The Midhurst Museum

The Midhurst Museum sits tucked away in this market town between the South Downs, and it's the kind of place that rewards a proper look around. Inside you'll find the usual local history fare - Roman bits, Tudor artefacts, trade guild records - but the real draw is how it captures what life was actually like in a Sussex market town over the centuries. The building itself, a modest Georgian structure, feels lived-in rather than sterile.

It's best suited to history enthusiasts and anyone with a genuine interest in how ordinary people got by in medieval and early modern England. Families with younger kids might find it a bit dry unless they're the type to read every label - there's not much in the way of interactive displays here, which is either refreshing or dull depending on your view. I'd allow a solid hour if you want to do it justice, maybe ninety minutes if you're thorough.

For a park holiday based at Graffham or Woodfire at Westerlands, the museum makes a sensible rainy-day stop rather than a destination in itself. Midhurst town centre has decent pubs and independent shops, so you can easily string together a half-day outing. The surrounding countryside - proper walking country - is the real attraction; the museum is just a useful anchor point. Worth a visit if you're in the area, but don't rearrange your trip around it.