Saint Margaret's Church

The church sits on a gentle slope just outside Horncastle, its tower visible for miles across the flat Lincolnshire countryside. Saint Margaret's is a proper medieval church - the kind that makes you stop and actually look at the stonework rather than just wandering through. Perpendicular Gothic architecture dominates, which means high windows, vertical lines, and that satisfying sense of space when you step inside.

You'll find the usual treasures: carved bench ends that hint at the craftsmanship of 15th-century parishioners, a decent font, and the sort of quiet that makes you understand why people built these places in the first place. The chancel repay attention if you're into ecclesiastical detail. The graveyard itself is worth a wander - older headstones tell stories of the town's farming families.

This isn't a showpiece like Lincoln Cathedral, but that's rather the point. It's a working church that has served Horncastle since medieval times, and it shows. Allow 45 minutes if you're thorough, 20 if you're just passing through. Free to visit, naturally, though the door times vary depending on who's about.

If you're staying at New Farm Holidays nearby, it makes a pleasant walk into town and back, breaking up a park-based holiday with some actual history. Horncastle itself is worth a poke around - decent market town with a bit of character. The church anchors the place rather than dominates it, which feels honest somehow.