Elmswell’s biggest
Lukeswood
Park or garden
2.7 ha (7 acres)0.3 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Keith Rattenbury · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Elmswell · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Elmswell lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Elmswell add up to 2.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 34 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.9 for every square kilometre. Elmswell grades B for the outdoors: #15 of 34 in Suffolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
34 km
2.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Dedham Vale National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Elmswell grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Elmswell, 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 63% of UK towns#15 of 34 in Suffolk · 17th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space2.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
59out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
57out 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.
Towns its size
Elmswell is 17th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,300 to 4,600 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
Elmswell2.9
Towns its size2.7
Suffolk towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Elmswell2.5
Towns its size2.1
Suffolk towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Elmswell100%
Towns its size86%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Elmswell stands out most for homes near a park: none of the other 59 has more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keswick Cumbria | A+ | 9.1 | 100% | 4.1 | 100% |
| 2 | Lawford Essex | A+ | 3.4 | 94% | 2.8 | 40% |
| 3 | Chipstead and Woodmansterne Surrey | A+ | 10.3 | 92% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 4 | Great Denham Bedfordshire | A | 14.7 | 100% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 5 | Aberbargoed Gwent | A | 22.8 | 95% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 6 | Overton Hampshire | A | 3.7 | 92% | 2.5 | 45% |
| 7 | Fortuneswell Dorset | A | 1.1 | 100% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 8 | Kimberley Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Stanton Hill and Skegby Nottinghamshire | A− | 16.1 | 83% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire | A− | 7.7 | 91% | 4 | 0% |
| 11 | Exminster Devon | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 12 | Nantyglo Gwent | A− | 2.5 | 82% | 3.7 | 29% |
| 13 | Stokenchurch Buckinghamshire | A− | 2.3 | 90% | 2.6 | 86% |
| 14 | Wheathampstead Hertfordshire | A− | 3.1 | 93% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Horsford Norfolk | B+ | 6.5 | 97% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Girton Cambridgeshire | B+ | 2.8 | 92% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Elmswell Suffolk | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Clayton West and Scissett West Yorkshire | B | 1.4 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Winchcombe Gloucestershire | B | 2.2 | 60% | 3 | 81% |
| 20 | Sowerby Bridge West Yorkshire | B | 4.5 | 72% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Earby Lancashire | B− | 1.4 | 93% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 22 | Alderley Edge Cheshire | B− | 2.2 | 86% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Finedon Northamptonshire | B− | 3.9 | 95% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Cwmavon West Glamorgan | B− | 2.3 | 75% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 25 | Irchester Northamptonshire | B− | 8.2 | 83% | 2 | 0% |
| 26 | Tibshelf Derbyshire | B− | 1.4 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Toddington Bedfordshire | B− | 0.9 | 86% | 3.1 | 8% |
| 28 | Milford on Sea Hampshire | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 29 | Blaina Gwent | C+ | 2.1 | 53% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 30 | Stamford Bridge East Riding of Yorkshire | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Brinsley and Underwood Nottinghamshire | C+ | 3.3 | 71% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Iwade Kent | C+ | 0.8 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Howden East Riding of Yorkshire | C+ | 3.6 | 94% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Southminster Essex | C+ | 1.8 | 92% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Backwell Somerset | C+ | 2.3 | 57% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Halfway Houses Kent | C | 1.8 | 71% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Queen's Hills Norfolk | C | 0.4 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 38 | Backworth Tyne and Wear | C | 2 | 59% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Hope Clwyd | C | 8.5 | 64% | 2 | 0% |
| 40 | Eccleston Lancashire | C | 2.4 | 83% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 41 | Clapham Bedfordshire | C | 1.3 | 94% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 42 | Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse Derbyshire | C | 1.6 | 75% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Skelmanthorpe West Yorkshire | C | 1 | 88% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Brundall Norfolk | C | 1.6 | 62% | 2.3 | 20% |
| 45 | Meopham Kent | C | 1.3 | 53% | 2.5 | 35% |
| 46 | Coxhoe County Durham | C | 1.4 | 66% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Long Lawford Warwickshire | C | 1.2 | 91% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Cuffley Hertfordshire | C− | 13.6 | 19% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Wesham Lancashire | C− | 1.7 | 87% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Saxilby Lincolnshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Chudleigh Devon | C− | 0.3 | 83% | 1.4 | 15% |
| 52 | Epworth Lincolnshire | C− | 1.6 | 75% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Great Ayton North Yorkshire | C− | 0.2 | 48% | 2.2 | 31% |
| 54 | Freckleton Lancashire | D | 0.4 | 73% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Linton Cambridgeshire | D | 1.1 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Shepperton Green Surrey | D | 1.4 | 73% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Banks Lancashire | D | 0.3 | 33% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Lakenheath Suffolk | D | 1.1 | 57% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Broughton Lincolnshire | D | 0.9 | 39% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Elm and Emneth Norfolk | D | 2.2 | 45% | 0.7 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Elmswell’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 Elmswell
The biggest is Lukeswood, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Blackbourne Meadow
Playing field
4.5 ha (11 acres)0.1 km of path
6 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Elmswell
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Elmswell’s homes are to 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Elmswell100%
Towns its size86%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 9 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 494 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Dedham Vale National Landscape is 14 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 Elmswell
34 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Elmswell and the kilometre around it, 2.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Elmswell; 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 Elmswell: 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) | 8.2 | 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 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 51 | 43 | 40 | 37 | 50 | 55 | 54 | 65 | 53 | 61 | 62 | 58 |
April is the driest month (37 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 65 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Elmswell →
Things to do
9 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
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.
The nearest beaches
Elmswell is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
The Beach15 mi from Elmswell’s edge
DirectionsHonolulu Beach20 mi from Elmswell’s edge
DirectionsTrimley Shores23 mi from Elmswell’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
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
WoolpitHaughleyWalsham le WillowsThurstonBacton and CottonStowmarketElmswell
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmswell | B | 2.5 | 100% | 0% |
| Woolpit 1.4 mi | C− | 4.3 | 54% | 0% |
| Haughley 2.7 mi | C | 3.0 | 71% | 0% |
| Walsham le Willows 4.5 mi | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 0% |
| Thurston 4.6 mi | D | 1.6 | 39% | 0% |
| Bacton and Cotton 4.6 mi | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 0% |
| Stowmarket 4.9 mi | C− | 0.8 | 50% | 0% |
Elmswell grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Elmswell
What is the biggest park in Elmswell?
Lukeswood, 2.7 ha (7 acres). Blackbourne Meadow (4.5 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Elmswell near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Dedham Vale National Landscape, 14 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 91 km² and was designated in 1970.
What is the nearest beach to Elmswell?
The Beach, 15 mi from the edge of the town, then Honolulu Beach (20 mi). Elmswell itself is inland.
How many people in Elmswell live near a park?
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%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Elmswell?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Elmswell good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 57% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 59% (2.5 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 Elmswell’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Elmswell’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.