COGGES Manor Farm Museum, in Witney, will open its doors to the public for the first time in two years on Sunday, July 17.

The museum had been run by Oxfordshire County Council, but it withdrew funding in 2009 after making losses. Volunteer-run Cogges Heritage Trust has taken over the running of the site, and is expected to sign the lease and be handed the keys this week.

But the future funding of the Church Lane facility has not yet been secured.

Trust chairman Judy Niner said: “There is still a lot to do, but it is very much our hope that we will be opening on July 17.

“We know how much people want it open and we need to open to start to bring in revenue.”

But she added: “At the moment, it is not our site to do things with, but as soon as we get the keys, we will be in there.”

About 50 volunteers have so far signed up to help the trustees move in and run the facility. The museum will be open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm, until the end of the season in October.

The trustees will charge to enter at weekends — £5 for adults and £2.50 for five-to-16 year olds — but will only ask for donations during weekdays.

There will also be season tickets available — £12.50 for adults, £7.50 for five-to-16-year-olds.

At weekends, the manor will be open and volunteers will run activities, including trails and arts workshops, and events later this year, including a beer festival.

Only the grounds and a new cafe will be open during weekdays.

But plans to get businesses to set up at the museum and use the Cogges brand, which would help finance the facility, have been put on hold.

Ms Niner said “a few” businesses had contacted the trustees, but said the priority at present was to open the gates. She added: “We were never expecting to get these things in place this year. It is more important for us for the long term.

“Come autumn, we will be stepping back and taking a detailed look, having consulted with a lot of people again, about the priorities for the future.”

She said plans for home-schooling parents to run a ‘free school’ at the museum had not moved forward, saying: “We have not heard anything from them.”

The facility will need to be self-funding in two years’ time, when temporary cash from West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council runs out.

Ms Niner said: “We need to have a number of revenue streams in place, which will reduce our vulnerability to one market or another reducing.

“We are confident that in the next two years we will have established Cogges as somewhere that is viable and sustainable.”

The museum was costing Oxfordshire County Council £240,000 a year to run, despite the museum attracting 30,000 visitors a year. Witney MP David Cameron visited the farm museum in January to meet the trustees and learn about the new plans, which he described as “enterprising”.

The trustees employed a director in May to run the centre, mother-of-three Rachel Faulkner, but she left the role on Friday.

She said: “It is a massive challenge for somebody with the level of commitment, and at this time, it is just not right for me.”