ASEMATES is full of surprises. It's not the depressing place you might imagine it to be. Rather than echoing with vibes of misery of those locked up inside its substantial walls over the decades, the interior seems to be about as a cheerful as a prison could be.

Venturing inside the old main building with Chris Addams, the man who is spearheading efforts to raise awareness of the historical and architectural value of the site, one is greeted with high ceilings of arched brickwork, arched doorways and a decor of pastel shades of yellow and blue. The overall effect is reminiscent of something from the Islamic world.

And looking around the old cells is also a revelation. It is evident that the former prison regime encouraged prisoners to express themselves through art, using their own cell walls as a canvass.

The paintings, of women and children, of shapes drawn freehand but with remarkable geometrical precision, reflect a sense of optimism and the strength of the human spirit in adverse circumstances. They also display the fact that some of the convicts once housed in Casemates were artistically talented.

The cells are small, but the high ceilings and large, rectangular windows create a sense of space.

Not to suggest that Casemates has the air of a holiday camp. Rusting iron gates and ubiquitous rolls of razor wire are reminders of the purpose this place once had. One area that arouses strong emotions is the place where some former inmates were executed by hanging. To follow in the footsteps of the condemned, up the steps to the platform and to look through the open trapdoor hole is evocative.

Some argue that Casemates has many of the elements necessary for becoming a visitor attraction and an historical monument, given some careful planning, investment and a lot of hard work.

But for the time being, Mr. Addams and his group are simply trying to make the Bermuda public aware of the value of the treasures in their midst.

"There is nothing like this in the whole world ? it's unique," Mr. Addams said. "And I believe it's important that the people of Bermuda should be aware of that.

"The British used it as a barracks right through to the Second World War. It was built in 1910 and it was constructed to be bomb-proof."

He explained that between the arched ceilings and the roof was a thick layer of packed sand, designed to absorb and spread the shock in the case of a bomb attack. "The British also made full use of this site, which is riddled with caves," Mr. Addams said. "Before the days of refrigeration, they would keep stocks of food in cold water in the caves. They also used caves as arms stores. When Casemates became a prison, they bricked up the old cave entrances."

thick walls may look indestructible, but Mr. Addams said that, left untouched, they would eventually fall victim to nature. With the help of seven helpers, Mr. Addams has been supervising efforts to hold back nature's attempt to reclaim the area.

"The walls are made of limestone and limestone holds water," Mr. Addams said. "That is why there are trees growing out of some of the walls. They're like icebergs. You can only see a third of the plant on the wall, two thirds of it is in the wall. Roots are capable of fracturing the limestone.

"We have already removed some casuarina trees and Mexican peppers. Wedco has given us the keys and allowed us to work on this. The prison authority (of neighbouring Westgate) has also been very helpful and we are ensuring that we don't interfere with their privacy."

A diving enthusiast who moved to the island from South Wales 35 years ago and the holder of a master's degree in marine archaeology, Mr. Addams has become fascinated over the years with the rich history of Dockyard.

He has contributed significantly to the knowledge about Bermuda's convict past, which he believes is an aspect of the island's history that is not as well known as it ought to be.

In 1982, Mr. Addams and fellow diver Mike Davis were given a Crown licence to explore the former site of the prison hulk, the An extensive search spanning two decades yielded around 2,500 artefacts. Mr. Addams was instrumental in the founding of the Dromedary Trust which governs the collection of items, ranging from pewter mugs and pork fat lamps to military buttons and carvings in bone and flow stone created by the inmates (the flow stone was taken from caves around Dockyard and has been described as "congealed water").

The collection has gained international recognition, having been shown in an exhibition by the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham, England last summer. There has also been interest from Australia, where some of Bermuda's convicts were sent after they had served time here.

Victorian buildings are a tangible reminder of Bermuda's convict past, as they were constructed largely through the hard labour of prisoners shipped here by Britain. Those who served time here suffered appalling treatment, even worse than the global norm for that time.

Some were worked to death in the quarries, others fell foul of the dreaded yellow fever, while others died in the abysmal conditions of the prison hulks. The hulks were ships converted into floating jails, packed with prisoners and teeming with cockroaches and rats.

Thirty prisoners were packed into cells designed for eight or ten, with a pot in the middle of the hulk to serve as a communal toilet. Mr. Addams said Bermuda was the last place in the world that the prison hulk system survived.

The arrived here in 1826, carrying 100 convicts and was then converted into a hulk to house 400. The 600 prisoners living on board the and another prison hulk, the were moved off the hulks in 1851, from which time the became a kitchen for working prisoners. The artefacts recovered from under 30 feet of water by Mr. Addams and Mr. Davis were items that were thrown overboard around 150 years ago.

For Mr. Addams, this is a revealing part of the island's history, a part which many would rather forget. The web site for the Dromedary Trust () states of the artefacts found: "These clues to the past have gone unrecognised because of the atrocities that occurred and unwillingness of the people in the present to recognise the inhumanity at that time."

There is evidence in other sites around Dockyard of the horrors of 19th-century convict life. Even in death, the abuse continued.

"We believe about 3,500 convicts died here and they were buried in unconsecrated ground, basically pits," Mr. Addams said. "There is a site adjacent to the West End Sail Boat Club, which itself used to be a mortuary, where the bodies of about 600 convicts lie in burial trenches.

"When some trees came down there in a storm, there were human bones showing all over the place. Although there weren't supposed to be marked graves, there is evidence of other convicts doing their best to put up a cross or a stone.

"In another site, which was used for tennis courts at the time of the Second World War, there is another mass burial ground, just opposite the Royal Navy graveyard. The problem they had was that it was in a tidal area, so when the water came in, the smell was terrible."

Mr. Addams also pointed out the remains of a "wet prison" on the shore. As the name suggests, the floor was underwater, a feature designed to add to the prisoners' discomfort.

Another site where Mr. Addams has found fascinating relics of Victorian times is Black Bay, off Malabar Road, on Ireland Island South. This area was used as a rubbish tip. Buried under sand, amid hundreds of bottles, Mr. Addams has found some rare British Navy pins and buttons.

"When people died of yellow fever all their clothes were burned," Mr. Addams explained. "Some officers' clothes appear to have been burned and buried here."

A few feet along the coastline, tucked away from view from the road, is another little gem, a lime pit where blocks of limestone were stacked with pieces of cedar wood in between. The wood was set alight and left to smoulder and, after cooking, the limestone would break down into powder, which was then used for whitewash.

Still more impressive is an old water pump building off Cochrane Road, where a steam-powered engine used to belch smoke up the 30-foot-high stone chimney and supply local homes with water.

"This building dates from the early 1800s and is not beyond repair, though it has deteriorated noticeably over the last ten years or so," Mr. Addams said. "People have even been dumping trash here. It needs action to save it soon, because there is a crack you can clearly see going right the way up the chimney.

"It's not just Casemates, there are buildings all over Dockyard that represent part of our heritage, places that most people simply aren't aware of. The people of Bermuda should take action to save them.

"This situation is nobody's fault. The last thing I would want to do is suggest that any authority is to blame. I just want to make people aware of what they have here."

More information about the Dromedary Trust and pictures of the artefacts in the collection can be found on the Internet at . Anyone interested in knowing more can make contact with the Trust via the web site.