French POW's grave

French POW officers in the Napoleonic Wars were allowed parole to live in designated places, including Ashburton. Lieutenant Francois Guidon appears to have stayed on after the end of the war (Waterloo, 1815) but then died at the age of 22 from some unknown disease. He must have been fairly well respected to have earned a resting place in front of St Andrew's, Ashburton's parish church. There are said to be boundary stones still surviving around the perimeter of the town, marking the edge of the area in which paroled POWs were required to stay during wartime.