St Anne's Church Grantham

The spire of St Anne's shoots up from Grantham's high street like a needle, and once you're inside, it's clear why this place has dominated the skyline since the 14th century. The church is vast - properly vast - with soaring perpendicular Gothic arches that make you crane your neck and feel small. The stained glass is decent without being show-offy, and there's real craftsmanship in the roof timbers and stone carvings scattered about.

History buffs will recognise the names on the monuments. This is where Grantham's merchants and landowners got buried, and their tombs tell you something about who ran the place centuries back. It's the sort of church where you can actually spend twenty minutes looking at details rather than drifting out after five.

Free entry, obviously - it's a working parish church. Come during the day when the light's decent through those windows. Weekday mornings tend to be quieter than weekend afternoons. You'll need maybe thirty to forty-five minutes if you're actually interested in the architecture. Kids might get restless unless they're the type who enjoy hunting for gargoyles and weird stone faces.

If you're staying at Wagtail Country Park just outside town, St Anne's is an easy ramble into Grantham centre and worth combining with a walk round the market square and a decent lunch somewhere on the high street. Don't go expecting fireworks - it's a solid, handsome medieval church that's earned its place in the landscape.