Overview

• Built in 1797 near Peterborough, the Norman Cross camp held around 7,000 mainly French prisoners until its closure in 1814.
• Archaeological remains of approximately 1,770 French, Dutch and German soldiers lie beneath fields now used for crops and grazing.
• At its height the site functioned as a self-contained town complete with barracks, a hospital, a school, a marketplace and its own banking system.
• Prisoners produced intricate bone, wood and straw crafts to sell at the camp market, with around 800 surviving items held at Peterborough Museum.
• Local advocate Derek Lopez led years of campaigning to save the site and was honoured after his death last year when the sale was completed.