St Edburg's Church

The church sits quietly in Caswell, just outside Bicester, and it's one of those places that rewards a slight detour. St Edburg's is genuinely old - we're talking Saxon foundations here, though what you see now is largely Norman and medieval work. The interior is small and intimate, with that particular smell of old stone and furniture polish that only centuries-old churches have.

What makes it worth stopping for is the sheer age of the place and the sense that you're walking into something that's been here for over a thousand years. The chancel retains some original features, and there's enough architectural interest to keep anyone who enjoys medieval buildings occupied for twenty minutes or so. It won't blow your mind like a cathedral would, but that's rather the point - this is proper village church stuff, the kind of place locals have actually worshipped in rather than a monument to grand ambition.

If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Glebe Leisure or Weston are both close by and well-regarded - this makes an easy morning walk or rainy-day activity. It's free to visit, as most churches are, though it's worth checking ahead if you want to be certain it's open when you arrive. Families with older kids interested in history will get something from it; very young children might find it a bit dull after ten minutes. Allow perhaps half an hour, longer if you like lingering and reading the wall plaques.