Lammas

Lammas is a medieval moated site just outside Milton Keynes, and honestly, it's the sort of place that rewards a bit of detective work. What you're looking at are earthworks - the remains of a 12th-century manor house surrounded by its defensive moat, now soft green mounds dotted across a field. It's not dramatic stuff. There are no standing structures, no visitor centre, no tea shop. What you get instead is the satisfaction of reading the landscape itself, picking out where the buildings once stood, imagining the household that kept that moat filled.

History buffs will find it worthwhile, particularly those interested in medieval settlement patterns and domestic life. Walkers doing a longer route through the Northamptonshire countryside will appreciate it as a proper waypoint. Younger children might find it underwhelming after ten minutes - there's no play element here, just the earthworks and your imagination. That said, if you're teaching kids about how people actually lived in medieval times, rather than just castles and churches, this does the job.

Access appears to be free and unrestricted. Allow 20 to 30 minutes unless you're really going to sit and contemplate the archaeology. The site sits handily close to several camping spots - Gullivers Campsite and Adventurer's Village are both within a mile - making it an easy morning visit before heading to Cosgrove Park or The Old Dairy Farm if you're doing a longer holiday circuit. Spring and early summer beat winter for a visit, when the grass is up and the moat outline shows properly.