Dartmoor Prison Museum Devon

UK Museums: Dartmoor Prison Museum, Devon

Dartmoor Prison Museum, Dartmoor, Devon

Dartmoor Prison Museum within Dartmoor Prison on Dartmoor in Devon is dedicated to the history of the infamous prison and its inmates.

History

Dating from the Napoleonic War Dartmoor Prison was opened in 1809 to house French prisoners of war. These men were joined by American POWs mainly sailors captured during the War of 1812.

The surviving prisoners were repatriated in 1815 and the prison lay empty until 1850.

The prison reopened as a jail for domestic convicts and was used as such until 1917 when it housed conscientious objectors to World War I. In 1920 Dartmoor Prison reverted to a prison for serious offenders. It is now a Category C men's prison housing those who "cannot be trusted in open conditions but who are unlikely to try to escape." These include mainly non-violent offenders, sex offenders and white-collar criminals. The prison runs various educational and job experience courses to help reintegrate offenders back into society.

Exhibits at Dartmoor Prison Museum

The interesting museum is housed in the former dairy buildings. The early history of the institution is detailed using life-size models of Napoleonic soldiers in period uniforms and exhibits on the so-called 'Princetown Massacre' when guards fired on American POWs.

Also on display are manacles, straightjackets and other means of punishment.

There are also displays of weapons made by the prisoners and prison uniforms over the ages. Also on show are some of the models and other crafts produced by the inmates.

Further exhibits are on some of the prisoners themselves including a few who managed to escape such as Frank Mitchell (1929-1966), the so-called 'Mad Axeman' who was later murdered by the Kray Brothers. Mitchell managed to escape in the first place by asking to feed some Dartmoor ponies and then was picked up by a getaway car sent by the Krays.

Additionally, there is also information on Eamonn de Valera, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, who was a political prisoner and should not have been incarcerated in Dartmoor at all.