Napoleonic Prisoner of War Camp

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During the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, Portchester Castle was used as a prisoner of war camp. Thousands of French, Dutch and Spanish prisoners were held in temporary buildings erected within the outer bailey. Conditions were harsh and overcrowded. The prisoners left their mark in graffiti carved into the walls of the keep and gatehouse, some of which survives and is visible today. Up to 7,000 men were held here at the peak. The castle remained a prison until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814.