Events

Learn the basics of pruning your fruit trees then get some practical experience using the Norton Priory Museum & Gardens orchards, with guidance and advice from an expert tutor from Heathfield Orchards.

Join Mima Cornish from HedgeRose Healing for meditation in the beautiful surroundings of Norton Priory Museum and Gardens in Runcorn on select Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The sessions vary each week and take the opportunity to access the many different places and atmospheres at Norton Priory, both inside and out, to truly enjoy the present moment. All meditations will be guided, and any mindful activities will be gentle and relaxing, promoting a natural sense of peace. Suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced. Please bring a blanket.

Dates January to March 2025:

18th January: 9am - 10am

(Alongside Mars at Norton Priory): 

31st January : 11am - 12pm 

23rd February : 9am - 10am

2nd March : 11am - 12pm

Help create a special Space Garden for Mars inspired by the CBBC programme The Clangers. Visitors of all ages will be able to take part in some drop-in workshops to help add to the Mars space garden. Add your kind thought to our Kindness Tree, make large scale space flowers, create planet style pom poms to hang in the space garden or take home. Help Tiny Clanger create paper notes inspired by the Clangers Music Tree to hang on the large tree cut outs or create a smaller version to take home.

You will also be able to follow the Clangers trail as Tiny Clanger investigates interesting objects around the museum.

• Sun 2 Feb – create large scale space flowers and pebble paper shapes

• Sun 9th Feb – create planet style pom-poms

• Sun 23rd Feb – create paper notes to hang on the Music Tree

This event is part of Discover Sundays 2025 so will be included with general admission to Norton Priory Museum and Gardens and children go free at Norton Priory! With every adult general admission ticket, up to 3 children can visit our site for free! Additional children will need an admission ticket.

Candlemas - A Meditation for Peace

This weekend of Candlemas and Imbolc signifies the gentle return of the light and the first stirrings of Mother Nature beneath us - a perfect time of year for positive intentions. Come and join us for this meditation under the stunning installation of Mars, to combine the planet's strength with our heartfelt wish for peace for all.

All meditations will be guided, and any mindful activities will be gentle and relaxing, promoting a natural sense of peace. Suitable for all levels from beginners to experienced. Places are strictly limited and the session will run after the museum has closed to the general public, providing a magical, reflective place in which to experience Mars and find a space for renewal after the busy festive period.

Mima Cornish is Norton Priory’s resident meditation leader and mystic. She creates connections through art, mindfulness, nature & healing.

Hedges can be a haven for wildlife, providing shelter, protection, nesting sites and sources of food. Many popular species of our wildlife love hedges, including hedgehogs, small mammals, bats, small song birds and invertebrates.

We are running a hands-on hedge laying course. Learn this ancient craft by laying the hedge around our pear orchard, providing you with the skills to lay your own hedges.

A unique yoga session, performed in the atrium of the museum visitor centre with Mars providing a memorable backdrop. The red glow will create a quite calm, whilst Sylvie leads you in a beautifully relaxing and uplifting session. Her calm and easy-going approach will give you a nurturing yoga experience that is truly out of this world!

Attendees should wear warm, comfortable clothes and bring a yoga mat. A few yoga mats will be available on the night if needed.

Come and join staff and students from the University of Liverpool in this interactive workshop.  Have a go at navigating a Lego space rover by remote control. See the effect of the time delay between the Earth, the Moon and Mars and experiment with automation rules based on ideas from artificial intelligence programming. Suitable for 7 to 14 year olds.

Ticket numbers are very limited for this event, so pre-booking is essential. 

Lego Rovers was developed by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Liverpool and funded by the University of Liverpool and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Sessions run:

• 2.00pm to 3.30pm
• 4.00 to 5.30pm

Join us on an intergalactic bath time voyage with this workshop from Lush Cosmetics!

A member of staff from Lush will guide you through each step to make your own Intergalactic bath bomb! Coloured in gorgeous pink, yellow and cobalt blue, and filled with scents of peppermint and grapefruit, this is one of their bestsellers. Enjoy making your own at this special event at Norton Priory!

There are three sessions available, two open to children and families, plus one for ages 17 and up for anyone wanting a grown-up treat! Ticket prices also include general admission to Norton Priory Museum & Gardens on the day, including viewing of Luke Jerram’s Mars installation in the museum.

Session times:

• 12:00 – open to ages 5 and up

• 1.15 – open to ages 5 and up

• 2.30 – ages 17 and up only!

Please note: “supervising adult” tickets are for adults accompanying a child and are charged at general admission prices and can be found under children's tickets on the booking screen. They will not make their own bath bomb. Maximum one supervising adult ticket per child.

Suitable for ages 5+ only.

A hands-on workshop to learn about grafting fruit trees from our expert. Graft a couple of small apple trees to take home using Norton Priory's heritage apple varieties.

Join artist Caroline Dewison and make your very own miniature diorama automata scene of a Martian Space-scape complete with a moving UFO.

All materials will be supplied for this workshop with expert miniature-maker Caroline, who has created amazing dioramas for Norton Priory, including recreations of recreations of the Walled Garden glasshouse and the house interior on display in Norton Priory's galleries.

Suitable for over 14s.