Ruthin's clock has come home

However, the clock was recently found in Rugby and has now been transported back to its rightful home.

Thanks to a �1m Heritage Lottery Fund Grant to redevelop the jail the clock will now be on show to the public when it reopens in May.

The 100-cell prison began housing inmates in 1654, but has stood empty since its closure.

Despite the lapse of time many local people can still remember stories about the institution's checkered past.

Reverend Wyndham Evans said there are several interesting tales about the jail's unsavoury residents.

He said: "There's the man called 'Coch Bach y Bala' - he was the chap who escaped from the prison.

It's got a nice little inscription which says HM Prison Service Ruthin

Debbie Davies, Denbighshire County Council

"He was a man from Bala, a bit of a rogue and he was in for poaching, he escaped from the prison and he was shot by a young man accidentally and died.

"He was quite a character and much thought of in Bala."

Work to restore the jail to its former glory has been on-going for 18 months and on Wednesday staff welcomed home their latest find.

Prison service

They heard about the old clock after receiving a call from the prison service museum in Rugby who said they had located the Ruthin Gaol clock.

It had been discovered at their London headquarters in Lambeth.

Debbie Davies from Denbighshire County Council said: "It's got a nice little inscription which says HM Prison service Ruthin.

"That actually dates to 1878 when the prison came out of the local authority control and became her Majesty's Prison Service so we know the clock was here then."

Believed to be housed in the governor's main office it would have been worth a lot of money.

Paul Parker from Vale Clocks in Denbigh said it is an interesting piece: "It's a typical long case clock, it is made of oak with mahogany and it has got a painted dial."

Prison officers lived in Ruthin

"At the time it was originally bought it was an expensive item - the equivalent of buying a small car nowadays."

Currently a similar clock could cost a collector up to �3,500.

During the clock's time at the jail, it could have been seen by vagrants, debtors and common thieves who were all were held at the prison during the 19th Century.

Now museum curators are hoping to recreate that atmosphere for the visitors expected through their doors.

Local people hope the new attraction will boost the tourists trade in Ruthin.

Shopkeeper Beryl Mason said it could prove vital: "It's going to be a huge benefit all round for the whole of the town.

"Trade, shops, cafes all sorts of aspects of town life will benefit from the influx of people we hope will come to the town."

For now staff at the museum have said the renovation is ticking along nicely - ready for the grand opening.