 34 | Bacton and Cotton Suffolk | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Rufford Lancashire | C | 2.8 | 70% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Anna Valley and Upper Clatford Hampshire | C | 2.2 | 77% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Four Lanes Cornwall | C | 0.6 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Kingsley Cheshire | C | 3.4 | 81% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Stock Essex | C | 2.2 | 62% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 40 | Arksey South Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 88% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Rawcliffe East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Glapwell Derbyshire | C− | 2.2 | 60% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Horsmonden Kent | C− | 0.5 | 79% | 0.9 | 50% |
| 44 | Yalding Kent | C− | 7.1 | 21% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Sandleheath Hampshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.6 | 52% |
| 46 | Tidbury Green West Midlands | C− | 2.4 | 49% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Dalston Cumbria | C− | 3.4 | 66% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Baston Lincolnshire | C− | 2.3 | 78% | 1 | 0% |
| 49 | Ainsworth Greater Manchester | D | 0.4 | 64% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Heighington County Durham | D | 2.6 | 64% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Henstridge Somerset | D | 1.8 | 47% | 2 | 0% |
| 52 | Broadclyst Devon | D | 1.4 | 78% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 53 | Wood End (North Warwickshire) Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 74% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Camblesforth North Yorkshire | D | 0.3 | 81% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Burton Green Warwickshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Aberford West Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 22% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Edgmond Shropshire | D− | 1.7 | 33% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 58 | Walpole St Peter and Walpole St Andrew Norfolk | D− | 1.7 | 52% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 59 | School Aycliffe County Durham | D− | 0 | 0% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Leasingham Lincolnshire | D− | 1.3 | 50% | 0.9 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Bacton and Cotton’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 Bacton and Cotton
The biggest is Tailors Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Bacton and Cotton 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 (70%)Further (31%)
Bacton and Cotton70%
Villages its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
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.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths 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.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Bacton and Cotton
33 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Bacton and Cotton and the kilometre around it, 2.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Bacton and Cotton; its footpaths are on the map above.
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 Bacton and Cotton: 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) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 49 | 43 | 40 | 38 | 48 | 52 | 55 | 63 | 49 | 63 | 62 | 58 |
April is the driest month (38 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 63 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 41 nights a year. The climate in Bacton and Cotton →
Things to do
2 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
Bacton and Cotton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Honolulu Beach17 mi from Bacton and Cotton’s edge
DirectionsThe Beach17 mi from Bacton and Cotton’s edge
DirectionsTrimley Shores22 mi from Bacton and Cotton’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds 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.
GislinghamMendleshamHaughleyWalsham le WillowsStowuplandElmswellBacton and Cotton
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacton and Cotton | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 0% |
| Gislingham 2.9 mi | B | 3.1 | 100% | 0% |
| Mendlesham 3.0 mi | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 0% |
| Haughley 3.7 mi | C | 3.0 | 71% | 0% |
| Walsham le Willows 4.0 mi | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 0% |
| Stowupland 4.6 mi | A− | 5.3 | 83% | 0% |
| Elmswell 4.6 mi | B | 2.5 | 100% | 0% |
Stowupland, 4.6 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 83% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Bacton and Cotton
What is the biggest park in Bacton and Cotton?
Tailors Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Bacton and Cotton near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape, 16 mi south of the village’s edge. It covers 443 km² and was designated in 1970.
What is the nearest beach to Bacton and Cotton?
Honolulu Beach, 17 mi from the edge of the village, then The Beach (17 mi). Bacton and Cotton itself is inland.
How many people in Bacton and Cotton live near a park?
70% 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 Bacton and Cotton?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Bacton and Cotton good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 44% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 84% (4.4 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 Bacton and Cotton’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Bacton and Cotton’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.