World’s first prisoner of war camp, used over 200 years ago, to open to public

The site once held soldiers captured during the Napoleonic Wars

Nene Park Trust has purchased Norman Cross (Historic England Archive)

A prisoner of war camp from the Napoleonic era located in Cambridgeshire has been acquired by a trust to preserve it as a site of historical significance.

Nene Park Trust has purchased Norman Cross, recognised as the world’s first purpose-built prisoner of war camp, from a private farmer.

The site, near Peterborough, holds the remains of approximately 1,770 French, Dutch, and German soldiers who were captured during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

The trust aims to conserve the area and open it to the public, offering both a historical and green space for visitors.

Today, the camp is barely visible beneath a field used for crops and grazing. However, historian Paul Chamberlain notes that it once functioned as a self-contained town, complete with barracks, offices, a hospital, school, marketplace, and banking system.

It operated from 1797 to 1814 and housed around 7,000 French prisoners. The location was chosen because it was far from the sea, making it difficult for any escapees to return to France.

Photo issued by Historic England of a watercolour plan of the Barracks of Norman Cross, with a list of buildings, made in 1799 (Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery)

Prisoners made intricate models from bone, wood and straw to sell at the camp market and trade for food, tobacco and wine.

Around 800 of these artefacts, which include miniature ships and chateaus, are on display at the nearby Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.

The trust received £200,000 of grant funding from Historic England and £50,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to buy the camp following years of negotiations.

Its acquisition was fought for by resident Derek Lopez, who owned the Norman Cross Gallery near Yaxley and was an advocate of Peterborough’s history.

He died in 2024 before seeing the sale.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: “The Norman Cross prisoner of war camp represents a pivotal moment in our shared European heritage that deserves to be better known.”

Matthew Bradbury, chief executive of Nene Park Trust, said he was “delighted” to take on the ownership of Norman Cross and wanted “to share its green space and unique stories for generations to come”.

Heritage minister Baroness Twycross said: “Norman Cross represents a poignant chapter in our shared European story.

“The remarkable stories of those held in what was the first purpose-built prisoner of war camp should be remembered now and in the future.

“This partnership has secured this valuable heritage site for generations to come.”