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It may come as a surprise that one of - if not the - finest Baroque churches in Britain is not in London, but in rural Worcestershire. It dates from 1735, replacing an earlier medieval parish church which stood a little way to the west. It was built by the then owners of neighbouring Witley Court, the Foleys, possibly for their convenience, but not as a private chapel; it has always been a parish church. In 1747, the interior was transformed by the installation of internal decoration from the chapel at Canons, Lord Chandos' Edgware palace - and the impact is astonishing. Dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, Great Witley Church also boasts the Foley Monument, at 26 feet (8 metres) reputed to be the tallest funerary monument in the country.

The The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty was founded as a hospital for the poor between 1132 and 1136 by Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William the Conqueror and younger brother of King Stephen.  Endowments enabled it to prosper and provide. In 1445, another powerful Bishop of Winchester, Cardinal Henry Beaufort, created the Order of Noble Poverty, and added the almshouses to the existing Hospital buildings. It continues to provide homes to twenty five brothers, who wear distinctive black or claret coloured robes.  Visitors are able to see the  Norman style church, Master’s Garden – and there is a teahouse and shop.  The Hospital of St Cross is famous for the  Wayfarer’s Dole - a horn of beer or ale with a piece of white bread given to any traveller that asks for it.

By far the best way to visit the Hospital of St Cross is on foot from Winchester Cathedral Close, through ancient gateways, past No 8 College Street, where author Jane Austen finished ‘Persuasion’, and died, turning right by Winchester College to the water meadows alongside the River Itchen.  The path is wide, well trodden and wonderful.  Keats enjoyed the same walk – it apparently inspired the ode ‘To Autumn’, written in 1819.  To the right are the immaculate playing fields of Winchester College, founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham, Henry Beaufort’s predecessor as Bishop of Winchester.  Its pupils are known as Wykehamists and the college motto is 'Manners Makyth Man' – the same as New College, Oxford, which was also founded by Wykeham.  To the left are the water meadows, cattle-grazed and seeming to lap against the contours of St Catherine’s Hill, site of an ancient univallate Iron Age hillfort and medieval chapel.  It is an immensely peaceful pathway, steeped in history and, somehow, very English. On a still, warm, June day, with the rich earthy scent of the riverbank wafting upward and the water sparkling and lapping nearby, it is almost heavenly. And, eventually, you will glimpse the hospital, like a scene from the past across a field.

King's College, Cambridge, was founded by King Henry VI in 1441, the year after he founded Eton College, originally a sister college which sent scholars on to King's. It is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge and parts are open to the public. The highlight is undoubtedly the chapel, begun by Henry VI but finished by Henry VIII in 1544. The ceiling, windows and carving are breathtaking. It is also famous for the annual Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols, introduced by Eric Milner-White in 1919 and now broadcast all over the world.

Mwnt is a stretch of coastline, a beach, a hill, a church.  A few miles north of Cardigan on the Wales Coast Path, there is a sheltered sandy cove, popular with families and one of the best places in Ceredigion to spot dolphins, porpoises and seals.  There are easy steps to the beach, a café and toilets at the top and a National Trust car park (pay and display).  Overlooking the beach is the remains of an old lime kiln, but the main feature is the hill, Foel y Mwnt, that towers over the area and which gives it its name: mwnt means ‘mount’.  There are great views over Cardigan Bay from the top, if you have the legs and head to clamber up it.

In the shelter of the hill is the tiny whitewashed Church of the Holy Cross.  It could be named for a cross that once stood on Foel y Mwnt and there may well have been a church on the site since early Christian times.  The present building dates from the 14th century, when it served pilgrims travelling to St Davids or Strata Florida, as well as local sailors.  It has a 13th century font made of stone from the Preseli Hills.

As a final note, Mwnt was raided by Flemings in 1155.  A bloody battle ensued, in which the invaders came off worse.  The event is still commemorated.

North Elmham Chapel is a curious site – the ruins of a fortified house, converted from a chapel, probably on the site of the Anglo-Saxon cathedral of East Anglia.

North Elmham was the principal seat of the Bishops of East Anglia in late Saxon times, and the centre of a great episcopal estate.  In the late 11th/early 12th century, the Norman Bishop Herbert de Losinga built a small private chapel on the site of the old Saxon timber church, and a new parish church for the village. In the 14th century, the unpopular Bishop Henry le Despencer turned the chapel into a fortified house. After the Reformation, the site fell into disuse.

The ruins are not easy to interpret, but there are excellent information boards and these suggest how the building once looked.