Major Hewetson

The ruins of Major Hewetson's estate sit quietly on the Wiltshire downs, a few miles from Salisbury. There's not much left - mostly earthworks and scattered stone foundations - but if you're into the kind of history that doesn't come with crowds or visitor centres, this is worth the detour.

What you're looking at is an 18th-century house site, reduced now to bumps and grassy outlines. It's the sort of place that rewards a bit of detective work: you can actually trace where rooms once stood, where walls divided the space. Brings home how utterly forgotten some grand homes become. The views across the downland are proper lovely, mind you - that's half the appeal of coming out here.

This works best for walkers and history types rather than families with young kids. There's nothing to stop you from picking a summer afternoon and making it part of a longer ramble, especially if you're staying at Stonehenge Campsite or Brades Acre nearby. Both are only a couple of miles away, so it slots perfectly into a Wiltshire park holiday. You could easily combine it with a visit to Stonehenge itself - the energy's completely different, but that's the point.

Allow an hour if you want to really poke about and sit with the space. It's free, obviously, and there are no fixed opening hours - just roll up whenever. Go when the light's good and the ground isn't waterlogged. Winter can be muddy.