HISTORIAN John Girvan has made sure a historic door from the old County House Of Correction in Devizes, which he found after much detective work, is now on show to all.

Mr Girvan has presented Wiltshire Museum in Long Street, Devizes, with the new exhibit which has now gone on display to visitors from all over the world.

Mr Girvan, who runs a business at Canal Forge, Devizes and is known for his ghost walks around the town, said: "When I moved into Avon Road in Devizes I was interested to hear of the former county prison that was once sited in the area.

"It was built in a circular Panopticon design in 1810 as the County House of Correction. During research for artefacts from this prison I found most of the cell doors were destroyed accept for one that was rescued by a person who wanted to use it at his home.

"A few years later in 1973 I located it at Keevil set into a garden wall."

He inspected the door and found it was definitely one from the prison. He said: "It is made of larch wood with a metal plate laminated between wooden boards with a hinged feeding hatch and a metal framed squint slot window with half inch thick glass.

"A casement lock had been replaced with a one inch diameter bolt and hasp. After a replacement door was made the original old cell door was returned back to Devizes and fitted into Canal Forge at Lower Canal Wharf where it remained for many years. Lettering has been detected on the inside face of the door, the names of Peter Willis and G WHITE are thought to have been inscribed by prisoners serving sentence."

Mr Girvan has now decided the door would be better placed in the museum and decided to donate it to go on show with other local artefacts.

The Devizes County House of Corrections was opened in 1817 after taking seven years to build, and was the replacement for The Old Bridewell. It was located on the west side of Devizes, near Prison Bridge over the Kennet and Avon Canal.

The prison, designed by Richard Ingleman, was a polygon of brick and stone with the governor's building in the middle. There were 210 cells, 16 yards, two infirmaries and a chapel.

After a report identifying the poor treatment of women, new cells were built in 1841 for them, as well as a laundry room, day room and separate infirmary.

The prison was handed to the state in 1877 and between 1912 and 1914 the prison was used only for prisoners on remand. It was a military detention barracks from 1914 until 1920, when it fell completely out of use. In 1921 Devizes Prison officially closed. The building was sold the next year and demolished in 1927.