Saint James The Great

The church sits on the high street in Chipping Norton, and honestly, you could walk past it without realising what you're looking at. Saint James the Great is one of those proper medieval parish churches that tells you far more about English village life than any museum ever could.

Inside, it's all soaring stone arches and that particular smell of old wood and centuries-old stone. The church itself dates back to the 14th century, though bits of it are older still. What strikes you most is how utterly unpretentious it feels - no fussing, no velvet ropes, just a working church where the locals have worshipped for hundreds of years.

Walkers and history types will get the most from a proper poke around, though families won't find it engaging for long. Give it half an hour if you're stopping in town anyway. It's free to visit, which is how these things should be.

If you're based at one of the nearby caravan sites - Cotswold View is the best-rated at just over three miles away - this makes a natural stop when exploring Chipping Norton itself. The town's compact enough that you can do the church, grab a coffee, and move on to Greenhill Leisure Park's walking routes within an hour. Don't trek here specially, but if you're in the Cotswolds for a park holiday, it's absolutely worth twenty minutes of your time.