Landbeach & Milton Baptist Church

The Church of St Andrew at Landbeach sits quietly on the edge of the Fens, about four miles north-east of Cambridge. It's not the sort of place you stumble across accidentally - you have to want to go there - but it rewards the effort with genuine medieval character and the kind of peaceful stillness you don't find in the city centre.

Inside, the church reveals itself properly. The chancel arch is thirteenth-century work, solid and unpretentious, and there's a font that goes back even further. The whole interior feels lived-in rather than museum-like, which makes a change. Windows and fixtures show the usual wear of centuries without the fussy restoration that turns some parish churches into theme parks.

It's fundamentally a walker's church. If you're based at Chittering Park nearby - a decent family caravan spot - this makes a straightforward afternoon expedition across open Fen country. The walk itself is flat, so no drama there, though the landscape takes some getting used to if you're from somewhere hillier. The church itself will occupy you for thirty minutes if you're thorough, rather less if you're not especially into medieval architecture.

There's no café, no gift shop, no interpretation panels. You'll need to check ahead about opening times - they're not always obvious for smaller village churches. That's either its greatest strength or a complete inconvenience depending on what you're after. For anyone chasing quiet, authentic rural East England rather than tourist attractions, though, it works perfectly.