Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP OF CHAPTER
Princetown
POP 1767
Set in the heart of the remote, higher moor, Princetown is dominated by the grey, forebod-
ing bulk of Dartmoor Prison. The jail has dictated the town's fortunes for hundreds of
years. Princetown began falling into decline when the jail stopped housing prisoners of
war in the early 1800s, and parts of the town still have a bleak, neglected feel. But the set-
tlement also offers an intriguing insight into the hard realities of moorland life and makes
an atmospheric base for some excellent walks.
Sights & Activities
Dartmoor Prison Heritage Centre
( 01822-322130;
www.dartmoor-prison.co.uk
; Princetown; adult/child £3/2; 9.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-4pm;
)
Dartmoor jail was built in 1809 to hold first French, then American, prisoners of war. It
became a convict prison in 1850, and today is a category C jail, with capacity for 653 in-
mates. Just up from its looming gates, the Dartmoor Prison Heritage Centre provides a
chilling insight into life inside. Look out for the disturbing makeshift knives made by
modern prisoners, as well as mock-up cells, straight jackets and manacles. Escapes feature
too in the form of sheets tied into ropes and chair legs hammered into grappling hooks.
Then there's the tale of Frankie 'the mad axeman' Mitchell, who was supposedly sprung
by the '60s gangster twins, the Krays. The centre also sells the bizarrely cheerful garden
ornaments made by the prisoners; don't miss the (presumably ironic) neighbourhood-
watch figurines.
MUSEUM
Princetown Tourist Office
(DNPA; 01822-890414; 10am-5pm Apr-Sep, to 4pm Oct & Mar, 10.30am-3.30pm Thu-Sun Nov-Feb)
Prin-
cetown's Tourist Office and Visitor Centre is the main one for the whole moor. Along with
leaflets, moorland books and outdoor clothing, it also has worth-visiting heritage displays,
including one outlining the links between Princetown and the Sherlock Holmes story,
The
Hound of the Baskervilles
. The topics author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once stayed at
Princetown's Duchy Hotel (now the tourist office itself). Local lore recounts Dartmoor
HERITAGE CENTRE
