St John the Baptist

The church itself announces arrival with a proper medieval tower, all sandstone and weathered solidity against the Nottinghamshire sky. St John the Baptist sits in the kind of quiet village setting where you half expect to bump into someone's spaniel rather than find Grade I-listed stonework. Inside, it's all soaring perpendicular Gothic and enough carved detail to keep you squinting upward for twenty minutes. The font alone justifies the walk in.

Historically minded visitors will find plenty to grip onto - this is the real stuff, not a museum recreation. Medieval wall paintings survive in patches, and the craftsmanship of the stonework is genuinely impressive. A pair of fifteenth-century effigies lie near the chancel, and you can still make out the original tile work beneath your feet. Children rarely last longer than half an hour unless they're seriously into that sort of thing.

Finding opening hours requires a phonecall, but the churchyard is usually accessible during daylight hours. Entry is free, which feels fair for what amounts to a working parish church. It's the kind of place you stumble upon between bigger attractions rather than plan a trip around, though if you're based at Riverside Caravan Park, just five or six miles away near Chesterfield, it makes a cracking Sunday morning detour. The surrounding villages offer decent walking if the weather holds. Worth twenty minutes of your time, proper worth it.