Fussell's Trial Balance Lock

There's a rather specific piece of Victorian engineering tucked away near Mells in Somerset that most people drive straight past without realising what they're looking at. Fussell's Trial Balance Lock is exactly what it sounds like - a lock mechanism designed and built by the Fussell family, local industrialists who knew their way around metal work. It's essentially a functional piece of engineering history, the sort of thing that makes you stop and think about how much ingenuity went into solving practical problems before digital anything existed.

Visiting involves spotting it and having a proper look - there's no visitor centre or queue, which is either liberating or disappointing depending on your mood. It's the kind of stop that appeals to industrial history enthusiasts and anyone curious about how Victorian Somerset made things. Families with very young children might find it a bit underwhelming on its own, but it works brilliantly as part of a larger walk around Mells, which is a genuinely lovely village with decent pubs and a medieval church worth an hour of your time.

The real value here is combining it with the nearby holiday parks - Glamping on the Hill is closest at under three miles, or you've got Longleat Caravan and Motorhome Club just five and a half miles away. This area works well for people who want history and countryside in equal measure, not theme parks and commercial attractions. Free to visit, minimal fuss, and the kind of thing that makes for good conversation if nothing else.