St Mary's Church, Hilton with Marston-on-Dove

The churchyard is what gets you first - ancient yews standing like sentinels over graves that go back centuries. St Mary's sits in the dual village of Hilton with Marston-on-Dove, just a few miles south of Burton-on-Trent, and it's one of those working parish churches that actually rewards a proper look inside.

The building itself is mostly Perpendicular, which means those tall windows and soaring lines that make English churches feel properly airy. There's decent medieval stonework here, and the sort of accumulated detail you notice when you actually stop and examine things - brasses, memorials, the kind of quiet corners where you can spend half an hour just reading history off the walls.

This is solidly for people who enjoy church architecture or local history. Kids will get bored unless they're the type who enjoy graveyards and spotting dates from the 1400s. It's not a showstopper like Lichfield Cathedral, but it's genuine and unpretentious - exactly what a village church should be.

The location works nicely if you're based at Peake's Retreats nearby. You can easily combine a wander through the churchyard with a proper country walk around the villages. Allow twenty minutes inside, longer if you're really into medieval monuments. It's free to visit, and you'll likely find it open during reasonable daylight hours, though it's worth calling ahead if you're making a special trip.