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The War Prison, near Toy-Royal, Dartmoor, 1850. Creator: Unknown
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The War Prison, near Toy-Royal, Dartmoor, 1850. Creator: Unknown
The War Prison, near Toy-Royal, Dartmoor, [Devon], 1850. The Government, in making Prince Town a convict station, might take the initiative with great advantage to the country...The situation presents employment for convicts in... extracting and dressing ores...cutting granite for public buildings...extracting felspathic minerals and limestone; grinding coprolites, and converting them into fertilizers; cutting peat for carrying on these processes...A bondage spent in labours like these could not fail to have the effect of converting the greater part of prisoners into characters capable of maintaining themselves at the expiry of their sentences...we entirely concur with the conclusion arrived at by the Committee who recently reported on Prison Discipline, "that the great majority of convicted prisoners are open to the same good motives and good impulses which influence other human beings...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850
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Media ID 36197580
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Aerial View Birds Eye View Dartmoor Devon England Employment Hard Labour Labour Penal Servitude Penitentiary Prison Punishing Punishment Rehabilitation Training Dartmoor Prison Penal System Princetown
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This haunting image captures The War Prison, situated near Toy-Royal on the windswept moors of Dartmoor in Devon, England, during the year 1850. The exact creator of this photograph remains unknown, but the scene is described in great detail in an article published in the Illustrated London News that year. At the time, the British government had recently established Prince Town, a convict station, on Dartmoor, with the hope of rehabilitating prisoners through hard labor. The War Prison, also known as Princetown Prison, was a key component of this reformation initiative. The site offered ample opportunities for convicts to engage in various industries, including the extraction and dressing of ores, cutting granite for public buildings, and the extraction of felspathic minerals and limestone. Additionally, prisoners were tasked with grinding coprolites, converting them into fertilizers, and cutting peat to fuel these processes. The article in the Illustrated London News expressed optimism that the laborious conditions at The War Prison would transform the majority of prisoners into law-abiding citizens upon completion of their sentences. The belief was that these prisoners, like any other individuals, were capable of being influenced by good motives and impulses. The committee reporting on Prison Discipline at the time shared this view. The image of The War Prison, with its stark, barren landscape and the prisoners' somber figures, stands as a poignant reminder of the Victorian-era approach to rehabilitation and the enduring challenge of transforming the lives of those who have transgressed the law.
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