Stowupland’s biggest
Thorney Green
Park or garden
2.6 ha (6 acres)0.6 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Stowupland
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Keith Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Stowupland · parks, paths & countryside
Stowupland has more footpath per square kilometre than nearly 9 in 10 UK towns
42 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 4.6 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Stowupland add up to 5.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 83% of residents. Stowupland grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
5.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
83%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
42 km
4.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Stowupland?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A village of footpaths4.6 km of path per km², more than 89% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Room to roam5.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 88% of UK towns.
Stowupland’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Stowupland grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Stowupland, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 77% of UK towns16th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space5.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
88out of
100
100
A park within a walk83%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
52out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths4.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
89out 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.
Villages its size
Stowupland is 16th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,900 to 2,100 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
Stowupland4.6
Villages its size2.3
Suffolk towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Stowupland5.3
Villages its size2.3
Suffolk towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Stowupland83%
Villages its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Stowupland stands out most for park space per resident: only 7 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meliden Clwyd | A+ | 4.2 | 100% | 4.2 | 21% |
| 2 | Vigo Village Kent | A+ | 33.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 44% |
| 3 | Llanfoist Gwent | A+ | 10.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 57% |
| 4 | Ditchingham Norfolk | A+ | 17.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 5 | Fowey Cornwall | A | 3.2 | 91% | 2.1 | 32% |
| 6 | Lower Kingswood Surrey | A | 4.7 | 75% | 6.6 | 22% |
| 7 | Bournmoor County Durham | A | 11 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 8 | Chiseldon Wiltshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 3.4 | 69% |
| 9 | Upper Rissington Gloucestershire | A | 6.2 | 100% | 1.2 | 100% |
| 10 | Churchill Somerset | A | 2.8 | 84% | 3.9 | 39% |
| 11 | Wrington Somerset | A | 3.2 | 100% | 2.6 | 20% |
| 12 | Y Bala Gwynedd | A | 4 | 100% | 1.4 | 67% |
| 13 | Highfields Caldecote Cambridgeshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 14 | Bishops Lydeard Somerset | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 23% |
| 15 | Great Haywood Staffordshire | A− | 7.1 | 27% | 4.1 | 29% |
| 16 | Stowupland Suffolk | A− | 5.3 | 83% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Yealmpton Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 1.8 | 50% |
| 18 | Culverstone Green Kent | B+ | 5.3 | 61% | 2.7 | 42% |
| 19 | Brompton North Yorkshire | B+ | 4.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 20 | Valley Gwynedd | B+ | 5 | 33% | 1.2 | 37% |
| 21 | Sandford Dorset | B | 0.3 | 43% | 4.7 | 41% |
| 22 | Meppershall Bedfordshire | B | 2.3 | 83% | 3 | 2% |
| 23 | Welsh Bicknor Gloucestershire | B | 2.7 | 31% | 3.3 | 45% |
| 24 | Dyserth Clwyd | B− | 0.5 | 54% | 3.6 | 22% |
| 25 | Wheaton Aston Staffordshire | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 26 | Felbridge Surrey | B− | 2 | 80% | 2.4 | 25% |
| 27 | Trelewis Mid Glamorgan | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 28 | Uffculme Devon | B− | 2.8 | 86% | 1.3 | 14% |
| 29 | Edenfield Lancashire | B− | 2.7 | 69% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Rothbury Northumberland | B− | 1 | 76% | 3.8 | 21% |
| 31 | Exning Suffolk | B− | 3.6 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Barmouth Gwynedd | B− | 0.5 | 60% | 2 | 53% |
| 33 | Northleach Gloucestershire | B− | 1.5 | 68% | 2.6 | 100% |
| 34 | Ightham Kent | C+ | 2 | 30% | 3 | 56% |
| 35 | Axbridge Somerset | C+ | 1.3 | 72% | 2.8 | 51% |
| 36 | Landkey Devon | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 37 | Langtoft Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 38 | Read Lancashire | C+ | 1.6 | 71% | 2.5 | 21% |
| 39 | Whitchurch Somerset | C+ | 2.3 | 47% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Wychbold Worcestershire | C | 2.1 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Clenchwarton Norfolk | C | 2.2 | 87% | 0.3 | 3% |
| 42 | Goodwick Dyfed | C | 0.2 | 47% | 1.9 | 25% |
