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Napoleonic Prisoners of War in Ashby de la Zouch
The French Revolutionary Wars broke out between Britain and France in 1793 and by 1795 there were over 13,500 prisoners of war in Britain, of whom 1,357 were officers on parole. In 1796, the great camp at Norman Cross, south of Peterborough, was built. After a brief pause following theTreaty of Amiens of 1802, the Napoleonic Wars broke out in 1803. During the ensuing years, further prison accommodation was found and by 1814 there were nine large prisons in Britain holding 45,000 prisoners with a further 35,000 held in prison hulks at Portsmouth and Chatham.

The prisons and hulks held soldiers and sailors of ordinary rank. Officers of certain rank were allowed to be on parole in specified towns as long as they agreed to certain conditions, one of which was that they should not try to escape. The parole system had been in place since 1757, if not before, and there were over 30 parole towns

The first prisoners to be sent to Ashby arrived on 26th September 1804. There were 42 prisoners in that first group but others followed until there were about 200 in the town. On arrival they had to report to the representative of the Transport Board which at Ashby was Joseph Farnell, a grocer. The prisoners were placed in lodgings in the town and Farnell was responsible for their housing and general supervision. They were given an allowance of 10 shillings and 6 pence per week out of which they had to pay for their lodgings, food, clothing and any other commodities which they needed or wanted.

Prisoners were allowed to go one mile out of the town in any direction. A favourite walk was said to be the footpath (now called Mount Walk) which passes Ashby de la Zouch Castle, along the Packington Road and back across the fields via Leicester Road

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