St Leonard's, Apethorpe

The church sits quietly in the village of Apethorpe, a few miles west of Peterborough, and it's worth a detour if you're into medieval architecture. St Leonard's is a proper stone building with some real character - the sort of place where you can spend twenty minutes properly looking without feeling rushed.

Inside, there's decent perpendicular Gothic work and some decent monuments if you're into that sort of thing. The building itself tells you more than any plaque could about how village life worked centuries ago. It's not a massive tourist draw, which is actually part of its appeal. You get peace and quiet rather than coach parties.

Couples and history types will get more from it than families with young kids, though if your children are old enough to walk around without wanting sweets, they might find the gravestones and stone carvings interesting. Allow thirty minutes to an hour if you're thorough. It's free to visit, as most parish churches are, and you can usually get in during daylight hours.

If you're basing yourself at one of the nearby caravan parks - New Lodge Farm in Bulwick is excellent and only four miles away - this makes a natural morning walk or short drive when the weather's decent. Combine it with a proper ramble through the Northamptonshire countryside rather than treating it as a standalone stop. The village itself is small but pleasant, and you're never far from bigger attractions around Peterborough.