St Peter & St Paul

The church sits right in the heart of Dorchester, a solid medieval structure that's been watching over the town for centuries. Inside, the light comes through in great golden shafts, and you can feel the weight of all those Sunday services that have happened here. St Peter & St Paul is proper atmospheric - the sort of place where you actually want to stay quiet and look around properly.

It's genuinely worth a stop if you're exploring Dorchester anyway, particularly if you've got an interest in church architecture or local history. The nave is generous and well-maintained, and there are enough details to occupy you for twenty minutes without feeling like a trudge. Kids might get restless unless they're the type to hunt out gargoyles and carved stones - which, fair play, can keep some entertained for longer than you'd expect.

Getting there is straightforward: it's in town, so parking is the usual Dorchester faff. Allow half an hour if you're just poking around, longer if you read the plaques. Summer's lovely for the light, winter less so, but the church itself doesn't really change with the season.

If you're staying at Dorset Forest Garden Glamping nearby, this makes an easy morning jaunt into Dorchester before heading back for lunch. The town has enough around it - museums, the Roman walls, decent cafes - that you won't feel like you've wasted a trip just for the church, but it's certainly worth the detour.