A new, permanent exhibition opens to the public on Monday(Desk: May 19) in the grounds of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Entitled 'Prisoners in Paradise', it explores Bermuda's role as a repository for colonial prisoners, and the story of those held captive in Bermuda, in addition to featuring handiworks made of Bermuda cedar, stone, coral and other materials by the convicts and prisoners of war (POWs) during their time on the Island.

Until now, the Maritime Museum has been unable to mount a permanent display of the many artifacts in its POW collection, but thanks to funds generously donated by the Robert Steinhoff family in memory of their late wife and mother Patricia, restoration of the ammunition High Cave Magazine, which dates from the late 1870s, is now complete.

"We are thrilled to have another permanent exhibition in a new section of the Maritime Museum which previously had not been open to the public," curator Elena Strong said. "The High Cave area is one of the last remaining open caves in the Dockyard area, because most of them collapsed due to the construction of the Dockyard in the 1800s."

Work on the new underground venue began last year, and Miss Strong paid tribute to the "fantastic team" whose collective efforts have made 'Prisoners in Paradise' possible.

"Without their contributions, the exhibition would not have happened," she said.

In a brief overview of the history of the exhibition, situated in The Keep at the Maritime Museum, the curator noted that "not all visitors to Bermuda were here of their own accord. Bermuda was once a penal colony for thousands of British convicts, and the Great Sound islands were camps for POWs of the Boer War and both World Wars".

construction of the Dockyard began in 1809, and included the efforts of thousands of British convicts, who were seen not only as cheap labour in expediting the fortification of Bermuda but also as a way of alleviating the pressure on British prisons. For almost 40 years, convicts were deported from Britain and Canada to Bermuda.

The convicts transformed and shaped the Dockyard landscape through quarrying, land reclamation, and building breakwaters. They took off-cuts of the flowstone found in exposed caves, and soft limestone found in quarries, and created carvings, many of which are included in the new display.

"Most likely the carvings were created during the convicts' spare time, for personal use, and to trade for luxuries such as tobacco, fruit and local rum," Miss Strong said.

Working through layers of mud, over a century's worth of accumulated trash, and compacted coal slag, the artifacts were retrieved from Dockyard's North Basin by marine archaeologist Chris Addams and Michael Davis.

The first group of military captives held in Bermuda were POWs from the Anglo-Boer War — the longest and most controversial conflict fought by Britain between 1815 and 1914. By 1901, the concentration camps in South Africa were so overcrowded that the British sent Boer men and boy POWs overseas to various territories, including Bermuda; 4,619 were held on the islands of the Great Sound for 16 months.

To ease the boredom of confinement, the prisoners carved cedar and bone items, some for trade amongst themselves, and others for sale as souvenirs to tourists, the revenue from which would be used to purchase such luxury goods as coffee, tobacco and food from the camps' cafes and supply stores.

During the First and Second World Wars, enemy nationalities resident on the Island, including Germans, Austrians and Italians, as well as ships' passengers and merchant seaman — including the captain and crew of the German submarine U-505 — were interned at various places around Bermuda.

These POWs also took up carving to pass the time. Using materials available to hand, including cedar and recycled wood, they created a wide variety of items, ranging from walking sticks, silverware boxes, and ships models, to jewellery boxes and trays.

"Today, the wooden relics made by the POWs are reminders of the role Bermuda played as a repository for prisoners of war," Miss Strong said.

• The Bermuda Maritime Museum is open seven days a week from 9.30 a.m. top 5 p.m., with the last admission at 4 p.m.

Entrance is $10 for adults, $5 for children, and under fives are admitted free.