Stonor Park

The Stonor family have lived in this valley for nearly 900 years, and walking up to Stonor Park feels like stepping into their rather grand domestic timeline. It's a proper stately home - the sort where you expect to bump into someone in a tweed jacket checking on the pheasants. The house itself dates back to the 12th century, though it's been added to and fiddled with so many times that it reads as a visual history of English architecture across the centuries.

You get to wander through rooms filled with the accumulated clutter of nine centuries - furniture, paintings, bits of armour, the usual aristocratic hoarding. The grounds are the real draw though. The parkland rolls out properly, with fine views across the Chiltern valley, and there's a working farm on the estate if you fancy seeing how the other half lives (the half that actually produces food). The chapel is worth a look too - it's a functioning Catholic place of worship, which tells you something about the Stonor family's stubbornness through the centuries.

It works best for people who actually care about how the gentry lived rather than those after a theme park experience. History enthusiasts will spend a proper afternoon here. Families with young children might find it a touch dull unless they're already interested in old houses. Allow three to four hours.

The camping spots around Henley - Swiss Farm and Chiltern Retreat are both within easy striking distance - give you a decent base for exploring this corner of the Chilterns. High Wycombe is the nearest town for supplies and backup entertainment.