Dartmoor Prison

Tucked away on the side of a hill high on the wind-swept terrain of Dartmoor, at Princetown, are the imposing, grey buildings that make up the Dartmoor Prison complex. Even on the warmest of summer days this structure looks cold and depressing and its history is equally as grim.

Our story starts 200 years ago when Britain was once again fighting with its close neighbour and historic adversary, France. Napoleon Bonaparte – the military genius with a huge chip on his shoulder about his size – was closing his military grip on continental Europe and doing battle against Britain and her allies. These battles led to the capture of hundreds of enemy forces who needed to be kept out of the way. At first they were housed on prison ships or old sailing vessels but very soon they became overcrowded and it created a need for larger, more permanent and secure places.

The authorities in Plymouth looked around for a new location and they realised that right on their backdoor was the perfect place for a ‘prisoner of war depot’. Designed by Daniel Asher Alexander, the work began on the building of the prison in 1806, and three years later it was finished. The first French prisoners arrived in 1809 and were soon joined by Americans captured in the War of 1812 and shipped over to Britain, where they would be off loaded at the docks and then marched out of the city and all the way across the Moor to their new accommodation. At one time the prison had almost 6,000 prisoners in it.
By 1815 these wars had finished and those prisoners who had not died in the prison were sent home. The prison remained empty until 1850 when, as a result of increasing crime in the country, it was decided to rebuild the prison and turn it into a convict gaol.

In Victorian times Dartmoor was considered the hardest and most severe of Britain’s prisons and during World War I was used to keep 1,100 conscientious objectors who refused military service.

The beginning of the 21st century saw Dartmoor as an out-moded, over-crowded and old-fashioned prison which retained its grim reputation. A Board of Visitors report condemned the building and highlighted a list of urgent repairs that were needed. A year later the prison was ‘downgraded’ to a Category C establishment for less violent offenders.

Nowadays Dartmoor still has a reputation for being escape-proof but its inmates are mostly white-collar criminals housed on 6 wings. Prisoners used to make Royal Mail’s sacks, but now education is available at the prison, and ranges from basic educational skills to Open University courses. Vocational training includes electronics, brickwork and carpentry courses together with painting and decorating and desk-top publishing.