Photo: Oxyman · CC BY 2.5

Outdoors in Long Melford · parks, paths & countryside

Long Melford has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns

Parks and playing fields in Long Melford add up to 6.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 52 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 87% of residents. Long Melford grades B+ for the outdoors: #11 of 34 in Suffolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.

4named parks 6.3 mito Dedham Vale 14waymarked walks

Green space

6.9 ha

per 1,000 residents

Typical UK town 2.1

Near a park

87%

of residents within 400 m

Typical UK town 83%

Footpaths

52 km

3.3 km per km², town + 1 km

Typical UK town 3.0 per km²

Protected landscape

of the land within 5 km

Nearest: Dedham Vale National Landscape

Character

What kind of outdoors town is Long Melford?

Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.

Room to roam6.9 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 92% of UK towns.Historic parks2 registered historic parks and gardens, including Trinity Hospital.

Long Melford’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by its historic parks.

Outdoors grade

Long Melford grades B+ for the outdoors

Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Long Melford, 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 72% of UK towns#11 of 34 in Suffolk · 15th of 60 UK towns its size

Public green space6.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces

92out of
100

A park within a walk87%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)

62out of
100

National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km

31out of
100

Footpaths3.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it

67out of
100

The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland

42out of
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

Long Melford is 15th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors

The 60 UK towns and cities of 3,700 to 4,000 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

Long Melford3.3

Towns its size2.4

Suffolk towns2.5

All UK towns3.0

Green space, ha per 1,000 residents

Long Melford6.9

Towns its size2.0

Suffolk towns2.1

All UK towns2.1

Residents within 400 m of a park

Long Melford87%

Towns its size83%

Suffolk towns80%

All UK towns83%

Against towns its size, Long Melford stands out most for park space per resident: only 5 of the other 59 have more.

