St Mary, Wharram le Street

You'll find St Mary buried in the Yorkshire Wolds near Driffield, tucked into a valley that feels properly remote despite being minutes from civilisation. The church sits at the heart of what was once a thriving medieval village - Wharram le Street - before the place was depopulated centuries ago. What remains is atmospheric in the extreme: a 12th-century church with a stubby tower, surrounded by earthworks and hollows where houses once stood.

Walking around the site, you get that peculiar English feeling of landscape palimpsest - the bumps and ridges beneath your feet tell stories the standing stones don't. The church interior is simple and honest, with a 13th-century chancel that's worth a proper look. On quiet mornings, especially early summer when the grass is long, the place has real melancholy to it.

Historians and walkers will eat this up. Families with younger children might find it a touch sparse - there's nowhere to sit, nothing to fiddle with, no interpretation boards spelling everything out. Expect to spend 45 minutes here, an hour if you're the sort who reads graves and contemplates vanished societies.

It's a proper addition to a Wolds walking trip rather than a destination on its own. The landscape around Driffield rewards roaming, and Seaways Glamping just 4 miles away makes a cracking base for exploring this quieter side of Yorkshire. Free to visit, naturally, and you can turn up whenever - there's no custodian, no visitor centre, just the church and the ghosts of what was.