1914 map of Arthur Head area Fremantle. Notable features are the Round House, tram sheds, Long Jetty, Old Kerosene Store.
Arthur Head (also known as Arthur's Head) in Fremantle, Western Australia, is a former large limestone headland on the southern side of the mouth of the Swan River, now also the entry to Fremantle Harbour. This location has also been referred to as 'Gaol Hill.'[1][2][3]
Fremantle is a narrow peninsula of land located at the estuary of the Swan River within Cockburn Sound, its principal landmarks from the sea being the limestone outcrop known as Arthur Head and the two hills known as Buckland Hill and Monument Hill (now Obelisk Hill).
—Bob Reece
Also the strategic quality of the head is noted as:
In May 1829 the strategic location of Arthur Head led it being chosen by Captain Charles Fremantle RN as the site for his fortified beach camp.[5]:4
It has been significantly altered since European settlement in the 1830s, and is the site of a large number of demolished structures.[6]
Archaeologist Michael Pearson in his 1984 report identified the following:
1851 Lighthouse (first)
1876 Lighthouse (second): 22 feet (6.7m) in diameter, 72 feet (22m) high; constructed by convicts in 1876–1879; decommissioned in 1902.[7]
1834 Courthouse (first)
1840 Courthouse (second)
1852 Police station complex
Lighthouse keeper quarters
Harbourmaster quarters
The structures remaining on the head are the Round House, the oldest remaining building in Western Australia, and the pilots' cottages, all of which are heritage listed. Passing through Arthur Head is the Whalers Tunnel that enabled ease of access to Bathers Beach, Fremantle and the Long Jetty.
A significant part of the Arthur Head area was utilised during World War II; the slipway constructed then for submarine repairs[8] was known as the Arthurs Head Slipway.[9]
The Swan River is a major river in the southwest of Western Australia. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city.
Fremantle is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is Freo.
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, 418 kilometres (260 mi) southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King George Sound. The central business district is bounded by Mount Clarence to the east and Mount Melville to the west. The city is in the local government area of the City of Albany. While it is the oldest colonial, although not European, settlement in Western Australia—predating Perth and Fremantle by over two years—it was a semi-exclave of New South Wales for over four years until it was made part of the Swan River Colony.
Woodman Point is a headland on the west coast of Western Australia. It is located in the Perth suburb of Coogee, 22 km (14 mi) south-south-west of the city centre and 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Fremantle. It extends westward into the Indian Ocean. The coastal waters immediately to the north of the point are known as Owen Anchorage, while to the south is Jervoise Bay. Woodman Point marks the northern extent of Cockburn Sound.
The Round House was the first permanent building built in the Swan River Colony. Built in late 1830 and opened in 1831, it is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia.
The Perth Gaol was a gaol built in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, between 1854 and 1856 to house convicts and other prisoners. It is located just west of Beaufort Street.
The Army Museum of Western Australia is a museum located in an historic artillery barracks on Burt Street in Fremantle, Western Australia. The museum was established in 1977 and has three Victoria Crosses on display.
The Public Works Department (PWD) was the State Government Agency of Western Australia, which was charged with providing and maintaining public infrastructure such as dams, water supplies, schools, hospitals, harbours and other public buildings. The department is no longer operational, having its responsibilities reassigned to other State Government Departments and corporate entities since 1985.
Tamala Limestone is the geological name given to the widely occurring eolianite limestone deposits on the western coastline of Western Australia, between Shark Bay in the north and nearly to Albany in the south. The rock consists of calcarenite wind-blown shell fragments and quartz sand which accumulated as coastal sand dunes during the middle and late Pleistocene and early Holocene eras. As a result of a process of sedimentation and water percolating through the shelly sands, the mixture later lithified when the lime content dissolved to cement the grains together.
Buckland Hill Reservoir is situated in Mosman Park, Western Australia, 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) southwest of the Perth central business district. The covered reservoir is the most westerly in the Perth metropolitan area. The reservoir was originally filled with water from Perth's hill dams and features a water treatment plant. In 1935 Buckland Hill supplied water to the area from Fremantle to Claremont.
Challenger Harbour is a marina in Fremantle, Western Australia adjacent to the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour. The harbour breakwater covers the historical site of the Fremantle Long Jetty.
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day. It is located adjacent to the city of Fremantle, in the Perth metropolitan region.
Cantonment Hill is a small rise overlooking the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia. Since the early 1900s the hill and the surrounding 4-hectare (9.9-acre) precinct has been mainly used for military purposes with extensive buildings now present. It has been under the control of the Department of Defence.
Completed in 1849, the original 20-metre (66 ft) Wadjemup Lighthouse was Western Australia's first stone lighthouse and was built to provide a safer sailing passage for ships to Fremantle Port and the Swan River Colony.
Henry Willey Reveley (1788–1875) was a civil engineer responsible for the earliest public works at the Swan River Colony, the foundation of the state of Western Australia.
Victoria Quay is a wharf on the south bank of the Swan River mouth in the Western Australian port city of Fremantle. It is separated from the Fremantle CBD by the railway line. Originally named South Quay, it was renamed Victoria Quay on 26 July 1901 in honour of the late Queen Victoria. With North Quay it forms the Inner Harbour area of Fremantle Harbour.
The Black Swan was the first bucket dredge used by the Swan River Colony to make its rivers more suitable for shipping. The dredge was operational from 1872 to 1911, when it was scuttled. Initially known as the Government Dredge, it was renamed after being repaired and modified between 1887 and 1888. The dredging carried out by the Black Swan and other vessels had a significant impact on the river fauna and flora, including the black swans for which it was named.
George Cooke Attfield was an English medical practitioner and first-class cricketer.
Rous Head is a reclaimed seabed area, which is utilised as a service industrial area. It includes a small harbour area that is located on the north side of the North Mole at Fremantle Harbour.
Adam Pearson Armstrong was an early European settler in the Perth suburb of Dalkeith, Western Australia. The suburb is named after Armstrong's cottage. Armstrong influenced development in the Swan River colony with properties in both Dalkeith and in his later property in Ravenswood.
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