Watermillock Church

St James the Less sits right on the shore of Ullswater, a proper lakeside location that few churches can claim. The building itself is modest - 12th-century chancel with later additions - but what matters is the setting. You're looking across England's second-largest lake with fell views that justify the trip alone, especially if you're camping at Ullswater Holiday Park just down the road.

Inside, it's quiet and slightly austere in the way of rural Lake District churches. There's Saxon stonework if you know what to look for, and the whole thing feels genuinely old rather than restored to death. The churchyard is properly atmospheric, with old gravestones tilted at odd angles among the yews.

Walkers will find this worthwhile as a break point on the Ullswater Way rather than a destination in itself. You can't spend more than 20 minutes inside, so pair it with a lakeside walk or a pub stop in Penrith. Free admission, obviously. The real draw is stepping out the door and seeing those fells reflected in the water - that's the bit worth remembering. If you're based at one of the caravan parks nearby, it's an easy morning stroll. Worth five minutes? Yes. Plan a whole afternoon around it? Probably not, unless you're seriously into ecclesiastical architecture. The lake view, though - that bit's worth the walk.