Show as a table

	Town	Outdoors	Green space	Near a park	Path per km²	Protected
1	Darley Dale Derbyshire	A⁺	3.8	100%	3.4	51%
2	Batheaston Somerset	A	3	84%	4.6	71%
3	Cranbrook Kent	A	5.8	82%	2.9	65%
4	Chickerell Dorset	A	1.5	88%	3	27%
5	Walter's Ash and Naphill Buckinghamshire	A	3.7	50%	5.3	79%
6	Disley Cheshire	A⁻	1.2	100%	4.6	22%
7	Bowerhill Wiltshire	A⁻	7.4	100%	3	0%
8	Mulbarton Norfolk	A⁻	7	100%	3	0%
9	Welwyn Hertfordshire	A⁻	2.6	100%	4	0%
10	Esh Winning County Durham	A⁻	3.2	100%	3.5	0%
11	Old Basing Hampshire	A⁻	13.6	92%	3.1	0%
12	Colden Common Hampshire	B⁺	2.7	82%	2.8	35%
13	Barnt Green Worcestershire	B⁺	37.8	81%	3.7	0%
14	Carbis Bay Cornwall	B⁺	0.5	88%	2.8	20%
15	Long Melford Suffolk	B⁺	6.9	87%	3.3	0%
16	Papworth Everard Cambridgeshire	B⁺	4.3	100%	2.5	0%
17	Chirk Clwyd	B⁺	1.8	100%	2.3	15%
18	Locking Somerset	B⁺	2.7	84%	2.4	23%
19	Greasbrough South Yorkshire	B	2.9	80%	4.7	0%
20	Queenborough Kent	B	1.6	100%	2	0%
21	Tangmere West Sussex	B	2.1	100%	1.2	36%
22	Stoke Poges Buckinghamshire	B	7.7	76%	3.3	0%
23	Romanby North Yorkshire	B	3.1	100%	2.3	0%
24	Mytholmroyd West Yorkshire	B	1.8	88%	5.8	0%
25	Framlingham Suffolk	B	3.7	73%	4.2	0%
26	Pirbright Surrey	B	2	84%	5.7	0%
27	Calverley West Yorkshire	B	1.5	92%	6	0%
28	Rhuddlan Clwyd	B⁻	1.8	85%	0.9	8%
29	Glanaman Dyfed	B⁻	3.3	83%	0.8	29%
30	South Cerney Gloucestershire	B⁻	2.5	77%	2.4	7%
31	Alford Lincolnshire	B⁻	2.1	85%	1.5	26%
32	Lower Stondon Bedfordshire	B⁻	2.7	73%	2.2	5%
33	New Romney Kent	C⁺	2.5	79%	1.6	0%
34	Chipping Ongar Essex	C⁺	2.5	83%	2.9	0%
35	Bar Hill Cambridgeshire	C⁺	1.4	93%	3.5	0%
36	Pewsey Wiltshire	C⁺	1	64%	3	91%
37	Heacham Norfolk	C⁺	1.5	53%	1.1	29%
38	Forest Row East Sussex	C⁺	0.3	51%	3.4	94%
39	Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire	C	3.7	43%	3	0%
40	Silver End Essex	C	2	88%	2.1	0%
41	Cubbington Warwickshire	C	1.5	100%	1.7	0%
42	Tenbury Wells Worcestershire	C	2.3	51%	2.1	3%
43	Oaklands Hertfordshire	C	2	7%	4.3	0%
44	Bromyard Herefordshire	C	0.9	100%	2.1	0%
45	Whiston South Yorkshire	C⁻	1	75%	3.8	0%
46	Desford Leicestershire	C⁻	1.6	90%	2	0%
47	Holton le Clay Lincolnshire	C⁻	2	59%	1.4	8%
48	Lydd Kent	C⁻	1.7	66%	0.9	0%
49	Kingston Bagpuize Oxfordshire	C⁻	0.8	100%	1.3	0%
50	Swanland East Riding of Yorkshire	C⁻	1.1	75%	0.3	0%
51	Sutton Cambridgeshire	D	1.9	82%	1.1	0%
52	Glyn-neath West Glamorgan	D	1.3	57%	1.1	22%
53	Crowle Lincolnshire	D	1.3	91%	1	0%
54	Puckeridge and Standon Hertfordshire	D	0.9	59%	3.2	0%
55	Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire	D	1.3	79%	0.8	0%
56	North Ferriby East Riding of Yorkshire	D	0.6	33%	1	0%
57	Willingham Cambridgeshire	D	1.4	73%	0.8	0%
58	Long Buckby Northamptonshire	D⁻	0.6	52%	1.9	0%
59	Penyffordd Clwyd	D⁻	0.7	36%	1.6	0%
60	Indian Queens, Fraddon and St Columb Road Cornwall	D⁻	0.7	27%	1.6	0%

The map

Parks, footpaths & countryside

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Long Melford’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 Long Melford

The biggest is Dyehouse Meadow, 12 ha (29 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.

All 4 named parks by size: 24 ha (60 acres) and 4 km of path

Parks & gardens 22 haPlaying fields 2.7 ha

The two biggest, Dyehouse Meadow and Melford Country Park, are 79% of the named green space and carry 4 km of path between them.

Long Melford’s biggest

Dyehouse Meadow

Park or garden

12 ha (29 acres)0.9 km of path

10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path

16 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Long Melford

Roman villa at Liston Lane monument

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Melford Country Park

Park or garden · 10 m outside town

7.6 ha (19 acres)2.8 km of path

35 minto walk all 2.8 km of path

11 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

1.2 mi south-westfrom the centre

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Melford Green

Park or garden

2.4 ha (6 acres)

3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

0.5 mi northfrom the centre

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Stoneylands

Playing field

2.7 ha (7 acres)

4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit

Centralin the middle of Long Melford

Directionsto the nearest entrance

Close to home

9 in 10 Long Melford 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 (87%)Further (13%)

Long Melford87%

Towns its size83%

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; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 779 residents.

National Parks & National Landscapes

The Dedham Vale National Landscape is 6.3 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

Dedham Vale

6.3 mi south-east91 km²since 1970

Official site

National Landscape

Suffolk Coast & Heaths

14 mi south-east443 km²since 1970

Official site

Footpaths & waymarked walks

14 waymarked walks pass through or near Long Melford

52 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Long Melford and the kilometre around it, 3.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.

