200 year old jail and stocks in Illingworth goes to auction

And the quirky piece of local history has a guide price of just £25,000.

Illingworth Gaol and Stocks on Keighley Road was built in 1823, and was where prisoners would spend the night before appearing at Halifax Magistrates.

The use as a jail ended in the 1860s, and the building has mainly been used for storage since then. Plans to turn the quirky building into a museum have been proposed, but never implemented.

The stocks which form part of the auction lot (Image: Pugh)

A stone engraving on the property recites a line from St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians IV 28: “Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

The Grade II* listed property will go under the hammer at an online auction by Pugh Properties on March 27.

The inside of the former jail (Image: Pugh)

It has a guide price of between £25,000 and £30,000.

The listing says: “This historic building is in need of renovation and may be suitable for a number of uses, subject to obtaining the necessary consents.”