H M Prison Dartmoor: Outer Gateway with Walls, Flanking Houses and northern outbuilding

H M Prison Dartmoor: Outer Gateway with Walls, Flanking Houses and Northern Outbuilding

This prison outer gateway with flanking walls and two houses dates from approximately 1806 to 1809, with the houses subsequently receiving later alterations and additions.

The gateway itself is constructed with large blocks of granite at the bases of the arch, coursed granite ashlar piers, and an arch formed from dressed blocks of alternating pink and brown granite. The head of the arch takes the form of a semi-hexagon. Set within a recessed panel at the centre are carved words reading "PARCERE SUBJECTIS", taken from Virgil's Aeneid (VI.851), meaning "Spare the vanquished" – a reference to the site's original use as a prison for prisoners of war. A simple bead moulding runs around both the inside and outside of the arch.

The flanking walls are constructed of coursed granite rubble with a curved granite capping. Set into the western face of the wall to the north of the gateway is a drinking fountain fed directly from the nearby reservoir. The fountain takes the form of an arched embrasure made up of large granite blocks, with a projecting basin and a hood with a rounded edge.

Both houses are rendered and painted granite with painted granite quoins and slated roofs. The chimney stacks that originally rose from either end of the main ranges have been removed. The horned sash windows are later replacements.

The southern house, historically the governor's house, has its principal elevation facing outwards to the west. The original rectangular range is set on a north-south alignment with a projecting central porch. Early images of the prison suggest there was a wing extending eastwards from the centre of the main range from an early stage, containing rooms including the agent's and clerks' offices, now modified. An additional extension to the south occupies the site of the original canted washhouse. The main range comprises five bays over two storeys under a pitched roof. The slated porch is positioned centrally on the principal elevation with the entrance to the north and window openings in the other faces. The three-bay southern extension lies on the same plane as the principal elevation and is also two storeys but lower in height. The rear wing consists of a single-storey section with a two-storey, three-bay block to the east covered by a hipped roof with a central porch. The interior was not inspected in 2015 but is thought to have been much altered.

The northern house, historically the surgeon's house, similarly has its principal elevation facing outwards to the west. The original rectangular range is set on a north-south alignment with a projecting central porch. Early images suggest a wing extended eastwards from the centre of the main range from an early stage, now modified, with an additional extension to the north on the site of the original canted washhouse. The main range comprises five bays over two storeys under a hipped roof, though early prison images suggest both houses originally had pitched roofs. The slated porch is positioned centrally on the principal elevation with the entrance to the south and window openings in the other faces. The two-bay southern extension lies on the same plane as the principal elevation and is also two storeys but lower in height. The rear wing is two storeys throughout: the western section of a single bay matches the height of the main range, while the eastern four-bay section has quoins to its eastern end as found on the main range, and features a projecting porch to the south also with quoins. The interior has been much altered and retains few historic features, though a late nineteenth-century staircase survives.

Standing to the north-west of the former surgeon's house is a single-storey granite building visible on an 1810 illustration. An 1847 plan shows this building as containing a stable with three stalls, a coach house, and a cow house, opening onto a small enclosed yard. An equivalent block was provided for the governor to the south, but this has since been demolished. In the later twentieth century the building was used as a plant-fitter's shop.