St Mark's Crescent Methodist Church

The red brick façade of this Victorian Methodist chapel sits quietly on a residential street in Marlow, easy to walk past if you're not paying attention. Built in the 1880s, St Mark's Crescent has that solid, unpretentious quality you find in so many nonconformist churches of that era - no grand stonework or soaring spires, just honest craftsmanship and straightforward faith.

Inside, the proportions are rather lovely. High ceilings, tall windows that flood the space with light, and those original wooden galleries that give you a real sense of how congregations actually worshipped here 140 years ago. The organ catches your eye immediately - not enormous, but clearly well-maintained and still played for services.

This isn't the sort of place you'd trek across the country to see, and it's certainly not a major tourist draw. But if you're staying at SRB Moorings just outside town and fancy a gentle stroll around Marlow's quieter corners, it's worth ducking inside. The congregation is welcoming, and there's something rather grounding about standing in a space where ordinary people have gathered every Sunday for generations.

Check ahead for service times if you want to catch it during worship, or simply knock and see if someone's about. Admission is free, naturally. Give it twenty minutes tops, though you might linger longer if you find the peace of it appealing.