Norton Priory Museum Trust, Tudor Road, Runcorn, Manor Park, Cheshire, WA7 1SX

Tel: 01928 569895

This museum site (one of the largest excavated monastic sites in Europe) covers 39 acres of grounds includes woodland, the priory remains, and a Georgian walled garden (of two and a half acres) dating from the 1760s and restored in the 1980s. This garden has been re-created as a typical Georgian kitchen garden, with a pear orchard, fruit and vegetables. A rose walk and colour borders add to the attraction, as does a wildflower meadow. The garden also contains an ice house, and unusual species of fruit trees, including some of the National Collection of quince (Cydonia oblonga) - the rest (there are 20 in all) are elsewhere on the site. If you can, visit in October 08 when a quince festival is planned (to be confirmed) for you to find out more about this once-popular fruit and its uses.

There's also a medieval-style herb garden to enjoy, and the woodland has been enhanced with a sculpture trail.

Opening hours (2008):

Museum:

Apr-Oct: daily 12.00-17.00 (18.00 at weekends and public holidays)

Nov-Mar: daily 12.00-16.00

Walled Garden:

Apr-Oct: daily 13.30-16.30

Museum and garden closed: 24-26 Dec; 1st Jan

Admission fees (2008 - March 09):

Museum and garden: adults, £5.20; child/concessions £3.70 (under 5s free); family (2 adults + 3 under 16s) £13.40.