Saint Marys

The church sits on Thirsk's high street, impossible to miss with its soaring perpendicular tower that dominates the market town skyline. Inside, Saint Mary's rewards you with some genuinely impressive medieval stonework - the chance screen is a proper stunner, and the roof bosses are the sort of detail that makes you crane your neck until your jaw aches.

It's the kind of place history buffs could spend a good hour examining, picking out dates carved into pillars and reading the memorial tablets that line the walls. Families with younger kids might manage twenty minutes before restlessness sets in, unless they're the type to enjoy a quiet moment. The church is free to wander round, and you can usually just walk in during daylight hours.

Thirsk itself is charming enough for a mooch around, with proper independent shops and decent pubs, so you won't feel like you've wasted the trip if the church turns out shorter than expected. If you're based at Woodland Lakes Lodges or Hillside Caravan Park for a Yorkshire break, this is genuinely worth the five-minute detour. It's not going to blow your mind, but it's solid medieval church visiting - the kind of thing that makes a park holiday feel a bit more rounded than just trampoline parks and fish and chips.