At 11am on 24 May 2009, Alain Sibiril, Honorary Consul of France, will commemorate the 1806 construction of Dartmoor Prison in Princetown, a small village in Dartmoor National Park, near Plymouth.
After housing several thousand prisoners (mostly transfered from prison barges and ships), the prison closed its doors in 1816 and the remaining prisoners (mostly American and French) were returned to their home countries. It was reopened in 1850 and remains of French prisoners were discovered. In 1866, these remains were formally inhumed and two commemorative stelae were erected.
There has previously been no official ceremony nor official French state representative present for the commemoration.