RegionalLocal

Stour Valley Path part 211.0 km

St Edmund Way10.9 km

Countryside Walk, Melford Hall10.2 km

Melford Hall to Sudbury Mill Walk, Melford Hall9.0 km

Windmill Hill Walk, Melford Hall6.2 km

Lavenham to Long Melford Railway Walk, Lavenham Guildhall3.6 km

Melford Hall to Lavenham Railway Walk, Melford Hall and Lavenham Guildhall3.6 km

Circular Walk3.0 km

Orange Parkland Estate Walk, Melford Hall3.0 km

Blue Parkland Estate Walk, Melford Hall2.7 km

Green Parkland Estate Walk, Melford Hall2.3 km

Pink Parkland Estate Walk, Melford Hall1.7 km

Gainsborough Trail Meadow Walk0.7 km

Suffolk Threads Heritage Trail0.5 km

Close to home, the Countryside Walk, Melford Hall has 10 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Stour Valley Path part 2 and St Edmund Way.

Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.

History along the way

2 registered historic parks in Long Melford

Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Long Melford’s named parks.

Registered · Grade II*Kentwell Hall1.1 ha

Registered · Grade IITrinity Hospital0.2 ha

Heritage walks

Melford Hall to Sudbury Mill Walk, Melford Hall 9.0 km Suffolk Threads Heritage Trail 0.5 km

A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.

When to get out

The best walking months in Long Melford: 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	14.6	12.6	10.5	8.7	7.8
High (°C)	7	8	11	14	18	20	23	23	20	15	11	8
Rain (mm)	50	45	38	38	43	49	46	57	53	55	61	55

March is the driest month (38 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 61 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 45 nights a year. The climate in Long Melford →

Things to do

5 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.

1Waterfalls 2Nature reserves 5Playgrounds0.5× towns its size

The nearest beaches

Long Melford is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.

The Beach21 mi from Long Melford’s edge

Directions

Mill Beach23 mi from Long Melford’s edge

Directions

Weymarks Beach23 mi from Long Melford’s edge

Directions

East Point Beach24 mi from Long Melford’s edge

Directions

Trimley Shores24 mi from Long Melford’s edge

Directions

Good 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

Waterfalls 1

Weir0.9 mi from town

Directions

Nature reserves 2

North Meadow Common17 ha · 1.1 mi from town

Directions

Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.

Playgrounds 5

Plus 5 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.

ActonGlemsfordSudburyGreat WaldingfieldLavenhamClareLong Melford

ABCDOutdoors Grade

Town	Outdoors	Green space, ha per 1,000	Near a park	Protected within 5 km
Long Melford	B⁺	6.9	87%	0%
Acton 2.0 mi	C	1.6	100%	0%
Glemsford 2.6 mi	C⁻	1.1	84%	0%
Sudbury 2.9 mi	B	3.8	77%	0%
Great Waldingfield 3.0 mi	C	2.0	100%	0%
Lavenham 3.9 mi	C	4.2	59%	0%
Clare 5.9 mi	A⁻	7.7	100%	0%

Clare, 5.9 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.

Questions about the outdoors in Long Melford

What is the biggest park in Long Melford?

Dyehouse Meadow, 12 ha (29 acres), with 0.9 km of path. Melford Country Park (7.6 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.

Is Long Melford near a National Park?

The nearest protected landscape is the Dedham Vale National Landscape, 6.3 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 91 km² and was designated in 1970.

What are the best walks near Long Melford?

14 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Stour Valley Path part 2, St Edmund Way and Countryside Walk, Melford Hall.

What is the nearest beach to Long Melford?

The Beach, 21 mi from the edge of the town, then Mill Beach (23 mi). Long Melford itself is inland.

How many people in Long Melford live near a park?

87% 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 Long Melford?

May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

Which parks in Long Melford are historic?

Trinity Hospital (Grade II) and Kentwell Hall (Grade II*) are on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.

Is Long Melford good for walking?

For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 67% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 92% (6.9 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 Long Melford’s overall grade.

Sources

Where Long Melford’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.