St Luke’s Prestonville

The flint walls of St Luke's catch the light differently depending on the time of day, and on a bright Sussex afternoon, they're almost luminous. This Victorian church sits in Prestonville, a residential stretch just north of Brighton, and it's the sort of place you'd walk past a dozen times without really seeing it - until you actually stop and look up.

It's a proper red-brick and flint affair, built in the 1870s when this bit of town was still fields. The interior is straightforward rather than grand - high ceilings, decent stained glass, the kind of peaceful quiet you don't get anywhere else on a Saturday morning. There's no theatrical razzmatazz here. It works best for people who actually want to sit for five minutes, or those with an interest in Victorian religious architecture and how churches were plonked into expanding suburbs.

You'll spend twenty minutes inside, maybe half an hour if you're the type to read every plaque. Admission is free as far as we can tell, though opening times aren't widely advertised - worth ringing ahead or checking locally. It's not a destination in itself, but if you're staying at Foot of the Downs or Southdown Way Caravan & Camping Park to the south and fancy a wander around Brighton's residential neighbourhoods, you'll stumble across it naturally enough. Pairs well with a proper look around the Lanes and a chippy on the seafront rather than being your reason for the trip.