Acton Scott Church

The church sits quietly in the village of Acton Scott, a few miles south of Church Stretton, looking very much as it must have done centuries ago. It's a proper country parish church - the kind where you half expect to find bell-ringers practising on a Thursday evening and the hymn books still smell of dust from the 1950s.

What makes it worth the detour is the medieval stonework and the sense that nothing much has changed here in a very long time. You get the real feel of how these villages worked, how the church was genuinely the centre of everything. The interior is simple and honest, no fancy Victorian overhauls, just honest English parish church architecture doing its job.

This isn't a destination that'll consume half your day - an hour's visit is ample, maybe less if you're not particularly into ecclesiastical details. But if you're staying at one of the nearby campsites like Small Batch or Church Stretton Camp and Fish, it's an easy walk from those sites and pairs well with exploring the surrounding countryside. Combine it with a proper hike in the Shropshire Hills and you've got a proper day out.

It's free to visit - these village churches usually are - and there's rarely a queue or barrier. Go midweek if you can, when it's genuinely quiet. Worth twenty minutes of your time if you're in the area, though don't make a special trip from further afield unless you're a serious church historian.