is a former
Australian Prison located in The Terrace,
Fremantle , in
Western Australia . The 60,000 m
2 site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art.
The prison was built by
Convict Labour in the 1850s, and transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use as a gaol for locally-sentenced prisoners. It closed as a prison in 1991 and reopened as a historic site and is now a public museum, managed by the
Government Of Western Australia . One of the notable features of the history is the preservation of art and graffiti on the walls in some cells.
Fremantle Prison was constructed soon after the arrival of the
Convict Ship ''
Scindian '' in 1850. The
Swan River Colony was settled by free settlers in 1829. In 1849, the farmers petitioned the colonial authority to request skilled convicts be sent from the
British Government . The first ship with 75 prisoners aboard arrived even before confirmation of the request was received.
Edmund Henderson found on arrival that the town was unprepared and arranged temporary accommodation for the convicts at the harbour master's warehouse (now the Esplanade Hotel). Under direction from Henderson, James Manning and
Henry Wray supervised the construction of the prison using convict labour from
Limestone quarried on-site. Construction began in 1851 and was completed in 1859. The first prisoners were moved there in 1855.Fremantle Prison, James Semple Kerr, Published by Department of Contract And Management Services. Significance Statement, History and Policy Document. Revised 1998. ISBN 0724498567 The original design of the main cell block was based on that of
Pentonville Jail in EnglandThings to see in Fremantle [http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/WAFremantle.shtml Accessed 14 January 2006..
Once construction of the prison's wings, perimeter walls and associated buildings were complete, convicts were often used in
Chain Gang s for other public works in the Fremantle and surrounding Perth area, for example,
Perth Town Hall . During this period the prison was named the , although known locally and informally as the '''Limestone Lodge'''.
In 1868, , north-east of Perth. The former women's section then became the ''prisoner assessment centre''.
During construction of the buildings a series of six deep shafts were sunk into the limestone bedrock to the east of the main building to provide the prisoners with fresh water from a
Limestone Aquifer . The quality of the water proved better than that in the town and prisoners were soon pumping, by hand, up to 55 million litres (12 million gallons) of water per year from prison reservoirs to the colony and to ships berthing at the developing port. In 1888 a steam pump was installed to take over the work. In 1896, a series of tunnels or
Horizontal Drives were constructed 20 metres under the prison to provide a greater surface area allowing more water to be drawn. The work was carried out using prison labour in poor conditions. The accessible tunnels run for over 1 kilometre; however, by 1910 the tunnels system was no longer needed and was sealed, leaving tools and construction equipment in place. The tunnels became the subject of many
Urban Myth s in the local area.
In 1907, after the .
of the prison, by Henry Wray (1824-1900)]]
Thomas Hill Dixon held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison and the convict system. Together with the
Comptroller General Edmund Henderson , he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted Western Australia's legal situation to the marks system used by
Alexander Maconochie in the
Norfolk Island penal system. He was opposed to flogging and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Cell sizes were increased by knocking down the inner wall between two cells after changes were ordered following a
Royal Commission held in the 1890s. At the same time, the prison was divided into several parts. In the main block, four divisions were created:
in the exercise yard]]
- ''One Division''—Short sentences, remand prisoners, and (up until 1970) juveniles as young as 13 years old.
- ''Two Division''—Serious crimes without violence.
- ''Three Division''—Violent offenders.
- ''Four Division''—Murderers and long-term men.
The main block also houses
Solitary Confinement , the
Gallows and two churches.
The
Gallows room was the only legal place of
Execution in Western Australia between 1888 and 1984, with 43 men and one woman hanged in this period. Aside from hanging, other punishments for lesser crimes included
Solitary Confinement and
Lashing s in the exercise yard.
Michal Bosworth writes that staff disliked giving the lashings and reports on a remission in lashes ordered in 1853, "because no one could be found to carry out the punishment."
1 (book review) ISBN 1920694331 However, the last flogging occurred in 1943.
in the Anglican chapel]]
The prison contains two chapels, one . A closer translation would be to "kill in the manner of a predatory animal." Some Jews take offense at translations which state "thou shall not kill," which they hold to be a flawed interpretation, for there are circumstances in which one is required to kill, such as if killing is the only way to prevent one person from murdering another, or killing in
Self-defense . See
Ten Commandments#Significance Of The Decalogue Given that the gallows were still in regular use, it was felt that "thou shalt not kill" would have been
Hypocritical .
During
World War I and
World War II , the
Australian Army took over part of the prison and used it as a
Military Prison from September 1939 until June 1946. Nearby
Rottnest Island was also used to hold prisoners and
Prisoners-of-war during war time.
The last person to be hanged was serial killer
Eric Edgar Cooke , executed in 1964.
On of damage.
Fremantle Prison was decommissioned on
November 8 ,
1991 . Prisoners were transferred to
Casuarina Prison about 30 km south of Perth, which opened the same year. Casuarina Prison replaced the 130-year-old Fremantle Prison as the state's main maximum-security prison. The buildings remained the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing and Works and the complex was leased for ten years to a conservation group, the Fremantle Guardians, who successfully ran tours around the buildings. After the lease expired in 2001, the state government again took control and embarked on a long-term plan for the future conservation of the site.
In August 2005, work began on the restoration of the prison gatehouse area. Poor-quality
Concrete Rendering was removed and the original stonework was revealed in October 2005. The work is the start of a three-year plan to halt the deterioration of the buildings and preserve them for the future.
Fremantle Prison is currently the best preserved convict-built prison in the country and became the first building in Western Australia to be listed on the
Ian Campbell , stated that it would be included in a nomination of convict areas to become
World Heritage Site s.
Policy dictates the prison is used for the benefit of the community without damaging the fabric if the site. Since 1992, the prison has operated as a heritage museum, and by 2005 the prison was attracting more than 130,000 visitors every year. The Anglican Chapel is currently visited on tours and used for
Wedding services, New Division is used as a New Business Enterprise Centre the hospital is a Childrens Literacy Centre and the womens' prison is now an
Art College .
The network of tunnels under the prison was opened to the public on
June 7 ,
2005 . Visitors can walk and paddle through the tunnels by boat. Visitors descend 20 metres down a set of vertical ladders attached with
Harnesses and need to be fairly fit.
Guided Tours run daily through the site.
Torch light tours are also held twice weekly. A giftshop and restaurant also operate. Ramps are provided to enable disabled access through the ground floors of the prison; however, some upper levels are inaccessible. The prison is closed
Good Friday and
Christmas Day .
The prison art gallery, a joint initiative between the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Works, showcases and offers for sale the artworks of current and ex-prisoners of Western Australia.
Art Therapy has been used within the prison for education and rehabilitation.
Additionally many cells and areas of the prison depict prisoners' artwork, including that of the 19th-century forger James Walsh, whose artwork was hidden beneath layers of white-wash for decades. A more contemporary prison artist was Dennis (NOZ) Nozworthy, who stated that he found art on death row. Some of his work currently is held in the collections of
Curtin University , Perth Central TAFE, and the WA Government, Department of Justice.Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts: Dennis (NOZ) Nozworthy
Accessed 06 February 2006.
Other cells contain
Aboriginal artwork many by unknown artists. The
Walmajarri artist
Jimmy Pike started painting in Fremantle prison, having received tuition from Steve Culley and David Wroth.
"Revisiting the Prison: Museums in a Penal Landscape" Dr Sylvia Kleinert, Associate Professor of Australian Indigenous Art (rtf document)
