Events

Following on from their acclaimed show A Brief History of Music, GreenMatthews bring you a new show which explores our rich history of witty wordplay and melodic mirth.

Chris Green (piano, guitar, accordion) and Sophie Matthews (early woodwinds, flute, saxophone) bring four centuries of chromatic comedy to life.  With pieces ranging from bawdy Restoration ballads to stinging Sixties satire, this is a historic musical journey like no other! 

Featuring songs by Noël Coward, Tom Lehrer, Flanders and Swann and a host of other lesser-known songwriters, this fun and fast-moving revue will have you rolling in the aisles!

This is an exclusive chance to see this show live, in-person, in 2026, so we expect demand for tickets to be high!

The show comprises two 45 minute sets, with a 25 minute interval.  

This performance is recommended for ages 8 and up.  Doors to the performance space open at 7:00pm, with refreshments available from the Brooke Cafe before the performance and during the interval.

Multi award-winning A Place For Us Theatre and Norton Priory invite you to an unforgettable evening celebrating some of the most iconic musical theatre ever written.

As part of Norton Priory's 'Phantoms at the Priory' installation, the ghosts of revolution sing again…

Echoes of the Barricade is a candlelit concert inspired by Victor Hugo’s 'Les Misérables', featuring beloved numbers including 'I Dreamed a Dream', 'Bring Him Home', 'On My Own', and 'Do You Hear the People Sing?'.

Performed by A Place For Us Theatre’s young musical theatre company and accompanied on piano by Corey Gerrard, this is a rare opportunity to experience the passion, drama, and enduring power of a music that has moved generations, brought to life in an atmospheric and historic setting.
 

Experience the magic of pure vocal harmony with The Cheshire Chord Company!

 This versatile and vibrant ladies’ a cappella chorus – multiple award-winners and National champions – brings exciting high-energy performances to the Norton Priory’s stunning atrium.

From heartfelt ballads and jazz to contemporary pop arrangements and a host of upbeat numbers, their repertoire will ensure you are smiling and your feet are tapping!  Originally formed in 1993, the choir includes members from all walks of life, across the North of England.

Whether you’re a barbershop fan or simply love great, live music, this is a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in vocal harmony!

A hands-on workshop to learn about grafting fruit trees from an expert tutor. Graft a couple of small apple trees to take home using Norton Priory's heritage apple varieties. The session will be led by Katie Tonge from Heathfield Orchards.

Katie is the former Chief Executive of the Cheshire Landscape Trust and now manages and advises on orchards across Cheshire. She helps to maintain the orchards at Norton Priory and worked with us to create the new Oldfield Orchard.

The Liverpool String Quartet returns with friends, to perform a very special evening of music, inspired by 'The Phantoms at the Priory' installation.

The 'Transfigured Night' programme is as follows:
P. I Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70
Interval
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Music of the Night (from 'The Phantom of the Opera')
A. Schoenberg – Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4

The players (Liverpool String Quartet & Friends) are:
Roisin Walters – violin
Kate Marsden – violin
Dani Sanxis – viola
Sarah Hill – viola
Nick Byrne – cello
Mark Lindley – cello

Programme Notes
Tchaikovsky’s 'Souvenir de Florence', composed in 1890, is one of his most expansive and expressive chamber works. Written for string sextet, it combines symphonic breadth with moments of intimacy and lyricism, reflecting the warmth and vitality of the composer’s Italian experiences. 'Music of the Night' is the emotional centre of The Phantom of the Opera. In this arrangement for strings, the music takes on a more intimate and atmospheric character, emphasising its nocturnal quality and making a natural connection with the 'Phantoms at the Priory' installation. Schoenberg’s 'Verklärte Nacht', composed in 1899, is a landmark of late-Romantic chamber music. Inspired by a poem by Richard Dehmel, the work unfolds as a continuous narrative, moving from darkness to transformation through rich harmony and intense emotional expression. Though controversial at its premiere, it is now regarded as one of the great chamber works of its time.

About the Ensemble
Liverpool String Quartet & Friends brings together the Quartet’s core members with guest musicians for larger-scale chamber repertoire. The ensemble is known for its expressive playing and imaginative, context-led programming, and performs regularly in concert series, festivals, and special events across the UK and Europe. The Liverpool String Quartet is Ensemble in Residence at Norton Priory.

Join the hunt for the Easter Bunny at Norton Priory Museum and Gardens. Family fun with trails, craft activities, and a led story walk through the museum woodland to find the Easter Bunny. 

