Norman Cross Prison in Huntingdonshire, England, was the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp or "depot". Constructed in 1796–97, it was designed to hold prisoners of war from France and its allies during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. By 1816, it had been largely demolished.
The hamlet of Norman Cross, now in Cambridgeshire, lies south of Peterborough, between the villages of Folksworth, Stilton, and Yaxley. The junction of the A1 and A15 roads is here. Traditionally in Huntingdonshire, Norman Cross gave its name to one of the hundreds of Huntingdonshire and, from 1894 to 1974, to Norman Cross Rural District.
Design and construction of prison camp
The Royal Navy Transport Board was responsible for the care of prisoners of war. When Sir Ralph Abercromby communicated in 1796 that he was transferring 4,000 prisoners from the West Indies, the Board began the search for a site for a new prison. The site was chosen because it was on the Great North Road only north of London and was deemed far enough from the coast that escaped prisoners could not easily flee back to France. The site had a good water supply and close to sufficient local sources of food to sustain many thousands of prisoners and the guards. Work commenced in December 1796 with much of the timber building prefabricated in London and assembled on site. 500 carpenters and labourers worked on the site for three months. The cost of construction was £34,581 11s 3d.
The design of the prison was based on that of a contemporary artillery fort. A ditch wide and about 5 feet deep (to prevent prisoners tunnelling out) was placed inside the wall (originally a wooden stockade fence, replaced with a brick wall in 1805) and guarded by 'silent sentries' who could not be seen by the prisoners. In 1797, "The prisoners constantly sawed the inner palings [of the stockade] close to the ground, so they could be removed and replaced at night without fear of detection. In this manner they often got through the inner palings, but in crossing to the outer were always recaptured."Major Robert Bell Turton, The History of the North York Militia, now known as the Fourth Battalion Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment), Leeds: Whitehead, 1907/Stockton-on-Tees: Patrick & Shotton, 1973, ISBN 0-903169-07-X, pp. 72–3. The barracks for the garrison were placed outside and a large guard house (known as the Block House) containing troops and six cannon was placed right at the centre. The interior of the prison was divided into four quadrangles, each with four double-storey wooden accommodation blocks for 500 prisoners and four ablution blocks. One accommodation block was reserved for officers. Half of each quadrangle was a large exercise yard. The north-east quadrangle contained the prison hospital. There was also a windowless block known as the Black Hole in which prisoners were kept shackled on half rations as punishment, mainly for violence towards the guards although two prisoners were sent to the Black Hole for "infamous vices". 30 wells were sunk to draw drinking water for the prisoners and garrison.
Operation
The average prison population was about 5,500 men. The lowest number of prisoners recorded in any official document was 3,300 in October 1804 and the highest was 6,272 on 10 April 1810.
Norman Cross was intended to be a model depot providing the most humane treatment of prisoners of war. Sir Rupert George was responsible for the "care and custody" of the French prisoners.p. 865Walker, Thomas James. The depot for prisoners of war at Norman Cross, Huntingdonshire 1796 to 1816, p. 142.
Most of the men held in the prison were low-ranking soldiers and sailors, including midshipmen and junior officers, with a small number of privateers. About 100 senior officers and some civilians "of good social standing", mainly passengers on captured ships and the wives of some officers, were given parole d'honneur outside the prison, mainly in Peterborough, although some as far away as Northampton, Plymouth, Melrose, and Abergavenny. They were afforded the courtesy of their rank within English society. Some "with good private means" hired servants and often dined out while wearing full uniform. Three French officers died of natural causes while on parole and were buried with full military honours. Four French officers and five Dutch officers married English women while on parole. The most senior officer on parole from the prison was General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes who resided with his wife in Cheltenham from 1809 until they escaped back to France in 1811. General (1762–1816), Adjutant Commandant was confined here for breaking parole; he was allowed further parole and after again attempting to escape was sent to Chatham.
Among the prisoners in 1797 were Germans who had been conscripted into the French army. These were encouraged to enlist in the 60th Foot, which was raising a rifle-armed 5th Battalion in imitation of German jägers.
Clothing The French prisoners, whose main pastime was gambling, were accused by the British government of selling their clothes and few personal possessions to raise money for further gambling. In 1801, the British government issued statements blaming the French Consul for not supplying sufficient clothing (the British government had paid the French for all English prisoners held in France and French colonies to be clothed). In July 1801 Jeremiah Askew, a tradesman at Yaxley, was convicted of being in possession of palliasses and other articles bearing the government mark of the 'broad arrow'. He was sentenced to stand in the pillory at Norman Cross and two years of hard labour.
Samuel Johnson and a Mr Serle, who visited the barracks, compiled a report on behalf of the British government, stating that the proportion of food allowance was fully sufficient to maintain both life and health, but added: "provided it is not shamefully lost by gambling". The Lords of the Admiralty, along with Johnson, instructed that naked prisoners should be clothed at once, without waiting for the French supply or payment for clothing.
