St Ia's Parish Church

The church sits right above St Ives town centre, which means you get proper views across the bay whilst wandering around the gravestones. St Ia's is the parish church - a 15th-century building with the kind of granite-built solidity you find all over west Cornwall. The interior's got decent medieval bits: a rood screen, some old carved bench ends, that sort of thing. Nothing flashy, but it's genuine.

You're looking at maybe 30 minutes inside if you're thorough, longer if you're the type to read every plaque. The churchyard itself is worth 20 minutes alone - proper atmospheric with old slate headstones and those views I mentioned. Families with younger kids might find it a bit quiet, but teenagers who aren't constantly on their phones tend to appreciate places like this.

It's free to visit, and there's no faffing about with opening times - you can usually get in during daylight hours. From Polmanter Touring Park or St. Ives Holiday Village, it's an easy walk downhill into town. Worth combining with a beach visit or a wander through St Ives' actual streets rather than making it a standalone trip. The town's got enough going on that you can turn a church visit into a proper morning out.