Our Lady's Catholic Church, Marnhull

The church sits right in the heart of Marnhull, a proper working village just outside Shaftesbury where locals still pop in for a quick prayer between their errands. Our Lady's is a Victorian Catholic church - solid red brick, no-nonsense Victorian architecture - and it's the sort of place that tells you something real about rural Dorset faith over the past 150 years.

Inside, you'll find decent stained glass and the usual church furnishings, but honestly, it's the atmosphere that gets you. There's something peaceful about a small-town Catholic church on a weekday morning when hardly anyone's about. The village itself has genuine character - proper high street, local shops, the kind of place where the church still anchors community life.

It's free to visit and you can pop in whenever the doors are open, though you'll want to check service times locally. Allow twenty minutes, maybe half an hour if you're the type to sit and take it in. Not a massive draw on its own, but if you're based at Gold Hill Glamping or Starlight Glamping nearby - both excellent spots - and you're exploring the Shaftesbury area, Marnhull's worth a wander. The village itself is more interesting than most, with decent walks around the surrounding countryside. Families won't find it thrilling unless they're genuinely interested in seeing how village life actually works, but walkers passing through absolutely should take five minutes to have a look round. It's authentic Dorset.