Dartmoor prison turns to captivating tourists

Dartmoor prison turns to captivating tourists

Bogs, fogs, dogs and tales of celebrity convicts are helping to attract 30,000 visitors a year to Dartmoor Prison.




"The Mad Axeman, Frank Mitchell. The Acid Bath Murderer – though he was in here for something else. Éamon de Valera, the Irish leader – he was a political prisoner…" Brian Dingle, the curator of Dartmoor Prison Museum, is ticking off the prison's celebrity occupants on his fingers – or at least, in deference to the Official Secrets Act and identity protection laws, those whose names are already in the public domain. "I think it's because of the Mad Axeman that people think we're high-security," he muses, "But we've never been more than a 'B'. We're 'C' now, the lowest secure category in England and Wales."