Halesworth’s biggest
Town Park
Park or garden
1.4 ha (3 acres)0.2 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Halesworth
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Halesworth · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Halesworth
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape begins 1.6 mi from the town’s edge. 55% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. 28 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.9 for every square kilometre. Halesworth grades C− for the outdoors: #31 of 34 in Suffolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
55%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
28 km
1.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
5%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Halesworth?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byThe Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape starts 1.6 mi east.Less park per person1.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Halesworth’s strongest suit is the Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Halesworth grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Halesworth, 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 16% of UK towns#31 of 34 in Suffolk · 50th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
25out of
100
100
A park within a walk55%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape5%of the land within 5 km
67out of
100
100
Footpaths1.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
26out 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
Halesworth is 50th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,700 to 5,100 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
Halesworth1.9
Towns its size2.6
Suffolk towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Halesworth1.4
Towns its size2.2
Suffolk towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Halesworth55%
Towns its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Halesworth falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 42 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rye East Sussex | A+ | 3.5 | 89% | 3.5 | 46% |
| 2 | Pill Somerset | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 4 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 5 | Burry Port Dyfed | A+ | 11.8 | 75% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 8 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 9 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 10 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 11 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 12 | Rudheath Cheshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 14 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 15 | Fordingbridge Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 2 | 56% |
| 16 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 17 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 19 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Cranbrook Devon | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1.9 | 1% |
| 21 | Hildenborough Kent | B+ | 6.5 | 40% | 2.8 | 46% |
| 22 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 23 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 24 | Aspull Greater Manchester | B | 7.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 26 | Market Rasen Lincolnshire | B | 2.6 | 94% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 27 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Headley Down and Headley Hampshire | B | 2.1 | 55% | 3.4 | 44% |
| 29 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 30 | Dudley Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.6 | 69% | 4 | 0% |
| 31 | Wotton-under-Edge Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 5.4 | 60% |
| 32 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 33 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 34 | Cross Hills North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3 | 0% |
| 35 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Moulton Northamptonshire | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 43% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 38 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 39 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Billinge Merseyside | C | 0.9 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Datchet Berkshire | C | 8.4 | 72% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 44 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Bungay Suffolk | C | 0.5 | 78% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 46 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 48 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 51 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Gresford Clwyd | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 54 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Lepton West Yorkshire | D− | 0.9 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Halesworth’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 Halesworth
The biggest is Town Park, 1.4 ha (3 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
6 in 10 Halesworth 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 (55%)Further (45%)
Halesworth55%
Towns its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 2,200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 10 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 492 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape is 1.6 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
National Landscape
Suffolk Coast & Heaths
1.6 mi east443 km²since 19705% of the land within 5 km
Official site5% of the land within 5 km of Halesworth is National Park or National Landscape, more than 67% of UK towns. The Broads National Park covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Halesworth
28 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Halesworth and the kilometre around it, 1.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Halesworth; 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 Halesworth: 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 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 49 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 48 | 49 | 59 | 55 | 54 | 65 | 62 | 60 |
April is the driest month (39 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 65 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Halesworth →
Things to do
10 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
Halesworth is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Gunton Sands14 mi from Halesworth’s edge
DirectionsCorton Beach14 mi from Halesworth’s edge
DirectionsCorton Sands14 mi from Halesworth’s edge
DirectionsHonolulu Beach18 mi from Halesworth’s edge
DirectionsTrimley Shores25 mi from Halesworth’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
Nature reserves 1
Halesworth Millennium Green29 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsCampsites 1
Halesworth Holiday Parkin town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
LaxfieldReydonBecclesBungayWorlinghamSaxmundhamHalesworth
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halesworth | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 5% |
| Laxfield 6.6 mi | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 0% |
| Reydon 6.8 mi | A+ | 3.5 | 93% | 49% |
| Beccles 8.0 mi | A | 4.5 | 87% | 20% |
| Bungay 8.0 mi | C | 0.5 | 78% | 12% |
| Worlingham 8.2 mi | B− | 1.5 | 100% | 24% |
| Saxmundham 8.7 mi | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 3% |
Reydon, 6.8 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: 93% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Laxfield, Reydon and Beccles have at least twice Halesworth’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Halesworth
What is the biggest park in Halesworth?
Town Park, 1.4 ha (3 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Halesworth near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 6.3 mi north of the town’s edge. It covers 302 km² and has been a National Park since 1989. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape, 1.6 mi away.
What is the nearest beach to Halesworth?
Gunton Sands, 14 mi from the edge of the town, then Corton Beach (14 mi). Halesworth itself is inland.
How many people in Halesworth live near a park?
55% 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 Halesworth?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Halesworth good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 26% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 25% (1.4 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 Halesworth’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Halesworth’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.