The British government provided each naked prisoner with a yellow suit, a grey or yellow cap, a yellow jacket, a red waistcoat, yellow trousers, a neckerchief, two shirts, two pairs of stockings, and one pair of shoes. The bright colours were chosen to aid the recognition of escaped prisoners. In Foulley's model of the prison (at the Musée de l'Armée, Paris; pictured above) more than half the prisoners are represented wearing these clothes.
Food Food was prepared by cooks drawn from the prison ranks. The cooks, one for every 12 prisoners, were paid a small allowance by the British government. The initial daily food ration for each prisoner was 1 lb of beef, 1 lb of bread, 1 lb of potatoes, and 1 lb of cabbage or pease. As the majority of prisoners were Roman Catholic, herrings or cod was substituted for beef on Fridays. Each prisoner was also allowed 2 oz of soap per week. In November 1797, the British and French governments agreed that each should feed their own citizens in their enemy's prisons. The French provided a daily ration of one pint of beer, 8 oz of beef or fish, 26 oz of bread, 2 oz of cheese and 1 lb of potato or fresh vegetables. They were also allowed 1 lb of soap and 1 lb of tobacco per month. Patients in the prison hospital were given a daily ration of one pint of tea morning and evening, 16 oz of bread, 16 oz of beef, mutton or fish, one pint of broth, 16 oz of green vegetables or potato, and two pints of beer.
The British government went to great lengths to provide food of a quality at least equal to that available to locals. The senior officer from each quadrangle was permitted to inspect the food as it was delivered to the prison to ensure it was of sufficient quality.
Despite the generous supply and quality of food, some prisoners died of starvation after gambling away their rations.
Education Most prisoners were illiterate and were offered the opportunity to learn to read and write in their native language and English. Prisoners who could read were given access to books. News on the progress of the war, including successes and defeats on both sides, was reported to prisoners.
In April 1799, French prisoners at Liverpool were reported to have performed plays by Voltaire in a neat prison theatre they had constructed. In July 1799, Dutch prisoners at Norman Cross sought permission to use one building as a theatre. The Sea Lords refused. However, Foulley's model, depicting the prison as it was in about 1809, shows a theatre in the south-west quadrangle.
Religion There was no prison chapel but a Catholic priest resided in the garrison barracks. From 1808, the former Bishop of Moulins Étienne-Jean-Baptiste-Louis des Gallois de La Tour, who lived in exile at Stilton, was permitted by the Admiralty to minister and provide charity to the prisoners at his own expense. He later became Archbishop of Bourges.
Health Sick prisoners were initially treated in the prison hospital by two French Navy surgeons and 24 orderlies.
As the number of prisoners increased, disease spread throughout the camp and 1,020 prisoners died in a typhus outbreak in 1800–1801. A special 'typhus cemetery' was dug near the camp."Norman Cross Camp Cambridgeshire. Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results". Wessex Archaeology, September 2010.
Leonard Gillespie, Surgeon to the Fleet, wrote in 1804 that pneumonia was common with some cases becoming fatal carditis. There were also many cases of consumption. A brick house for a resident British surgeon was built adjacent to the prison hospital in 1805.
A peculiar outbreak of nyctalopia or night-blindness affected many of the prisoners in 1806. They became severely dyspeptic and completely blind from sunset until dawn, to the extent that their fitter companions had to lead them around the camp. Various treatments were tried and failed; finally they were cured with black hellebore, given as snuff, which relieved the dyspepsia and restored their night vision within a few days.Waller, John Augustine, British Domestic Herbal, 1822. Quoted in Barton, Benjamin Herbert & Castle, Thomas, The British Flora Medica; or, History of the Medicinal Plants of Great Britain, London, 1837; Google Books.
A total of 1,770 prisoner deaths were recorded, the majority from disease, during the time the prison was in operation, although the records are incomplete.
Craft and prison economy
At the outbreak of the war, the Transport Board wrote that "the prisoners in all the depots in the country are at full liberty to exercise their industry within the prisons, in manufacturing and selling any articles they may think proper excepting those which would affect the Revenue in opposition to the Laws, obscene toys and drawings, or articles made either from their clothing or the prison stores".
Many prisoners at Norman Cross made artefacts such as toys, model ships and dominoes sets from carved wood or animal bone, and straw marquetry. Examples of the prisoners' craftwork were sold to visitors and passersby. Some highly skilled prisoners were commissioned by wealthy individuals, some of the prisoners becoming very rich in the process. Archdeacon William Strong, a regular visitor to the prison, notes in his diary of 23 October 1801 that he provided a piece of mahogany and paid a prisoner £1 15s 6d to build a model of the Block House and £2 2s for a straw picture of Peterborough Cathedral.