Tours End on a Heritage Weekend High

The final Court House Tours of this season took place on September 15th during the Heritage Open Days Weekend, and attracted no fewer than 67 guests.

The Unlocking Warwick volunteer guides, Paula, Rick, Patrick and Sue, divided the visitors into smaller groups for 4 separate tours around the outside and inside of the Grade 1 listed Court House as they told the history of the administration of the county town, which dates back more than eleven hundred years to its foundation by Aethelflaeda, the Anglo-Saxon ‘Lady of the Mercians’.

Some of the guests lived locally; others had come to visit Warwick from far and wide including Yorkshire, Devon, and even Germany and Buffalo New York.  They were very appreciative of the chance to look around the Court House/Town Hall and to hear about Warwick’s rich history – including the Great Fire of 1694 that destroyed much of the town centre leading to its rebuilding in elegant Georgian stye. (Click on the pictures to see them full size)

In total 179 visitors and 50 local schoolchildren have enjoyed the free Court House Tours this season. Though the scheduled tours have finished for 2018, we can still arrange special tours for organisations or school groups – as long as a volunteer guide is available. Email info@unlockingwarwick.org if you would like to arrange one. 

The tours last about 45 minutes, and include a look inside the Council Chamber and the beautifully restored Regency ballroom. (There are no longer any courts in the Court House. It is the Town Hall, the Visitor Information Centre with a display about Warwick’s history, and the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum in the basement).

Dates for tours in 2019 will be announced at the end of the year.