Cobham’s biggest
Leg o' Mutton Field
Park or garden
5.0 ha (12 acres)0.3 km of path
7 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.2 mi westfrom the centre
Church Path
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Plough Public House · Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Cobham · parks, paths & countryside
Cobham has more footpath per square kilometre than 8 in 10 UK towns
131 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.0 for every square kilometre. The Surrey Hills National Landscape begins 2.4 mi from the town’s edge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 49% of residents. Cobham grades B for the outdoors: #42 of 65 in Surrey. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
49%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
131 km
4.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Surrey Hills National Landscape
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Cobham?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths4.0 km of path per km², more than 81% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe Surrey Hills National Landscape starts 2.4 mi south-east.Parks can be a walk away51% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Cobham’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by the Surrey Hills National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Cobham grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Cobham, 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 59% of UK towns#42 of 65 in Surrey · 27th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
71out of
100
100
A park within a walk49%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
13out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape1%of the land within 5 km
63out of
100
100
Footpaths4.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
81out 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
Cobham is 27th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 16,300 to 18,800 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
Cobham4.0
Towns its size3.2
Surrey towns4.3
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Cobham3.1
Towns its size2.2
Surrey towns3.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Cobham49%
Towns its size86%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Cobham stands out most for park space per resident: only 18 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 59 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cirencester Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.3 | 95% | 4.1 | 48% |
| 2 | Prestatyn Clwyd | A+ | 3.3 | 92% | 2.9 | 14% |
| 3 | Dorking Surrey | A | 4.4 | 75% | 7 | 57% |
| 4 | Litherland Merseyside | A | 7.3 | 94% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 5 | Clitheroe Lancashire | A | 3 | 98% | 3.1 | 59% |
| 6 | Brixham Devon | A | 3.1 | 76% | 2.5 | 30% |
| 7 | Waltham Abbey Essex | A | 11.9 | 92% | 6.7 | 0% |
| 8 | Shiney Row and Penshaw Tyne and Wear | A | 9.6 | 98% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Bishop's Cleeve Gloucestershire | A | 1.9 | 100% | 3.9 | 35% |
| 10 | Connah's Quay Clwyd | A | 5.8 | 97% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 11 | Northwich Cheshire | A | 8.8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Clifton Greater Manchester | A | 10 | 92% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Abbots Langley and Kings Langley Hertfordshire | A | 3.8 | 88% | 3.6 | 3% |
| 14 | Bredbury and Woodley Greater Manchester | A | 4.8 | 94% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Euxton Lancashire | A− | 3.7 | 98% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 16 | Alton Hampshire | B+ | 2.6 | 82% | 3 | 27% |
| 17 | Wath upon Dearne South Yorkshire | B+ | 5.5 | 85% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 18 | Glossop Derbyshire | B+ | 1.5 | 78% | 4.2 | 60% |
| 19 | Walkden Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 92% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 20 | Wombwell South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.4 | 92% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 21 | Swanley Kent | B+ | 1.8 | 78% | 4.2 | 20% |
| 22 | Warminster Wiltshire | B+ | 1.7 | 86% | 3 | 44% |
| 23 | Liversedge West Yorkshire | B+ | 2 | 98% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 24 | Westbury Wiltshire | B | 1.4 | 97% | 3.3 | 1% |
| 25 | Amersham Buckinghamshire | B | 1.8 | 62% | 3.7 | 64% |
| 26 | Patchway Gloucestershire | B | 2.5 | 80% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Cobham Surrey | B | 3.1 | 49% | 4 | 1% |
| 28 | Wimborne Minster Dorset | B | 2.7 | 51% | 3.6 | 17% |
| 29 | Penrith Cumbria | B | 1.6 | 91% | 2.9 | 9% |
| 30 | Bangor Gwynedd | B | 0.9 | 79% | 2.7 | 11% |
| 31 | Wymondham Norfolk | B | 2.8 | 97% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 32 | Shaw Greater Manchester | B | 1.9 | 96% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 33 | Minster (Swale) Kent | B | 2.5 | 89% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Bramhall Greater Manchester | B− | 4.7 | 71% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 35 | St Ives Cambridgeshire | B− | 1.7 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Biddulph Staffordshire | B− | 3.3 | 86% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Guisborough North Yorkshire | B− | 1.5 | 80% | 2.6 | 35% |
| 38 | Baildon West Yorkshire | B− | 2 | 71% | 7.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Heysham Lancashire | B− | 1.4 | 83% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Carterton Oxfordshire | B− | 2.1 | 82% | 2 | 13% |
| 41 | Ramsbottom Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.1 | 74% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Maesteg Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Melksham Wiltshire | C+ | 2.2 | 87% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 44 | Royston Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 83% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 45 | Adwick le Street South Yorkshire | C+ | 2.8 | 89% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Bodmin Cornwall | C+ | 1.1 | 87% | 2.4 | 3% |
