Saxmundham’s biggest
Saxmundham War Memorial Playing Field
Playing field
1.4 ha (4 acres)
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Saxmundham
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Simon Mortimer · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Saxmundham · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Saxmundham lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape begins 2.2 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Saxmundham add up to 3.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 18 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.9 for every square kilometre. Saxmundham grades B+ for the outdoors: #10 of 34 in Suffolk. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
18 km
1.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
3%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Saxmundham?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byThe Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape starts 2.2 mi south.
Saxmundham’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by the Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape close by.
Outdoors grade
Saxmundham grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Saxmundham, 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 75% of UK towns#10 of 34 in Suffolk · 18th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
74out 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 Landscape3%of the land within 5 km
66out of
100
100
Footpaths1.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
27out 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
Saxmundham is 18th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,600 to 5,000 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
Saxmundham1.9
Towns its size2.7
Suffolk towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Saxmundham3.3
Towns its size2.3
Suffolk towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Saxmundham100%
Towns its size82%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Saxmundham stands out most for park space per resident: only 17 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 48 of the 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 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 3 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 4 | Rownhams and Nursling Hampshire | A+ | 4.9 | 86% | 6.7 | 12% |
| 5 | Marple Bridge Greater Manchester | A | 9.9 | 80% | 4.4 | 13% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 8 | Huntington Staffordshire | A | 3.7 | 74% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 9 | Carleton Lancashire | A | 3 | 86% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 10 | Rudheath Cheshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 12 | Writtle Essex | A− | 5.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Cringleford Norfolk | A− | 1.7 | 94% | 7.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Dersingham Norfolk | A− | 3.1 | 76% | 1.9 | 39% |
| 15 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Liss Hampshire | A− | 2.3 | 87% | 2.6 | 98% |
| 17 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 18 | Saxmundham Suffolk | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 1.9 | 3% |
| 19 | Borough Green Kent | B+ | 2.5 | 93% | 1.9 | 50% |
| 20 | Bodicote Oxfordshire | B+ | 10.2 | 86% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 21 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 22 | Callington Cornwall | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.1 | 21% |
| 23 | Coedpoeth Clwyd | B | 1.4 | 100% | 1.9 | 24% |
| 24 | Lyneham Wiltshire | B− | 1.5 | 94% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 25 | Lenham and Harrietsham Kent | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 2.4 | 47% |
| 26 | Chalfont St Giles Buckinghamshire | B− | 1.8 | 57% | 3.5 | 37% |
| 27 | Kelvedon and Feering Essex | B− | 3.5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Astley Greater Manchester | B− | 3.5 | 78% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 29 | Bromham Bedfordshire | B− | 3.8 | 87% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 31 | Llay Clwyd | B− | 10.6 | 85% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 32 | Dudley Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.6 | 69% | 4 | 0% |
| 33 | Bramley Hampshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 34 | Dickens Heath West Midlands | C+ | 3.2 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 36 | Cross Hills North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Ripponden West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 38 | Edwalton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 58% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Datchet Berkshire | C | 8.4 | 72% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Minster (Thanet) Kent | C | 2.3 | 64% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Makeney Derbyshire | C | 2.1 | 56% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 44 | Mynydd Isa Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 87% | 2 | 3% |
| 45 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 46 | Winterton Lincolnshire | C | 1.6 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Kinver Staffordshire | C | 3.1 | 60% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 48 | Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire | C− | 1.9 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 49 | Barton-under-Needwood Staffordshire | C− | 2.3 | 70% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea Lancashire | C− | 0.7 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Middleton St George County Durham | C− | 1.8 | 94% | 1 | 0% |
| 52 | Sowerby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.5 | 77% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Bailrigg Lancashire | C− | 0 | 0% | 3.4 | 18% |
| 54 | Stretton Staffordshire | C− | 3.7 | 49% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 57 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Markfield Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Chilton County Durham | D− | 1.1 | 68% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Saxmundham’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 Saxmundham
The biggest is Saxmundham War Memorial Playing Field, 1.4 ha (4 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Mayflower Play Area
Play space
0.0 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Saxmundham
Directionsto the park
Close to home
How close Saxmundham’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%)
Saxmundham100%
Towns its size82%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 7 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 683 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape is 2.2 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
2.2 mi south443 km²since 19703% of the land within 5 km
Official site3% of the land within 5 km of Saxmundham is National Park or National Landscape, more than 66% 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 Saxmundham
18 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Saxmundham 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 Saxmundham; 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 Saxmundham: 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 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 49 | 47 | 43 | 38 | 51 | 53 | 59 | 58 | 54 | 65 | 65 | 62 |
April is the driest month (38 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °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 Saxmundham →
Things to do
7 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
Saxmundham is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Honolulu Beach10 mi from Saxmundham’s edge
DirectionsTrimley Shores17 mi from Saxmundham’s edge
DirectionsGunton Sands22 mi from Saxmundham’s edge
DirectionsCorton Beach23 mi from Saxmundham’s edge
DirectionsCorton Sands23 mi from Saxmundham’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
Playgrounds 7
Plus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 3
Carlton Park Camping and Caravan Site0.0 mi from town
DirectionsOrchard Wild Camping0.4 mi from town
DirectionsMill Farm0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
LeistonFramlinghamAldeburghWickham MarketRendleshamLaxfieldSaxmundham
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saxmundham | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 3% |
| Leiston 4.0 mi | A | 1.7 | 95% | 35% |
| Framlingham 6.0 mi | B | 3.7 | 73% | 0% |
| Aldeburgh 6.2 mi | A | 2.3 | 88% | 41% |
| Wickham Market 6.7 mi | C | 2.5 | 64% | 7% |
| Rendlesham 6.8 mi | C− | 0.8 | 52% | 59% |
| Laxfield 7.7 mi | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 0% |
Aldeburgh, 6.2 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 88% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Saxmundham
What is the biggest park in Saxmundham?
Saxmundham War Memorial Playing Field, 1.4 ha (4 acres). Mayflower Play Area (0.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Saxmundham near a National Park?
Yes. the Broads National Park begins 16 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, 2.2 mi away.
What is the nearest beach to Saxmundham?
Honolulu Beach, 10 mi from the edge of the town, then Trimley Shores (17 mi). Saxmundham itself is inland.
How many people in Saxmundham 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 Saxmundham?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Saxmundham good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 27% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 74% (3.3 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 Saxmundham’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Saxmundham’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.