WOMEN visitors to an historic house in Worcestershire will soon be able to tread where they have never been allowed before.

Work is now complete on the remains of the ground floor of the west wing of Witley Court - allowing women to access a part of the house they haven't been allowed to enter.

New floors and the knocking through of a doorway now allow visitors to look around three bedrooms that would have been reserved for the use of male occupants and visitors to the house, which was a part that females were strictly forbidden from entering.

Territory marketing manager Andrea Fox said: "In this kind of grand Victorian house the male and female quarters would have been kept quite separate, with women sleeping in a completely different part of the building in accordance with Victorian values.

In theory, this would mean that women would never have stepped foot in the male quarters, although given the Victorian's love of lavish parties - for which Witley Court was very well known - we suspect that there may have been some transgressions' during the hall's colourful history."

For those interested in seeing and hearing more about the history of the house, there are a number of behind-the-scenes guided tours of the site, which take place in areas not normally open to the public.

These will be taking place on Tuesday, May 1, and Thursday, May 3; Tuesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 7; Tuesday, July 3, and Thursday, July 5, and four more dates in August and September.

Tickets for the tours are £10.40 for adults, £7.60 for concessions, £5.10 for children or £25.50 for families.

English Heritage members receive discounted rates. Prebooking on the tours, which take place at 11am and 2pm, is essential as spaces fill up quickly.

Call 01299 896636 to reserve a place or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/witleycourt Witley Court, off the A443, 10 miles north west of Worcester, is open daily from April to October 31.