Editing Norman Cross Prison (section)

==Design and construction of prison camp==
[[File:Norman Cross painting.jpg|thumb|A painting of Norman Cross c. 1797]]
The [[Royal Navy]] [[Transport Board (Royal Navy)|Transport Board]] was responsible for the care of [[prisoners of war]]. When [[Ralph Abercromby|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 (Great Britain)|Great North Road]] only {{convert|76|miles|km}} 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Monger|first= Garry|journal= The Fens|volume= 31|year= 2021|pages= 20–21|title= Fort in the Fens}}</ref>

The design of the prison was based on that of a contemporary artillery fort. A ditch {{convert|27|ft|m}} 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."<ref name = Turton>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.</ref> The barracks for the garrison were placed outside and a large guard house (known as the [[Blockhouse|Block House]]) containing troops and six [[cannon]] was placed right at the centre. The interior of the prison was divided into four [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quadrangle]]s, each with four double-storey wooden accommodation blocks for 500 prisoners and four [[Washing|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 "[[sodomy|infamous vices]]".<ref name="Walker"/> 30 [[water well|well]]s were sunk to draw drinking water for the prisoners and garrison.