St John the Baptist Church

The church sits right in Winscombe village, a proper Somerset landmark with a tower that's been catching people's eye for centuries. St John the Baptist is one of those churches where you can actually feel the centuries settle into the stonework - the sort of place where you half expect to hear medieval voices echoing round the nave.

What you're looking at is a building that's been worked on and reworked over several hundred years, which means there's real medieval fabric alongside later additions. The tower gives you a sense of scale and importance it would have had in the village's hierarchy. Inside, there's enough detail to occupy a proper historian for a good hour, though casual visitors might spend twenty minutes having a look around and soaking up the atmosphere.

It's free to visit, naturally, and you can usually get in during daylight hours. Winscombe itself is a decent little village, neither fancy nor rough, and if you're staying at one of the nearby holiday parks - Burnham Holiday Village or Haven Burnham-on-Sea are both within a few miles - it's worth the short drive over. Combines nicely with a walk around the village and perhaps a pint at a local pub.

Families with older kids will get something from it. Younger children tend to fidget after five minutes unless they're genuinely interested in old buildings. Walkers and history types will find it rewarding enough.