Christ Church Edinburgh

The red sandstone facade of Christ Church rises unexpectedly grand from a quiet corner of Musselburgh, a Victorian creation that stops you mid-stride if you're wandering the town's older streets. Built in the 1880s, it's one of those confident statements in stone that Victorian congregations threw up when they had money and conviction in equal measure.

Inside, the light falls through coloured glass onto pale pews, and the scale is immediately apparent - this isn't a modest parish church, but something designed to impress. The architecture rewards proper looking: ornate plasterwork, a decent organ, and that specific Victorian church smell of old hymn books and furniture polish. It's the sort of place you spend twenty minutes in, not two hours, but those twenty minutes matter if you care about how Scots worshipped in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

The church remains active, so visiting depends on service times or calling ahead - it's not a museum piece left open for tourist traffic. That's actually fine. It keeps the place from feeling sterile. History buffs and church enthusiasts will find it genuinely worthwhile, though families with restless children might manage just a quick peek.

Musselburgh itself has enough going on - the High Street's pleasant enough for a wander - and Drummohr Camping & Glamping Site sits just five miles north if you're basing yourself in the area. It's worth the diversion if you're already exploring East Lothian's ecclesiastical side, but not a reason to drive across the region on its own.