The Temple

The Temple sits just outside Cambridge, a proper curiosity that catches most visitors by surprise. It's a folly - built in the 1770s by a man with money and questionable taste - and it stands alone in the countryside like someone's forgotten dream made stone. You're looking at a cylindrical tower, oddly proportioned and frankly a bit wonky when you get close, but that's rather the point of follies, isn't it?

What draws people here is the sheer peculiarity of it. There's no grand interior tour or museum setup - you're mainly walking around the outside, understanding why Georgian landowners felt compelled to erect random structures on their estates. The surrounding fields give good walking potential, and it's the sort of place that makes sense as a detour if you're already out exploring the quieter corners beyond Cambridge proper.

Historians and architecture enthusiasts will find it worth the effort. Families with young children might lose interest after ten minutes unless they're keen on rambling. It's free to visit, obviously - it's just sitting there in a field. Allow half an hour tops, longer if you plan a proper country walk through the area. Chittering Park, about five miles away, makes a decent base if you're combining this with a wider Cambridgeshire holiday. The Temple works best as an oddball add-on rather than a standalone destination, but that's exactly what makes it memorable.