St Mary's Abbey

You'll find St Mary's Abbey tucked into the Leicestershire landscape near Atherstone, a medieval church that's survived rather better than most of its contemporaries. The stonework tells the story - Gothic windows, sturdy Norman foundations, the sort of architecture that makes you realise how long five hundred years actually is when you're standing inside it.

It's a proper working parish church rather than a museum piece, which means you get the real thing: worn flagstones, medieval wall carvings that people actually walked past on Sundays in 1450, wooden pews that creak. The kind of place where history doesn't feel curated - it just is. History buffs will spend a good hour picking through the details, reading the monuments, trying to work out which bits are original and which are Victorian repairs.

Walking families might find it worth a quick detour if you're in the area, though don't expect this to be a half-day activity. Allow twenty minutes to look around properly. Children generally behave better in empty churches than you'd expect, especially if they spot something genuinely old.

If you're based at one of the nearby caravan parks - Atherstone Stables is closest at under five miles, or Lime Tree and Ettie's Field if you're after something quieter - St Mary's makes a sensible rainy-day option. Check locally about opening times when you arrive; these village churches keep their own hours and it pays to ask at the nearest farm or pub rather than rely on signage.