St Mary the Virgin Church, Hunstanton

The striped tower of St Mary the Virgin rises above Hunstanton's seafront like a Victorian candy stick, and it's impossible to miss once you clock those alternating bands of red and white stone. Built in the 12th century but dramatically rebuilt in the 1850s, the church sits just back from the promenade, making it an easy detour between beach time and the fish and chips shops.

Inside, it's all soaring Victorian Gothic - high ceilings, proper stained glass, and that satisfying sense of scale you get in Norfolk churches. The interior was completely gutted and rebuilt, so there's less medieval atmosphere than you'd find in some parish churches inland, but that shouldn't put you off. It's genuinely striking, and the light pours through in a way that makes the architecture sing.

This is one for anyone with even a passing interest in Victorian restoration work or church architecture. Kids won't linger long unless they're genuinely into that sort of thing, but it takes maybe twenty minutes to have a proper look around. Free to enter as far as we know, and there's decent parking nearby on the seafront.

Stay at Manor Park or Searles Leisure Resort - both within walking distance - and you can work it into a morning before heading to the beach or exploring other bits of Hunstanton. The church works best as part of a wider coastal walk rather than a destination in itself, but that striped tower alone makes it worth pausing for.