St Materiana's Church, Tintagel

Perched on the clifftop at Tintagel, St Materiana's Church feels less like a working parish church and more like a whisper of history. It's tiny - you can walk round it in five minutes flat - but the setting alone makes the pilgrimage worthwhile. The church sits right at the edge of the headland, with the Atlantic properly hammering away at the rocks below, and on a clear day you get views that stretch for miles along the Cornish coast.

The building itself dates back to the 12th century, though parts are older still. Inside, it's spare and honest - whitewashed walls, medieval stonework, a few surviving monuments. Nothing flashy. What grabs you is the sheer exposure of the place, and the fact that people have been coming here to pray for nearly a thousand years despite the wind doing its best to blow the roof off.

Historically minded visitors and photographers will find it rewarding. It's not a sit-down-with-a-guidebook kind of visit - twenty minutes is plenty unless you're sketching or taking serious pictures. Families with younger kids might find the walk a bit much for limited payoff, though the coastal path itself is spectacular.

Tintagel itself is heaving with Arthurian legend and tourists, but this church sits quietly above the fuss. Free to visit, obviously. If you're staying at Rosebud Farm just outside Bodmin, it's about twenty minutes' drive to the coast here - well worth the detour on a fine day.