Saint Catherine

The tower of Saint Catherine's rises above the Buckinghamshire countryside near Thame with the kind of quiet authority you don't see much anymore. It's a proper medieval church, the sort of place where you actually feel the centuries settling on your shoulders the moment you walk through the door.

What you get here is genuine church architecture - timber roof, stone walls, the works. There's real craftsmanship in the details if you look: the kind of thing that rewards a slow wander rather than a quick tick-box visit. The setting itself is lovely too, surrounded by open fields rather than hemmed in by modern sprawl. It's the sort of spot where a walker heading out from Thame might stumble across it and think, "That was worth the detour."

This works best for people who actually like churches - historians, architecture enthusiasts, anyone after some genuine quiet. Kids will get bored after about ten minutes unless you're blessed with unusually patient ones. Free to visit, no faffing about with admission fees.

If you're based at Lashlake Barn or Orchard View Farm Camping nearby, it's close enough for a morning ramble. Pair it with the broader walking around Thame itself rather than building a whole day around it. The real value is in the setting and the peaceful walk to get there, not in spending hours inside. A cracking spot if you're into this sort of thing; utterly missable if you're not.