We went to prison today. Dartmoor. Luckily our ‘porridge’ was short term, a few hours. Others are not so fortunate. This was Dartmoor Prison Museum next to what was considered the most notorious prison in the UK. Famous residents have included Frank Mitchell the Mad Axeman, and George Haigh the Acid Bath Murderer.
Our first sighting of Dartmoor was a large grey granite building in the distance, somewhat uncomfortably situated within the beauty of Dartmoor’s National Park with its rolling heather-clad hills. First thoughts were of a Victorian workhouse.
It started life as a site to house prisoners of the Napoleonic War (POWs) who were being accommodated offshore on prison ships. When the conditions were considered unacceptable it was decided that a prison should be built and Dartmoor was ideally situated near the sea. Some prisons throughout the world have been built by inmates, but this was not the case with Dartmoor which involved local contractors. The prison we see today started life in 1806, but it was not until 1850 that domestic convicts were housed. This was because until this time many of our convicts were sent to Australia and other far off lands, but when such countries started to refuse to take any more, alternative solutions had to be found.
Stories of riots, great escapes and contraband abound. During a 1932 riot the governor was reported to have said: ‘This class of prisoner here is the worst I have ever had to deal with’, largely as a result of disagreements between two gangs.
One of the well publicised escapes was that of Frank Mitchell the Mad Axeman. He was sprung from prison with the alleged help of the Kray twins, but once outside was found to be ‘Too hot to handle’. His tall size made it difficult to disguise him. It is reported that he was very quickly despatched (within 11 days of his escape). His body was never found and lack of evidence resulted in no charges.
Today Dartmoor is a category C prison, for inmates not considered a high escape risk. It was downgraded from category B (high escape risk) in 2001 because permission to improve security was refused at this Grade II listed building.
What surprised me very soon on arrival at the museum was the examples of inmate creativity. When incarcerated creative work seems to be a form of escapism. Way back in the times of the POWs, prisoners were creating small domino sets from beef bone; bracelets from human or horse hair; and boxes from cut paper work. Today this continues with paintings, woodwork and metalwork. Unfortunately, some are creative in other ways. Many examples of weapons were on display and escape items such as the knotted sheet.
One exhibit was the smallest working mobile phone I have ever seen, about 2.5 inches long and less than an inch wide. It is described as being appropriately shaped to be tucked away in the smallest of orifices. Various seller websites describe it being able to clear ‘the BOSS chair’. The Body Orifice Security Scanner is in the shape of a chair, upon which prisoners sit in order to detect drugs and metal in bodily parts others would not care to probe.
Images today are limited as photography inside the museum is prohibited for security issues. However, I am sure there are many inmates who said upon leaving: ‘You’re welcome to HM Prison Dartmoor ‘.
Copyright: words and photos: Sue Barnard 2019
**A technical hitch yesterday may have led to duplicate emails. Apologies. We don’t know if it was a web issue or a slow WiFi problem. Formatting was also affected. The correct view can be seen on the following link: https://timetocompletethebucketlist.com