Norton Priory Museum & Gardens

Norton Priory Museum & Gardens is one of Cheshire's hidden gems. Once home to a medieval church, this is the most excavated monastic site in Europe. Visitors can explore the 12th century undercroft with beautiful vaulted ceiling and the priory ruins showing the layout of the medieval buildings. Norton Priory was founded in 1134, and achieved mitred abbey status in 1391, up until the Dissolution in 1536. The Brooke family made Norton Priory their home between 1545 and 1921, creating a Georgian mansion house and gardens. The house was demolished in the 1920s.

The museum which now stands on the site displays thousands of objects discovered during archaeological digs, which tell the 900-year history from priory to mansion house and the stories of the people who lived here. The most impressive object in the museum is the twice life-size St Christopher statue thought to date from 1391. The museum is surrounded by woodland walks and a Georgian walled garden.