Acton Burnell Castle

The ruins of Acton Burnell Castle sit in farmland south of Shrewsbury, and they're worth a detour if you're staying at one of the nearby caravan parks. What remains is essentially a massive stone shell - a fortified manor house built in the 1280s by a bishop with serious ambitions. You get the outer walls, crenellations still intact on parts of it, and enough of the structure to read what medieval power looked like.

It's free to wander around, which is the main appeal. There's no visitor centre, no tea room, no interpretation boards to speak of. Just you, the stones, and a lot of open sky. That works perfectly for a quick morning walk or an afternoon break if you're based at Spring Field Dark Skies or Condover Park - both are barely two miles away. Kids will enjoy clambering about, though it's hardly a full day's activity. Give it thirty minutes to an hour, longer if you're into photographing old buildings.

Historically it's interesting - the castle was briefly a royal residence in the 1280s - but the ruins alone don't tell that story unless you've read up beforehand. Come for the walk through the Shropshire countryside, the chance to see what a 13th-century power base actually looked like in brick and stone. It's quiet, atmospheric on an overcast day, and the sort of thing that makes sense as part of a larger park-based holiday rather than a destination in itself.