Visitors invited Old Prison open day tomorrow (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Friends of the Cotswolds (FOTC) are holding an open day at the Old Prison at Northleach, which is currently home to the Cotswold Conservation Board

12:00pm Saturday 11th August 2012 in News By Ian Craig

HERITAGE enthusiasts are invited to have a rare look around one of the Cotswolds’ most historic buildings this weekend.

The doors of the Old Prison at Northleach, which is currently home to the Cotswold Conservation Board (CCB) and was put up for sale last year, will be thrown open tomorrow, giving visitors a chance to see the historic building up close.

Conservation charity Friends of the Cotswolds (FOTC), which was recently named as the preferred bidder for the site, will be holding the event from 1.30pm to 4pm.

Visitors will be given a unique opportunity to view parts of the site not normally open to the general public such as the Old Police Station.

Guests are also invited to bring along any memories and anecdotes about the Old Prison site before it closed in the 1970s.

Chairman of the Friends of the Cotswolds Simon Randall said the charity is keen to demonstrate its commitment to conserving the heritage of the building for the future.

“During the past year, we have been immensely encouraged by the amount of support we have received from local people and visitors in our bid to save this wonderful site for the future enjoyment of many people,” he said.

“We are now looking forward to meeting many of them next month as we share our future plans and listen to their ideas and hear about their memories of the Old Prison site.

“I'm sure it will be a very interesting day all round”

For more details, call 01451 862000.