The Church of Saint Michael, Framlingham

The soaring flint tower of Saint Michael's dominates Framlingham's skyline the moment you walk into town - a proper statement of medieval ambition. Step inside and you're met with a church that feels lived-in, not museum-like, which is refreshing. The interior is surprisingly light thanks to large windows, and the hammerbeam roof - that's the wooden engineering that doesn't need pillars - is genuinely impressive if you bother to look up. The church is essentially a 15th-century rebuild, though parts go back further, and it's the sort of place where you can spend ten minutes or an hour depending on how much you care about carved misericords and alabaster tombs.

Walkers and architecture types will appreciate the journey through Framlingham itself - a proper Suffolk market town with genuine character - plus the castle is right there if you fancy combining visits. Families with restless kids should manage twenty minutes without complaint. The church is free to enter during daylight hours, which is the way it should be.

If you're camping nearby - Savage Glamping is closest at under three miles, though Birds and Bees Campsite and Carlton Meres Holiday Park offer more traditional pitches within five miles - this is a worthwhile detour between coastal days. Woodbridge, three miles south, gives you a proper Georgian high street for lunch afterwards. The church doesn't demand a special journey on its own, but as part of a Suffolk triangle taking in Framlingham Castle and the market town's good pubs and shops, it slots in nicely.