Mr. Baring-Gould more than hints that the particular spot chosen owed its distinction entirely to the personal interests of Sir Thomas. Says he:

‘It is on the most inclement site that could have been selected, catching the clouds from the South West, and condensing fog about it when everything else is clear. It is exposed equally to the North and East winds. It stands over 1,400 feet above the sea, above the sources of the Meavy, in the highest as well as least suitable situation that could have been selected; the site determined by Sir Thomas, so as to be near his granite quarries.’

On March 20, 1806, the first stone was laid; on May 24, 1809, the first prisoners came to it; in July the first two prisoners got out of it by bribing the sentries, men of the Notts Militia. The Frenchmen were recaptured, one at a place called ‘The Jumps’, the other at Kingsbridge. The soldiers, four in number, confessed they had received eight guineas each for their help, and two of them were condemned to be shot.

DARTMOOR WAR-PRISON, IN 1812.

From a Sketch signed ‘John Wethems’ in the Public Record Office.
(Reproduced by kind permission of Mr. Basil Thomson and Col. Winn.)

Key to the Plan.

1A Prison. 2A Prison. 3A Prison. 4A Prison. 5A Prison. 6A Prison. (New Building). 7A Prison. (New Building). B Cookeries. C Cachot or Dungeon. D Watch-houses. E Basins. F Petty Officers’ Prison. G Market-place. H Hospital. I Receiving-house. J Pharmacy. K Bathing-place. L Matron’s House. M Washing-house. N Storage. N Store-houses. O Storage. P Jailor’s Lodgings Q Jailor’s Lodge. R1 Mr. Holmden’s (Clerk) House. R2 Mr. Bennet’s House. R3 Mr. Winkworth’s House. S Captain Cotgrave’s House. T Agent’s Office. U Agent’s Garden. V Doctor’s House. W Doctor’s Garden. X Stables. Y Reservoir. Z Barracks. 1 Mr. Carpenter’s House. 2 Bakehouse. 3 Bell. 4 Miller’s House. 5 Burial-ground. 6 Dead-house. 7 Military Walk. 8 Ramparts. 9 Iron Rails, inside of which prisoners are confined. 10 Streams of water running from the reservoir. 11 Tavistock Road. 12 Princetown Road. 13 Morton Road. 14 Prison where Mr. V. made his first entry on December 12, 1811, with the track. 15 Prison where Mr. V. lives now, and track of walk allowed. 16 Mr. V. has liberty to go as far as 5th Gate. 17 New latter wall, is a mile in circumference.

Thirty acres were enclosed by stone walls, the outer of which was sixteen feet high,[[10]] and was separated by a broad military way from the inner wall, which was hung with bells on wires connected with all the sentry boxes dotted along it. One half of the circle thus enclosed was occupied by five huge barracks, each capable of holding more than 1,000 men, with their airing grounds and shelters for bad weather, their inner ends converging on a large open space, where was held the market. Each barrack consisted of two floors, and above the top floor ran, the length of the building, a roof room, designed for use when the weather was too bad even for the outdoor shelters, but, as we shall see, appropriated for other purposes. On each floor, a treble tier of hammocks was slung upon cast-iron pillars. Each barrack had its own airing ground, supply of running water, and Black Hole. The other half-circle was occupied by two spacious blocks, one the hospital, the other the petty officers’ prison, by the officials’ quarters, the kitchen, washing-houses, and other domestic offices, and outside the main, the Western Gate, the barrack for 400 soldiers and the officers’ quarters. The cost of the prison was £135,000.

By the foreign prisoners of war Dartmoor was regarded, and not without reason, as the most hateful of all the British prisons. At Norman Cross, at Stapleton, at Perth, at Valleyfield, at Forton, at Millbay, they were at any rate within sight and hearing of the outer world. Escape from any one of these places was, of course, made as difficult as possible, but when once an exit was effected, the rest was comparatively easy. But escape from Dartmoor meant very much more than the mere evading of sentries, the breaching and scaling of walls, or the patient labour of underground burrowing. When all this was accomplished the fugitive found himself not in a crowded city, where he could be lost to sight among the multitude, nor in the open country where starvation was at any rate impossible, nor by a water highway to freedom, nor, in short, in a world wherein he could exercise his five senses with at least a chance of success; but in the wildest, most solitary, most shelterless, most pathless, and, above all, most weather-tormented region of Britain. Any one who has tried to take his bearings in a Dartmoor fog, or who has been caught by a Dartmoor snowstorm at the fall of day can realize this; those who have not had one or other of these experiences, cannot do better than read The American Prisoner, by Mr. Eden Phillpotts.