Saturday 20th September 2025 | On what was forecast to be a day of heavy rain ‘the moosus’ and I drove a few miles up the A689 from Durham, to its junction with the A68 near the village of Fir Tree. A short distance beyond the roundabout, hidden away off the road side, is “Working Camp 93”. During the Second World War it was home to prisoners-of-war (POWs) and is still remarkably intact.
Thanks to a random but refreshingly appropriate notification from Facebook, we’d been able to book a guided tour of this fascinating site. The tour was promoted and led by Heather Laurence who has a particular interest in former camps located in the area. You can learn more via her Facebook groups: Focus on The North East Wellbeing CIC and Harperley POW Camp 93.
I’m reasonably familiar with the camp’s history because of its proximity to the Weardale Way long-distance trail hosted on this website. I’d had the opportunity to visit the camp when it was briefly opened, as an attraction, a few years ago. However, due to planning complications, it closed shortly afterwards though not before I’d decided to include it in the Weardale Way Pocket Guide. Had I thought it was going to close I’d have appreciated the access much more than I did.
Stats at a Glance
Venue Harperley POW Camp (Camp 93) | Location Fir Tree, Crook, Co. Durham DL13 4NN (What3Words: ///whimpered.lunges.emperor) | Features WWII Working Camp (POW) site. Much of the site is intact though buildings are relatively dilapidated. Two buildings, the ‘kantina’ and theatre, have been partially renovated thanks to funding by Historic England | Hospitality WC | Cost £16.96 (per person) | Value Good | Parking Free
More photographs are available in our Google Gallery
The Camp
Having booked and paid online, about a dozen or so of us gathered around Heather, who was to be our guide, in the car-park at the top of the site. Not unreasonably, the arrangement with the landowner requires groups to be small — which makes it easier to hear what’s being said. Many who come on these tours have direct family ties to the camp via parents or grandparents, both English and German. Their personal, usually socially-related contributions, help inform a rapidly growing body of research enthusiastically sought by Heather.
The site includes a fully accessible toilet and overlooks a wide, pastoral valley created by the River Wear at the foot of Weardale — on the western edge of the Durham coalfield. On most days of the year the view is glorious but even on drab, rainy days, like the day we visited, you can appreciate what a haven it must have seemed in days of war.
The camp itself is compact, with the overall footprint being roughly as it was at the time of its occupation. Apart from a couple of exceptions, most of the buildings are in various stages of dilapidation, many having been repurposed for storage. What remains however is deeply evocative of its wartime use. It’s easy to imagine prisoners walking between the buildings, possibly less intent on escaping as being happy to be out of danger.
The long huts are made of a concrete/asbestos composite much like the prefabricated housing that was built after the war (I suppose the chance of contracting asbestosis might have been offset from dying in a wooden hut fire when almost every inmate would have been a smoker!). There are also a couple of brick buildings including what was the camp hospital (complete with chimney). While it now houses chickens it has somewhat grimly been confused, by a few visitors, with buildings in camps with far more sinister reputations.
The “Harperley Experience” is a long way from that found at Eden Camp, near Malton in North Yorkshire. It’s hardly less important though and offers a different perspective on the futility of war. The emptiness is more atmospheric in my opinion; the footsteps behind you could easily belong to the prisoners themselves.
The Prisoners
The site was used to confine both Italian and German prisoners. It was the Italians, living in tents, who built it while the Germans, arriving later, benefited from it. By the time it was finished, in 1943, Italy had surrendered.
Those Germans who were assigned to “working camps” like Harperley were categorized as being least likely to pose an escape risk. Typically, they would be put to work on the land and in the community. We learned that there was only ever a single escaper who should be listed, more fairly, as an “absconder” having returned voluntarily the next day!
POWs were held for several years after the war ended with many declining to be repatriated. Men like Rudi Lux, who spent time at Harperley, established lives for themselves in the area. Rudi is buried just outside the current site though there’s a memorial plaque placed at the foot of a tree between two of the huts.
The Buildings
Two other buildings of particular significance on the Grade II-listed site have been repaired by English Heritage — at considerable expense. One is the prisoners’ recreational unit which I hope I’m right in saying is referred to as the ‘kantina’. It’s a light, hospitable space boasting many sensitively hand-drawn murals plus painted-on curtains.
Even more remarkable is the camp theatre. The purpose built stage is complemented by a 40-piece orchestra pit and includes a prompter’s box. The original wire for drawing the curtains is still in place and the whole is able to be viewed from seating on a terraced concrete floor. It really does make you feel sorry for the poor Italians who weren’t able to enjoy the fruits of their labour — especially a theatre!
It was in the theatre that the tour concluded, where we watched an absorbing audio-visual presentation of a German POW’s time spent in UK-based captivity, including Harperley. It left me wondering whether it was really necessary to try to kill the other before you can learn to appreciate them. Why do we continue to go along with it? What and who gets us thinking like that? I’ve got my own suspicions.
Because we were both so absorbed in the tour we didn’t notice the time but I’m inclined to say that it took around 2 hours and worth every minute. So, if you fancy an atmospheric dose of nostalgia, evoking a time in Britain that is fast being confined to photographs and diaries only, you might want to follow either of the two Facebook pages linked above. If more tours are offered, they’re definitely worth the time and cost.