THE old Magistrate’s Court and Police Station is being opened to the public tomorrow (Saturday) for possibly the last time before it closes for renovation.

The Tavistock Heritage Trust will be staging the tours between 10am to 2pm for everyone to enjoy for free.

In recent years these events have proved popular.

The Tavistock Guildhall was built in 1848 as a response to a public order crisis in the town caused by a booming population of miners and other unruly workers. The previous criminal justice facilities had proven woefully inadequate and so the Duke of Bedford spent £4,000 on the new building, which housed a state-of-the-art courtroom, police station, jail cells and fire station.

Much of the original structure is still apparent today, although some significant modifications took place in the 1890s after the jail cells were flooded (with prisoners inside) by storm water from the Tavy.

The courtroom, which still retains its original Victorian furniture, was last used in 2001, while the rest of the building was still employed as a police station up until 2012. The building has national as well as local significance, as it is one of England’s earliest examples of a combined court and police station.