Stories with Santa

Santa is making a special stop at Llanthony Secunda Priory on Sunday 6 December, from 11am to 12pm. It's a festive story session for families: you settle in and listen to a Christmas story read by Santa himself, and each child gets an early Christmas present and a photo with him afterwards. It's a short, self-contained morning, so it works well if you've got other things on that day.

If you've never been, the Priory is one of Gloucester's more unusual spots. It's the remains of a large Augustinian house founded in 1136, after canons fled Llanthony Priory in Monmouthshire. Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, provided the land for this second Llanthony Priory — hence the name 'Secunda' — and it served as a retreat when the first, 'Prima', came under attack from the local population. By the 16th century it had become an independent priory and one of the largest Augustinian houses in England, owning 97 churches and 51 manors.

It's a scheduled monument now, with Grade I and II listed buildings, and it came back to life after nineteen months of restoration supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The two 15th-century buildings host weddings and events, and the reimagined medieval courtyard garden and the Clement Café make it a bit of a green urban retreat in the middle of the city. It's a strange, quiet place to bring the kids for a story, and that's part of the draw.

Tickets are £12 per child, plus a booking fee. The session runs from 11am to 12pm on Sunday 6 December at Llanthony Secunda Priory, Priory Junction, Gloucester GL2 5FA.