Princetown & Dartmoor Prison Museum
Princetown
One of England's highest towns. Dartmoor Prison, built in 1809, still holds inmates today, and a prison history museum stands nearby.
Princetown sits in the middle of the moor at about 430 metres above sea level. The town grew up after Dartmoor Prison was built in 1809 to hold French prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars. The prison's granite walls look severe, and beside it the Dartmoor Prison Museum displays escape tools, prison uniforms, instruments of punishment and handicrafts made by inmates, telling the story of more than two centuries of prison history (entry about £8). The town has the Dartmoor Brewery, old pubs and shops, and serves as a supply stop for visiting Wistman's Wood, the Merrivale Stone Rows and other sites in the western part of the moor.
Opening hours
Museum about 10:00 am–4:30 pm (varies by season)
Nearby sights
- Wistman's Wood
- Merrivale Prehistoric Settlement
- Burrator Reservoir
- Postbridge Clapper Bridge
- Bellever Forest & Tor
- Dartmeet
- Lydford Gorge
- Buckland Abbey