Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0Nacton is on the coast
The sea makes up 10% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Nacton add up to 6.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 10 km in the village and the kilometre around it, 1.2 for every square kilometre. Nacton has no Outdoors Grade (towns under 1,000 people aren’t graded).
What kind of outdoors village is Nacton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Nacton’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by parks close to every home.
Everyone in Nacton lives 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).
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Footpaths in and around Nacton
10 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Nacton and the kilometre around it, 1.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Nacton; 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.
A registered historic park in Nacton
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Nacton’s named parks.
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.
The best walking months in Nacton: 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 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 50 | 44 | 37 | 36 | 41 | 45 | 52 | 48 | 48 | 61 | 60 | 58 |
April is the driest month (36 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 October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 31 nights a year. The climate in Nacton →
The coast and beaches near Nacton
10% of the area within 5 km of Nacton is sea.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
The outdoors in nearby towns
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nacton | – | 6.0 | 100% | 35% |
| Kesgrave 3.0 mi | A | 3.3 | 97% | 14% |
| Martlesham Heath 3.5 mi | A− | 3.5 | 68% | 25% |
| Kirton 3.6 mi | A+ | 2.5 | 100% | 50% |
| Trimley St Martin 3.7 mi | A+ | 1.7 | 100% | 43% |
| Holbrook 4.1 mi | B+ | 1.1 | 74% | 52% |
| Martlesham 4.1 mi | B | 2.1 | 69% | 24% |
Kirton, 3.6 miles away, grades A+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Nacton
Is Nacton near a National Park?
No National Park or National Landscape is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Nacton.
How many people in Nacton 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 Nacton?
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 Nacton are historic?
Broke Hall Park (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
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 Nacton’s overall grade.
Where Nacton’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.