More History of Norton Priory
The site of the Abbey of Norton (founded 1134), near
Runcorn, Cheshire, was excavated in the 1970s. It
was the first monastic site in Britain to be excavated by
modern excavation techniques. The foundations of a large
monastic house, which once belonged to the Augustinian
Order of Canons Regular, have been revealed. The final
church on the site was over 80m. (c. 250 ft.) long. The
only part of the original Monastic buildings to have
survived is the ground floor of the 12c. undercroft of
the Cellarer's range. This became incorporated in
the later Georgian mansion, which was erected on the site
by the Brooke family of Norton. The 8th. Baronet was the
last to live at Norton, and the family left Norton in
1922. The Georgian house was pulled down in 1928, but the
old undercroft was left standing. The site was first
opened to the public in 1975, followed by the building of
a permanent Museum (opened 1982).
One of the "treasures" at the museum is a 3m.
high 14th.C. sandstone statue of St. Christopher. This
has recently been restored and investigated and was returned
to the Museum on Aug 24th. 1999, to a purpose built
display area. This statue is now acknowledged as being
one of the finest examples of medieval statuary in
Britain, if not in Europe. As well as the Monastic
remains and its adjacent formal garden, there is also a
restored walled garden, dating from about 1780. This
garden now houses the National Collection of tree quinces
(Cydonia Oblonga). The quince in medieval and Tudor times
was grown widely and used in preserves. The garden has won prizes
on its own merit. It is run as an Organic garden and
grows many older varieties of fruit and vegetable, in
keeping with the history of the site. The informal
woodland garden which was in the near vicinity of the
mansion has also been restored and contains many fine
trees. There is an artist-in-residence programme at the
Museum. As well as making a permanent sculpture for the
site, they also run workshops art for aspiring artists of
any age. Hence now the Museum has a Sculpture trail,
which has grown over the years.
Although now called Norton Priory, it is known that
Norton became a mitred Abbey in 1391, one of only two
such Abbeys in Cheshire, the other being the Benedictine
Abbey at Chester, now the Cathedral.
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