Sacred Heart Church, St Ives

The red brick facade of Sacred Heart Church catches you straight away as you walk through St Ives - it's impossibly vivid against the grey stone terraces around it. Built in the Victorian era, this Roman Catholic church sits on Church Street and speaks to a particular moment in English religious life when Catholic communities were establishing themselves in market towns across the Midlands and East Anglia.

Inside, you get the full ceremonial works - ornate altar, decent stained glass, and that particular hush that only old churches seem to manage. It's worth the five-minute walk from the town centre if you're interested in Victorian ecclesiastical architecture or tracking the footprint of 19th-century Catholic settlement in the area. Don't expect anything massive or showy; this is a working parish church, not a cathedral.

Really suits anyone doing a bit of local history walking around St Ives itself. The town's got decent pubs and the River Great Ouse runs right through it, so you can make an afternoon of it. If you're staying at any of the caravan parks nearby - Crystal Lakes Leisure is barely over a mile away, or Quiet Waters if you want something a touch quieter - popping into the church takes about twenty minutes of your time and costs nothing. Go midweek if you want peace; Sundays obviously have services on. The church isn't going to be your whole day out, but it's a solid fifteen-minute stop if ecclesiastical Victoriana interests you.