| 43 | Marcham Oxfordshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Hightown Merseyside | C | 1.7 | 44% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Barrowby Lincolnshire | C− | 3.5 | 66% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Keyingham East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Cadnam and Bartley Hampshire | C− | 0.9 | 30% | 2.4 | 79% |
| 48 | Carlton North Yorkshire | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Pool-in-Wharfedale West Yorkshire | C− | 2.1 | 44% | 1.6 | 7% |
| 50 | Urpeth County Durham | C− | 1.3 | 0% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Hibaldstow Lincolnshire | C− | 1.7 | 89% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Stoke Golding Leicestershire | C− | 1.4 | 85% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Bishop Burton and Cherry Burton East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 2.5 | 78% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Baschurch Shropshire | D | 2.3 | 72% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Curry Rivel Somerset | D | 1.9 | 33% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Greylees Lincolnshire | D | 1.5 | 79% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 57 | Haxey Lincolnshire | D | 1.6 | 46% | 2 | 0% |
| 58 | Westwoodside Lincolnshire | D− | 1.2 | 33% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Wilberfoss East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 69% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Bottisham Cambridgeshire | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Stowupland’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 Stowupland
The biggest is Thorney Green, 2.6 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
8 in 10 Stowupland 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 (83%)Further (17%)
Stowupland83%
Villages its size81%
Suffolk towns80%
All UK towns83%
About 300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 126 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape is 12 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
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Stowupland
42 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Stowupland and the kilometre around it, 4.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
RegionalOther waymarked
The Mid Suffolk Footpath6.9 km
Gipping Valley River Path2.1 km
The regional route here is the The Mid Suffolk Footpath.
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 Stowupland: 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 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 50 | 48 | 42 | 39 | 53 | 54 | 60 | 60 | 48 | 58 | 63 | 55 |
April is the driest month (39 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 63 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 40 nights a year. The climate in Stowupland →
Things to do
16 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Stowupland is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Honolulu Beach14 mi from Stowupland’s edge
DirectionsTrimley Shores18 mi from Stowupland’s edge
DirectionsThe Beach21 mi from Stowupland’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
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site 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.
StowmarketHaughleyNeedham MarketMendleshamBacton and CottonElmswellStowupland
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stowupland | A− | 5.3 | 83% | 0% |
| Stowmarket 1.2 mi | C− | 0.8 | 50% | 0% |
| Haughley 2.5 mi | C | 3.0 | 71% | 0% |
| Needham Market 3.3 mi | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 0% |
| Mendlesham 4.3 mi | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 0% |
| Bacton and Cotton 4.6 mi | C+ | 4.4 | 70% | 0% |
| Elmswell 5.2 mi | B | 2.5 | 100% | 0% |
Needham Market, 3.3 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 88% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Stowupland
What is the biggest park in Stowupland?
Thorney Green, 2.6 ha (6 acres), with 0.6 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Stowupland near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Suffolk Coast & Heaths National Landscape, 12 mi south-east of the village’s edge. It covers 443 km² and was designated in 1970.
What are the best walks near Stowupland?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the The Mid Suffolk Footpath and Gipping Valley River Path.
What is the nearest beach to Stowupland?
Honolulu Beach, 14 mi from the edge of the village, then Trimley Shores (18 mi). Stowupland itself is inland.
How many people in Stowupland live near a park?
83% 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 Stowupland?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Stowupland good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.6 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 89% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 88% (5.3 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 Stowupland’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Stowupland’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.