Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and playing fields in Clare add up to 7.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 27 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 2.5 for every square kilometre. Clare grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Clare’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by plenty of park space.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Clare, 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 2,200 to 2,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against villages its size, Clare stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Limpsfield Surrey | A+ | 2.9 | 100% | 3.7 | 41% |
| 2 | Radford Semele Warwickshire | A | 12.3 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 3 | Elstead Surrey | A | 2.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 82% |
| 4 | Westcott Surrey | A | 1.8 | 86% | 5.5 | 78% |
| 5 | Hapton Lancashire | A | 2.6 | 87% | 6.1 | 2% |
| 6 | Harlington Bedfordshire | A− | 2.7 | 100% | 2.7 | 16% |
| 7 | Millbrook Cornwall | A− | 2 | 100% | 1.1 | 19% |
| 8 | Berrow and Brean Somerset | A− | 3.6 | 75% | 1.7 | 1% |
| 9 | Clare Suffolk | A− | 7.7 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 10 | Cannington Somerset | A− | 2.8 | 88% | 3.2 | 3% |
| 11 | Acle Norfolk | B+ | 1.6 | 89% | 3.1 | 43% |
| 12 | Hall Green West Yorkshire | B+ | 7.5 | 82% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 13 | Tisbury Wiltshire | B+ | 1.5 | 86% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 14 | Woodford Greater Manchester | B+ | 5.9 | 80% | 2.3 | 5% |
| 15 | Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 76% | 2.8 | 100% |
| 16 | Crick Northamptonshire | B | 3.8 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 17 | Pen-y-fai Mid Glamorgan | B | 3.8 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Mayfield East Sussex | B− | 3.3 | 61% | 1.9 | 99% |
| 19 | Loddon Norfolk | B− | 2.4 | 77% | 2.5 | 18% |
| 20 | Dormansland Surrey | B− | 2.5 | 70% | 2.3 | 33% |
| 21 | Bickershaw Greater Manchester | B− | 5 | 13% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 22 | Park Street and Frogmore Hertfordshire | B− | 4.5 | 63% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 23 | Wiveliscombe Somerset | B− | 2.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 24 | Debenham Suffolk | C+ | 1 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Bere Alston Devon | C+ | 1.4 | 64% | 1.3 | 93% |
| 26 | Osbaldwick North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 70% | 5 | 0% |
| 27 | Delph Greater Manchester | C+ | 0.7 | 72% | 3.9 | 17% |
| 28 | Mickleton Gloucestershire | C+ | 2.2 | 52% | 2.1 | 45% |
| 29 | Boughton under Blean Kent | C+ | 2.7 | 24% | 2.5 | 18% |
| 30 | Cold Ash Berkshire | C+ | 1.5 | 7% | 3.1 | 60% |
| 31 | Berkeley Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.9 | 49% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 32 | Bishopsteignton Devon | C | 3 | 62% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Stanton Suffolk | C | 2.6 | 87% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 34 | Caistor Lincolnshire | C | 2.8 | 39% | 1.3 | 33% |
| 35 | Hawkesbury Warwickshire | C | 1 | 78% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 36 | Tatworth Somerset | C | 1.3 | 71% | 1.7 | 44% |
| 37 | Whaddon Wiltshire | C | 2.6 | 55% | 1.3 | 10% |
| 38 | Wardley Greater Manchester | C− | 0.6 | 88% | 3 | 0% |
| 39 | Stanford in the Vale Oxfordshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Wateringbury Kent | C− | 2.4 | 73% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Roche Cornwall | C− | 2.8 | 81% | 1 | 0% |
| 42 | Creigiau South Glamorgan | C− | 1.7 | 85% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Coltishall and Horstead Norfolk | C− | 2.1 | 57% | 1.3 | 8% |
| 44 | Kings Sutton Northamptonshire | C− | 1.8 | 79% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Reepham Norfolk | C− | 2.3 | 66% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Coates and Eastrea Cambridgeshire | C− | 0.9 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Usk Gwent | C− | 3.5 | 56% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 48 | St Osyth Essex | C− | 1.5 | 54% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Scholes (Leeds) West Yorkshire | D | 0 | 0% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 50 | Comberton Cambridgeshire | D | 1.6 | 71% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 51 | Bicknacre Essex | D | 1 | 56% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Belton Lincolnshire | D | 1.5 | 67% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Great Barford Bedfordshire | D− | 1.4 | 45% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Tattenhall Cheshire | D− | 1.8 | 28% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Bettws Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.7 | 71% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Ixworth Suffolk | D− | 1 | 73% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Hingham Norfolk | D− | 1.9 | 13% | 1 | 0% |
| 58 | Norton South Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 63% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Isleham Cambridgeshire | D− | 0.2 | 71% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Puriton Somerset | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.4 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Clare’s built-up area.
The biggest is Clare Castle Country Park, 10 ha (25 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).
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
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.
27 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Clare and the kilometre around it, 2.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
The regional route here is the Stour Valley Path part 2.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
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 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 48 | 45 | 44 | 41 | 37 | 37 | 61 | 72 | 49 | 55 | 61 | 55 |
May is the driest month (37 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 72 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Clare →
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.
Clare is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
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 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 1 campsite without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare | A− | 7.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Kedington 3.9 mi | C+ | 3.3 | 83% | 0% |
| Glemsford 4.0 mi | C− | 1.1 | 84% | 0% |
| Great Yeldham 4.5 mi | C+ | 3.1 | 86% | 0% |
| Cock and End 4.9 mi | D− | 0.0 | 0% | 0% |
| Long Melford 5.9 mi | B+ | 6.9 | 87% | 0% |
| Castle Hedingham 6.2 mi | C− | 1.7 | 52% | 0% |
Clare grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Clare Castle Country Park, 10 ha (25 acres), with 3.1 km of path. Lower Common (7.4 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
The nearest protected landscape is the Dedham Vale National Landscape, 11 mi south-east of the village’s edge. It covers 91 km² and was designated in 1970.
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Stour Valley Path part 2, London to Walsingham - stage 04 and London to Walsingham - stage 05. Clare Castle Country Park alone has 3.1 km of path.
The Beach, 21 mi from the edge of the village, then Mill Beach (24 mi). Clare itself is inland.
100% 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.
About average for paths: 2.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 45% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 93% (7.7 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 Clare’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.