Dartmoor Prison

Located in Princetown, high amidst Dartmoor, the prison presents a bleak and formidable sight. Constructed originally both by and for prisoners of both the Napoleonic? and the [War of 1812]?, between 1806 and 1809, its high granite? walls dominate this area of the moor.

In April 1815, and although the wars had ended with the [Treaty of Ghent]? in December of the previous year, many prisoners of war still remained and some were unfortunate enough to be massacred in the prison at the behest of a drunken British officer.

Dartmoor was reopened thirty years later as a civilian prison and has contained some of Britain's most serious offenders ever since. It has a (misplaced) reputation for being escape-proof.