| 47 | Nantwich Cheshire | C | 2.2 | 86% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 48 | Streetly West Midlands | C | 7.5 | 58% | 2 | 0% |
| 49 | Bourne Lincolnshire | C | 1.3 | 70% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 50 | Ripon North Yorkshire | C | 1 | 75% | 2.4 | 17% |
| 51 | Sleaford Lincolnshire | C | 1.7 | 93% | 2 | 0% |
| 52 | Tonypandy Mid Glamorgan | C | 1.5 | 85% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Hale Greater Manchester | C− | 2.4 | 50% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Stone Staffordshire | C− | 1.5 | 86% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 55 | North Hykeham Lincolnshire | C− | 2.4 | 60% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Saffron Walden Essex | C− | 1.1 | 63% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 57 | Louth Lincolnshire | C− | 0.6 | 76% | 1.3 | 47% |
| 58 | Oswestry Shropshire | C− | 1.3 | 88% | 2 | 0% |
| 59 | Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire | C− | 1.5 | 60% | 1.6 | 3% |
| 60 | Carmarthen Dyfed | D | 1.6 | 76% | 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 Cobham’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 Cobham
The biggest is Leg o' Mutton Field, 5.0 ha (12 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Station Road Recreation Ground
Play space
0.2 ha (0 acres)
0.8 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
5 in 10 Cobham 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 (49%)Further (51%)
Cobham49%
Towns its size86%
Surrey towns75%
All UK towns83%
About 8,900 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 24 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 729 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Surrey Hills National Landscape is 2.4 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
4 waymarked walks pass through or near Cobham
131 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Cobham and the kilometre around it, 4.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Local
Views Walk, Claremont2.0 km
Lake Walk, Claremont0.8 km
Chessington Countryside Walk0.8 km
Bookham Common Butterfly Walk, North Downs West0.5 km
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 Cobham: 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 66 | 49 | 43 | 46 | 46 | 50 | 48 | 61 | 56 | 74 | 75 | 67 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 75 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Cobham →
Things to do
2 viewpoints, 24 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.
2Viewpoints4Hills and peaks2× towns its size1Waterfalls4Nature reserves4× towns its size4Picnic sites24Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size1Dog parks3Campsites6.2× towns its size
The nearest beaches
Cobham is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Amity Beach6.0 mi from Cobham’s edge
DirectionsHog Hole9.9 mi from Cobham’s edge
DirectionsThe Hollows10 mi from Cobham’s edge
DirectionsKelson Beach18 mi from Cobham’s edge
DirectionsDock Beach19 mi from Cobham’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
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 4
Telegraph Hill0.8 mi from town
DirectionsRed Hill1.0 mi from town
DirectionsSt George's Hill78 m (256 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 peak more.
Waterfalls 1
Cascade0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 4
Esher Common100 ha · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 3 nature reserves without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 4
Plus 4 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 24
Children's Play Areain town
DirectionsBadgers Basecamp den building area0.7 mi from town
DirectionsClaygate Recreation Ground1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 21 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Campsites 3
Polyapes Scout Camp0.1 mi from town
DirectionsCamp HaHa!0.2 mi from town
DirectionsWalton Firs Activity Centre0.3 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.
HershamEsherLeatherheadGreat Bookham and FetchamByfleetAshteadCobham
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobham | B | 3.1 | 49% | 1% |
| Hersham 2.6 mi | C | 2.5 | 73% | 0% |
| Esher 2.9 mi | A− | 6.9 | 86% | 0% |
| Leatherhead 3.3 mi | B− | 1.0 | 72% | 24% |
| Great Bookham and Fetcham 3.4 mi | B | 1.7 | 68% | 33% |
| Byfleet 3.5 mi | C+ | 3.1 | 59% | 0% |
| Ashtead 3.8 mi | B+ | 2.7 | 62% | 13% |
Esher, 2.9 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 86% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Esher has at least twice Cobham’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Cobham
What is the biggest park in Cobham?
Leg o' Mutton Field, 5.0 ha (12 acres). Station Road Recreation Ground (0.2 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Cobham near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Surrey Hills National Landscape, 2.4 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 422 km² and was designated in 1958.
What are the best walks near Cobham?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Views Walk, Claremont, Lake Walk, Claremont and Chessington Countryside Walk.
What is the nearest beach to Cobham?
Amity Beach, 6.0 mi from the edge of the town, then Hog Hole (9.9 mi). Cobham itself is inland.
How many people in Cobham live near a park?
49% 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 Cobham?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Cobham good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 81% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 71% (3.1 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 Cobham’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Cobham’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.