Excellent, if you'd rather have a hill than a high street. Green space is a few minutes' walk from most doors. There's water close by as well. Nearly a third of the area is in protected landscape. Brockham gives you countryside, and you drive to Dorking or Reigate for the shops.
Parks and open space are close. The nearest green space is about 360 metres away on average, and most homes have about five within a kilometre. Nobody here needs to drive to find a field to walk the dog in.
Water is almost as close. The nearest river, stream or pond is about 430 metres away on average, with about 12 within a kilometre. The River Mole runs through the village, and brooks and ponds cover most of the surrounding land.
Cycling routes are further away. The nearest part of the National Cycle Network is about 2.4 kilometres away on average, and only about 16% of postcodes are close to one. Ancient woodland covers under 1% of the area, so the woods here are mostly younger. Cyclists here tend to ride the hills rather than follow signed routes.
Across the wider postcode districts that cover the area, which reach well beyond the village, there are 915 shops, 90 pubs and 69 restaurants on the ratings list. Almost all of them are in the towns, not in Brockham.
On air quality, fine particle pollution across the Mole Valley council area averaged about 7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024. That's a figure for the whole council area, not Brockham's own.
About 30% of the area falls in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. That protected status explains why the view has stayed as it is, and why development is tightly controlled.
The area has a lot of history. Box Hill rises to the north, and the village of Box Hill sits on its higher ground. Buckland sits between the downs and the fields to the east. The ruins of Betchworth Castle stand on a spur above the river, and there are Bronze Age barrows on Reigate Heath and old lime kilns in the chalk. Dorking and Reigate, the nearest towns, are close by. It's a landscape of old sites and walks, and very few places to buy a coffee.
Private gardens are large. There's about 390,000 square metres of private garden for every 1,000 residents, a generous figure. The public green space is a bonus. Most people here have plenty of their own.
The business base in the Brockham area itself is small. There are 216 rateable premises on the valuation list, and the largest groups are warehouse and workshop-type units, followed by 11 shops and 11 offices. These are premises on the valuation list, not a count of businesses currently trading, and that's the whole commercial side of the village.
Eating out is reliable, if limited. Of the 46 food premises with a hygiene rating, about 87% have the top score of five and about 4% sit at the bottom. There are few places to eat, but most of them keep a clean kitchen.
The surrounding area is Brockham's best feature. It's hills, river and fields with a few pubs, and very few shops.