Included with General Admission prices. 
(Adults £13.50, Children FREE, Norton Priory Members FREE). 

Plant Hunters' Fairs returns to Norton Priory on Sunday 31st May!

There will be a tremendous range of plants available for sale from a host of favourite specialist plant growers.

The fair is held next to the 2.5 acre Georgian Walled Garden, with entry to the fair priced at £1 per person. For an additional £5, visitors can wander through the Walled Garden itself, whilst Early Bird advance tickets for the whole site are priced at £9.00 per adult. Up to three children are permitted access to the whole site per paying adult.

This special price of £9 will not be available on the day. There is free car parking on-site and the Brooke Cafe will be providing refreshments throughout the day. Please note for this event the Fair and the Walled Garden are open from 10am - 4pm, and the museum and woodlands are open from 10am - 5pm.

Award-winning Immersion Theatre Company proudly presents an unforgettable adaptation of William Shakespeare’s iconic, 'Romeo & Juliet'.

This powerful story of forbidden love and bitter rivalry is brought to life in a visual spectacle infused with comedy, heart-break, and danger. Moving, funny, and tragic in equal measure, this beautiful production will see Immersion continue to build on their reputation for producing Shakespeare for all, be it the seasoned theatre-goer or budding literary enthusiast.

This is Shakespeare as it’s meant to be: interactive, fun, and highly accessible!

Recommended age: 10+ Approximate run time: Act 1 – 50 minutes / Interval / Act 2 – 40 minutes

This is an outdoor theatre performance. Please dress accordingly for the weather. In extreme weather, the performance will be moved inside.

This is a Culture 26 event, celebrating Halton's year of culture.

Frederick, accidentally apprenticed to Pirates as a child, is indentured to the Pirate King until his 21st birthday. On the day he reaches 21 he leaves the ship, announcing that he now intends to dedicate his life to the Pirates’ destruction. The Pirate King checks the contract’s small print – and realises that as Frederick’s birthday is 29th February on a leap year he has only had four birthdays and is actually indentured for another 63 years. With only the Penzance constabulary to protect him, will Frederick be forced to serve the pirates until he is 84?  And will his sweetheart, Mabel, wait for him that long? Performed by a six-strong cast of actor/singers with fully orchestrated accompaniment, The Pirates of Penzance boasts such gloriously memorable songs as “To be a Pirate King!”; “Modern Major General” and “A Policeman’s Lot is Not a Happy One”. With razor sharp satire and glittering wit, it remains as fresh as if it had been written today. 

Running time: 120-minutes (approx.), including a 20-minute interval. 

Recommended for all ages. 

In this play Shakespeare explores Love in all its guises. Four pairs of soulmates meet in the mysterious Forest of Arden. One pair leap straight into bed. Another pair are instantaneously dumbstruck by each other’s beauty and pledge their undying troth. The third pair torment each other: he showers chaste love upon her which she haughtily rejects - yet secretly she enjoys the flattery. The fourth pair go further still, playfully blurring their roles and identities to such an extent that flirting becomes more pain than pleasure, and Love itself is pushed to the limit of its endurance – and beyond. Throughout the summer Shakespeare’s iconic comedy will be performed where its action is set – in the great outdoors, by a 5-strong cast of classically trained professional actors. Multi international award-winning Illyria has an unmatched reputation for excellence, forged over three decades, that dominates the outdoor touring theatre sector. Join them this summer for a memorable night of laughter and romance under the stars. 

Running time: 140-minutes (approximately), including a 20-minute interval.  

Suitable for all ages.  

Immersion Theatre are thrilled to bring their trademark energy to their wildly entertaining musical adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling family favourite, THE JUNGLE BOOK!

Filled with original music, audience interaction, and a host of larger-than-life characters, you are invited to join Mowgli and his friends, Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther, on a madcap jungle adventure as they meet and attempt to outwit a slithering snake, some cheeky monkeys, and the fierce tiger, Shere Khan!

Funny, exciting and wildly entertaining, this AOOO-some musical will have you howling with laughter: It’s the perfect treat for the whole family!

Recommended age: 4+ Approximate run time: Act 1 – 45 minutes / Interval / Act 2 – 40 minutes
This is an outdoor theatre performance. Please dress accordingly for the weather. In extreme weather, the performance will be moved inside.

Part of Culture 26, celebrating Halton's year of culture.