Calcutt Medieval Village (site of)

There's not much to see on the ground at Calcutt - that's the honest truth. What you're standing in is the remains of a medieval village that was abandoned sometime in the 14th or 15th century, near Southam in Warwickshire. The earthworks are still visible if you know what to look for: bumps and hollows in the field that mark where houses once stood, their outlines preserved by centuries of ploughing and weather.

This is archaeology for people who actually enjoy reading the landscape rather than gawping at a reconstructed wall or a museum display. You won't find interpretation boards or a visitor centre. It's just you, the field, and the faint traces of medieval life - which makes it either brilliant or completely pointless depending on your patience for that sort of thing. Families with young children will almost certainly find it dull; walkers and local history enthusiasts will get something out of it.

Access appears to be open and free, though there's no official infrastructure. Southam is just a few miles south, so it's worth combining with a proper walk in the area rather than making a special trip. If you're camped at Holt Farm or one of the other sites within five miles, it's a decent ramble to add to a day out - gives you a proper sense of how much the English countryside has changed, and how villages just vanished. Allow thirty minutes unless you're the type to spend an hour working out house layouts from the earthworks.