Harperley POW Camp 93
Camp Status Camp Name Location World War II County
Headquarters Harperley Fir Tree , Crook County Durham
Satellite Oaklands Emergency Hospital Bishop Auckland County Durham
Satellite Bedburn Bedburn County Durham
Satellite Consett Consett County Durham
Satellite Hamsterley Hall Hamsterley , Rowlands Gill County Durham
Satellite High Spen Gateshead County Durham
Satellite Lanchester Lanchester County Durham
Satellite Langton Grange High Hulam , Nr Staindrop County Durham
Satellite Mount Oswald South Road , Durham County Durham
Satellite Usworth nr Washington , Tyne and Wear County Durham
Satellite Windlestone Hall Rushyford County Durham
History
View from the southeast corner through the camp across Weardale
Harperley POW Camp 93 is a surviving purpose-built World War II Prisoner of War (PoW) camp built to accommodate up to 1,400 inmates at Fir Tree near Crook, County Durham in the northeast of England. A work camp for low risk PoWs, it was built on a hillside overlooking Weardale and across the valley from Hamsterley Forest. It was built, initially, in 1943 by Italian PoWs to similar plans of other existing Ministry of War Standard Camps of World War II in Britain and was typical of many military installations around the country. It is the main camp for a number of satellite camps, also numbered 93. Nearby Bishop Auckland used Harperley PoWs and Oaklands Emergency Hospital was another installation numbered Camp 93. There were approximately 1,500 camps of varying categories and sizes in World War II Britain, and of those, about 100 were reported as 'purpose-built', such as Harperley.