A burial ground laid out in 1866-8 to commemorate the French prisoners of war who died at Dartmoor Prison during the Napoleonic Wars of 1809-1816.
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING The French Prisoner of War Cemetery, a rectangular shaped site of c 0.3ha, is located immediately north of Dartmoor Prison outside the prison wall. It is enclosed by a local granite stone retaining wall, c 1m in height. The burial ground is surrounded by farmland with the rugged moorland stretching out beyond it to its north and east. Immediately to its east lies the American Prisoner of War Cemetery also created in 1865 and to a matching design.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The burial ground is approached from either the east or the west via a track that runs along the outside of Dartmoor Prison's perimeter wall. It can be entered from the south either via small steps built into the cemetery wall, or via an opening further along, to its right. The latter has since 2002 decorative cast-iron spear-headed gates presented by Dartmoor Prison giving access to a gravel path that leads to a commemorative obelisk to the centre of the burial ground.
GARDENS The uneven ground of the cemetery is laid to lawn with a perimeter walk. The lawn rises to a bank built up against the dry stone wall enclosing the burial ground. The earth banks are planted with a row of Oak trees. The focal point of the burial ground is a granite obelisk standing at its centre. It commemorates the French Prisoners of War who died at Dartmoor prison between 1809 and 1816. It is set on a circular stepped base, introduced in c2002. Circa 2 or 3m north-east of the obelisk stands a flag pole, also introduced at that time. Made by convicts of Dartmoor prison in 1865, the obelisk formerly stood on a granite stone rubble base forming a rockery planted with ferns, as shown on a photograph of c1900.