There’s a myth that the patron saint of Ireland built this chapel after a shipwreck, but no matter how good Guinness is (or isn’t) for you, he can’t have managed it 200 years after his death. The view over Morecambe Bay from this exposed clifftop is staggering and the 8th-century ruins are only a little uphill from Norman St Peter’s Church.
A walk around the graveyard is a reminder of how easy it is to drown when gathering cockles and mussels on this treacherous coast, but the lives of the eight buried in sandstone-hewn graves at the chapel centuries earlier are more mysterious; the graves are among Britain’s earliest examples of Christian burial and appear on the album sleeve for The Best of Black Sabbath.
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Racton Folly, West Sussex: Flying bricks, faces in windows and a ghost tractor that sneaks up behind you
Our Secret Britain series continues with a look at a crumbling folly in Sussex.
Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons: The Cotswolds countryside where butterflies roam and stones cure smallpox
Some of the prettiest open spaces in the Cotswolds make the grade in Annunciata Elwes' series on Secret Britain.
Gwennap Pit, Cornwall: 'The most magnificent spectacle this side of Heaven’
Annie Elwes kicks off our series on Britain's secret places with a look at Gwennap Pit.
Credit: Getty/Alamy/Shutterstock
The secret history of the milestone, from Roman Britain to Industrial Revolution and beyond
The milestones which help travellers find their way across Britain have been a feature of the nation's highways and byways
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How the acrobatic buzzard survived persecution to become one of Britain's best avian huntersIt may appear lethargic, but no one could argue with the hunting prowess of the common buzzard when it transforms into a surging missile intent on an unsuspecting victim.
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Cats vs Dogs: Country Life's Quiz of the Day, August 14, 2025Thursday's quiz looks at an iconic album cover, the place most Britons want to visit in 2025, and Charles II's most famous moment.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
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The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
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St Lythans chambered long barrow, Vale of Glamorgan: A place to make a Halloween wishAnnunciata Elwes looks at the myths and legends surrounding St Lythans chambered long barrow.
