St Martin's Church, Llanmartin

The churchyard at Llanmartin sits quietly off the beaten track between Chepstow and Newport, and it's the sort of place you'd miss entirely if you weren't looking for it. St Martin's itself is a working parish church with roots stretching back to medieval times, though what you see now is largely Victorian restoration - which is honest work, whatever the purists say.

Inside, it's modest and genuinely peaceful. The stone font is old, the windows are decent enough, and there's that particular hush you get in country churches where hardly anyone's walked for hours. If you're into church architecture or doing a proper slow tour of the Monmouthshire valleys, this is worth stopping for. Plan fifteen minutes, maybe thirty if you're sketching or photographing.

It won't set your pulse racing, mind. This isn't Wells Cathedral or anything remotely grand. But if you're staying at Penhein Glamping nearby and fancy a gentle morning walk with purpose, the church makes a decent waypoint. The village itself is tiny - more of a hamlet really - so combine it with exploring the wider area around Chepstow rather than making it a destination in itself.

Go early or late afternoon when the light's better and you'll likely have the place entirely to yourself. That's when the quietness actually means something.