Kipscombe Cottage

A tumbledown stone cottage sitting in the Devon countryside above Lynton, Kipscombe is one of those places that stops you in your tracks precisely because it looks so utterly forgotten. The building itself - all weathered stone and sagging roof - has barely changed since it was abandoned, which gives it an oddly magnetic pull for anyone interested in how rural life actually worked here a century or more ago.

It's not a museum, not a visitor centre, nothing fancy. You're essentially standing outside a ruin and imagining what happened within those walls. The setting does half the work for you - proper wild moorland, wind coming off the hills, no crowds, no noise except birdsong. On a clear day the views back towards the coast are genuine stuff.

History types and photographers will find it worthwhile. Families with restless young kids might find it underwhelming after five minutes unless they're already keen on exploring abandoned places. Walkers using it as a stop on a longer route will get more from it than someone making a special journey.

If you're based at Lynmouth Holiday Retreat, it's close enough for an afternoon sortie into the hills without it being a massive undertaking. Give it twenty minutes to have a proper look around and take some photographs. There's nothing to pay, nothing to book - just turn up. Best visited when the light's doing something interesting and you've got time to stand about without rushing.