THE historic courtyard of the Museum of Dartmoor Life has received a lovely Christmas present, thanks to £3,500 of funding from Devon County Council.

The museum courtyard, which dates back 200 years, has received a fresh lick of paint, had important masonry work carried out, and a new modern toilet has been installed to give it a new lease of life.

The work has been carried out thanks to a donation of £3,500 from the Investing in Devon funding.

Following the sale of Exeter Airport, each county councillor received two allocations of £25,000 to spend on local projects in their area.

Former county councillor Christine Marsh allocated the money to the museum before standing down from the county council.

Cllr Marsh, who is still a councillor for both West Devon Borough Council and Okehampton Town Council, visited the museum last week with her successor Cllr Kevin Ball and town mayor Cllr the Rev Mike Davies to have a look at the work that has been carried out.

She said: 'I am pleased to have been able to support the Museum of Dartmoor Life. The museum is important to the town, and the courtyard is looking wonderful following the work.'

Cllr Kevin Ball echoed those sentiments.

He said: 'The Museum of Dartmoor Life is an important asset to the town as a tourist attraction and educational centre for town residents.

'The works done here have made the courtyard feel more welcoming and hopefully more prominent in the town.'

Museum manager Andrew Thompson said: 'The works carried out here are really important and part of our process to improve the museum and build on the hard work being done here.

'It is particularly important as these works make the courtyard more welcoming, and having a new modern toilet is also important to us.

'It has been a good year for the museum.

'We are all pleased with the progress we are making but we want to keep that going, keep improving and make the museum an even better attraction for people.'