The medieval barn at Winterbourne near Bristol will be the place for apple enthusiasts to go on Sunday, October 11 for when the annual Orchard Harvest Day will be held.

Following the hugely successful Medieval Fair in June, the barn will again be the venue for a day of activity beginning at 10.30am.

There will be displays by apple producers, advice on growing different varieties of fruit, food stalls and fruity games.

Visitors can try bobbing for apples or see who can produce the longest apple peel.

There will be a barbecue washed down with beer, cider and apple juice.

Visitors can also bring their own apples for pressing into juice.

Winterbourne Down Border Morris dancers will add to the atmosphere of traditional rural festivity, with performances at 12 noon and 2pm.

There will be a plant stall and people can donate plants on the day from 10.30 am Contact Jane Melville on 01454 777074.

Unwanted gardening and cookery books are also needed for the book stall. Graham White, on 01454 778065, will collect these if necessary.

The barn itself will be open to view. The Grade II-listed barn was built in 1342 by the Lord of the Manor, Thomas Bradestone, a veteran of the Battle of Crécy and an important figure at the court of Edward II.

It is unique in being the only large medieval barn in the country not built by a monastic or college institution.

It still has its superb medieval timber roof which has survived with very few alterations, and which was beautifully restored by English Heritage in 2005.

Originally built to store and thresh grain crops, the barn was later used for cider production. The old stone-flagged floor, another rare survival, features a circular pathway used by the horses whose power drove the cider mill.

The barn is owned by South Gloucestershire Council and looked after by the Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust, a group set up in 2000 to restore it and safeguard its future.

It stands next to St Michael's Church in Church Lane, which is to the west of Winterbourne village, off the B4057 Beacon Lane or the B4058 Winterbourne High Street.

Orchard Harvest Day is part of South Gloucestershire's Local Food and Drink Festival. For more information, see the website www.southglos.gov.uk/orchards.