Jonathan Brain Sofa House Church Seat

The Church of St Peter the Apostle in Woolacombe holds one of Devon's more unusual ecclesiastical treasures - a Victorian sofa that's somehow become as much a fixture of the interior as the altar itself. Built into the western end of the nave, this rather grand piece of furniture sits there with the kind of permanence usually reserved for pews and font covers. It's the sort of thing you'd miss if you weren't looking for it, which makes discovering it all the more satisfying.

Why a sofa ended up in a church is one of those wonderfully eccentric British mysteries that nobody quite answers with conviction. What matters is that it's there, and it's absolutely genuine. The church itself is lovely enough - solid Victorian Gothic with proper character - but the sofa is what makes it memorable. History enthusiasts and anyone with a taste for the wonderfully odd will find it worth the walk from Woolacombe town centre. Families passing through won't lose much time here; thirty minutes maximum to have a look around and take a photo of this peculiar survivor.

The parish church sits a short stroll from the seafront, so it works well as a rainy-day diversion if you're staying at Ruda Holiday Park or Ocean Pitch Campsite nearby. Admission appears to be free, though the opening hours are worth checking locally. It's the kind of stop that becomes a good story later - not life-changing, but genuinely different from the standard church visit.