A REMEMBRANCE service paying tribute to Dartmoor Prison's 200 year history and the people who helped build the jail will be held this Sunday (May 24) at 11am at St Michael's and All Angels' Church in Princetown.

Dartmoor Prison was built between 1806 and 1809 to accommodate the French prisoners of war captured during the Napoleonic era.

On May 24, 1809, 2,500 of them left the Plymouth 'hulks', or floating prisons, and were marched to Princetown. During their captivity, 1,129 men died and their last resting place is marked by a stone memorial erected by the British authorities at the rear of the prison.

The event will see the French ambassador to Britain, Mr M Gourgault-Montagne, and eight descendants of French prisoners who stayed at Dartmoor Prison, attend.

After the service, wreaths will be laid at the memorial to pay homage to the prisoners who died.