I’ve just been to Norton Priory Museum; it was last week that I went, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I went and it was a thing I did that wasn’t even slightly related to Games Workshop.
I hadn’t realised, until I decided to sit down and write this, that barring a bit of telly viewing, almost everything I’ve done for at least a few weeks has been related to the GW hobby. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing; I’ve quite enjoyed being caught up in the 40K hype train. A change is nice every now and then though.
My Bro had some time off work, we’re both interested in history and it’s close to where we live, so it was an easy decision really.
I’ve been there a lot and if you have any interest in history, I would heartily recommend it. It’s a great day out and there is a lot to see. A lot of it was even new to us, as it’s had a sizeable facelift since we were there last.
The main museum building contains several displays of items, some of which date back hundreds of years and as a history buff, it’s always cool to see stuff like that. The main building also incorporates the only part of the Priory still standing, the Undercroft.
There is also substantial grounds, with a nice, relaxing woodland walk, if that’s the sort of thing that floats your boat. The grounds also contain substantial excavations of the footprint of a large part of the Priory, which is pretty impressive, as it gives some idea of the scale of the building and how it must have looked.
Once you’ve done the finished with the museum and its associated gubbins, there is the Walled Gardens, just a short walk from the museum. It would be easy to miss this as it’s not that well signposted, but it’d be a shame if you didn’t see it.
Barring a couple of the easier to identify ones, I don’t know one flower from the next, but I always make a point of heading down there whenever I go to the Priory, as the place is steeped in its own little bit of history and at the very least, it’s a nice walk.
I won’t go into detail with the history of either the Priory, or the Walled Gardens; there’s a load of stuff available online, if you’re interested. Would you like to know more?
The staff of the museum and the Walled Gardens also deserve a mention. They’re enthusiastic, helpful and are quite happy to talk at great length about whatever Priory, or Walled Garden related subject that floats into your noggin.
At the Walled Gardens, they also grow a lot of fruit and veg. As a result, they sell quite a variety of jams and chutneys. This won’t be something that interests everyone, but if like me you are a butty* person, I would highly recommend buying a couple while you’re there.
I realise this comes across like a tourist information doodad, but history is something that is of great interest to me and I’m also a massive nerd** so I’m always going to be enthusiastic about anything history related.
This blog is mainly here for my hobby mutterings, but from time to time I will, like I have today, write about other stuff. I don’t expect to do so often, but it will happen.
*A serious Northern sandwich.
**It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that has even glanced at one of my blogs that this is so.
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