HISTORY fans and children will have a rare chance to peek at Victorian toilets at Hanbury Hall.

The toilets, normally off-limits to the public, will be opened up along with the rarely seen Victorian dairy, which still has the original slate shelving and tiles.

Visitors to the National Trust property near Droitwich will be able to see the toilets, known as earth closets or ashpans, that were flushed with buckets of dry earth or ash instead of water.

The earth or ash was so good at absorbing and deodorising the contents of the bucket that it could be re-used several times.

These areas will be opened between Saturday, May 3, and Wednesday, May 7.

"If all goes well we are hoping to open the diary and ashpans again later on this year," said Stewart Alcock, property manager at Hanbury Hall. "But what we would like to do eventually is to open them up permanently for visitors to enjoy."