Thursday 31 July 2014

The Shire Hall Project



Yesterday I visited the old Crown Court and cells at Shire Hall in High West Street, Dorchester.  The Shire Hall Project, with prospective support from the Heritage Lottery Fund is being developed as a historical visitor attraction. 
The former offices of the West Dorset District Council was used as a courthouse until 1955, and the courtroom and cells remain as they were originally designed for use in Georgian times. 
The project hopes to be fully open by summer 2017 following a second bid to the HLF. 
I can recommend a visit during August, and the dates of the guided family tours can be found at the Tourist Information Centre in Trinity Street. 
I visited with my 16 year old daughter, and she found it very interesting and informative, and she was very shocked to see the conditions that prisoners such as the Tolpuddle Martyrs faced in 1834. 




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