St Catherines Almshouses

A row of terracotta-brick cottages tucked into Exeter's fabric tells the story of ordinary lives lived with quiet dignity. St Catherines Almshouses is exactly what it sounds like - a preserved set of dwellings built centuries ago to house the elderly poor, now open as a museum that walks you through how people actually survived in times gone by.

What you're looking at is real domestic architecture from the past, not some sanitised recreation. The rooms are small, the stairs narrow, the windows modest. It drives home how cramped and cold these spaces were, even when they represented genuine charity and relief. The museum does a decent job explaining the almshouse movement - how these places functioned as a safety net before the welfare state existed.

History buffs will find this properly rewarding. Families with older children might get something from it, though younger kids will probably tire quickly - there's not much interactive stuff, and you can see the lot in forty minutes or so. It's more for people who appreciate material culture and domestic history than thrill-seekers.

Exeter itself is a proper city with enough going on to fill a few days, and if you're glamping at Devon Heaven Hideaways nearby, this works as a rainy-afternoon detour rather than a headline act. Admission details are hard to pin down online, so ring ahead. Worth knowing about if you're in town, but don't go out of your way especially.