Dorchester's Tolpuddle Martyrs court revamp secures £1.5m

The Grade-I listed Shire Hall was the scene of the Tolpuddle Martyrs' trial in the 1830s

The court building where the Tolpuddle Martyrs faced trial in 1834 has received £1.5m of Heritage Lottery funding to help transform it into a tourist attraction.

Planning permission for the £2.9m visitor centre at Dorset's Shire Hall in Dorchester was granted last July.

Funding was delayed in November when the fund said it wanted more information on the business plan.

The building is now expected to open in September 2017.

The writer Thomas Hardy served as a magistrate at the court

The trial of the six farm labourers is regarded as a founding moment for the trade union movement.

'Engaging and immersive'

Jon Murden, chairman of the London Dorchester Committee Trust which is behind the plans, said the funding would allow the project "to really get going".

"The intention is to create an engaging and immersive attraction which takes people through the experience of going to the court, either being on trial or doing the trying themselves," he said.

The visitor centre is expected to include live performance as well as audio and video guides, with the aim of "bringing to life the cases which were heard between 1800 and 1955", West Dorset District Council said.

Proposals for the Grade-I listed Georgian courts and cells have so far received £1.1m from the district council and £100,000 from Dorset County Council.

The remaining £200,000 is being sought from other organisations.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs

• Farmhand George Loveless and fellow workers James Brine, James Hammett, James Loveless, John Standfield and Thomas Standfield met under a tree in 1834 to form a "friendly society" to protest against their meagre pay of six shillings a week.

• They were arrested for the crime of swearing an oath of secrecy and sentenced to seven years' transportation to an Australian penal colony.

• After the sentence was pronounced, popular opinion swung in support of the men. There was a massive demonstration in London and an 800,000-strong petition was delivered to Parliament.

• The government eventually relented and the men returned home with free pardons.

• The village hosts the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival each July in their honour.

The old courts and cells are set to be transformed into a £2.9m visitor centre