Amongst the Norman Cross collection are several documents relating to the camp and people who were connected to it. Some of the documents relate to the land, others to staff or the detainees.
One document has survived that relates to prisoner A R R Roelans, who was likely to have been Belgian. He was given dispensation to walk the Great Turnpike Road to within a mile of Peterborough. The prisoner of war camp was five miles away from Peterborough and his walk would have taken him just south of Fletton.
Why he was granted permission to walk in this location is not stated, but the document was created on 17th November 1797 within the first year of the camp. The Great Turnpike was what we now call the A15 and is the road that connects the A1 Great North Road to Peterborough. It was possible that he was allowed to walk away from the camp to sell goods that he made and for which the camp was best known, but it may have been the case that the best pub was within that four mile walk!
