Princetown, United Kingdom

A small town grew up near the prison. Two large inns were built during the war – the current Prince of Wales and the former Devil's Elbow / Railway Inn (now the Ramblers' Rest Guesthouse). Many of the prisoners had prize money to come from their own country; many others made their own money in their hammocks at night, even forging Bank of England and local bank notes, which they passed off in the great daily market held in the prison. With the closing of the prison in 1816, the town almost collapsed, but the completion of the Princetown Railway in 1823 brought back many people to the granite quarries. The prison remained derelict until 1851, when it was reopened for prisoners serving long sentences. It has since been considerably extended and although other Victorian era prisons are to remain in service, Dartmoor prison was scheduled to close in 2023, but an extension lease was signed to keep it open beyond that date. The prison closed temporarily in 2024 for radon mitigation and investigation works.

In the 1880s an Officers' Club building was constructed as a rest room for officers and their families. It was extended during the 1970s and remained in use until closure in 2001, largely because very few prison officers lived in Princetown by that date, but commuted in from Plymouth or Tavistock in the main.

The terrace of houses now called Moor Crescent was constructed in 1912 as housing for prison officers of fairly senior rank, in which role it served until the 1980s. After falling into near-derelict condition, it was renovated and is now private housing. Hessary Terrace, which backs onto Moor Crescent, was also constructed as housing for prison officers, as was Heather Terrace.

There is a sports field, now used by Princetown Football Club and known as Legend Park, which formerly belonged to the prison. The sports field and pavilion (now Princetown Pavilion Youth Club) date from the 1890s and were constructed for use by the prison warders. A tennis pavilion was laid out in the 1920s as a base for the tennis court for officers and their families. It was demolished in the 1960s due to its poor state. The bowling green and pavilion were built around the turn of the century and visiting teams of prison staff played matches on many occasions. This was also demolished in the 1960s.