Rous Head

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Rous Head Harbour in 2015 Rous Head Harbour, 2015 (04).JPG
Rous Head Harbour in 2015

Today Rous Head comprises mostly a reclaimed seabed area that is utilised as a service industrial area. A small harbour area called Rous Head Harbour is located at its west, on the north side of the North Mole at Fremantle Harbour. Within that harbour are a Rottnest Island ferry terminal and a boat maintenance area.

Contents

History

Before being significantly expanded by seabed reclamation, the original Rous Head was a feature on the coastline. [1] On 17 June 1829, a party from Parmelia disembarked and encamped on the headland "subsequently named Rous Head" thereby establishing the Swan River Colony, [2] :  12   following the first settlement of the Swan River Colony, named Sulphur Town, [3] on Garden Island near Cliff Point, [4] :  3   comprising "a party of about 250 military personnel, free colonists of the gentry class, and their indentured worker" from Parmelia and HMS Sulphur. [4] :  2  

In the 1860s, the head was the natural point of reference to the bar and rock that blocked the Swan River for any possible usage as a harbour. [5] Various schemes and plans were put forward before the plan for reclamation was adopted. [6] [7] [8]

Roads

The main access road is Port Beach Road, which terminates at Rudderhan Drive. Rous Head Road reaches from Port Beach Road to Emma Place, which extends to the Rous Head Harbour and the ferry terminal situated within it. North Mole Drive begins at Port Beach Road, travels on the breakwater between the Indian Ocean and Rous Head Harbour to North Mole, where it then continues to the North Mole Lighthouse.

References

  1. ↑ Rous Head, site of present North Wharf, Fremantle, 1900, retrieved 7 February 2016
  2. ↑ W. M. Bartlett (1979). Western Australian Year Book (PDF). Perth: Australian Bureau of Statistics. ISSN   0083-8772. LCCN   86641587. OCLC   8261989. Wikidata   Q126683302. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ↑ "Garden Island". Heritage Council, Government of Western Australia. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 Hamersley, Trent; Burke, Shane (17 July 2023). "The Swan River Colony's First British Settlement: Early Results of Surveys of Garden Island (Meeandip), Western Australia". International Journal of Historical Archaeology . 27. Springer Nature: 1161–1184. doi:10.1007/s10761-023-00704-8 . Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "THE NEW CHANNEL AT THE BAR NEAR ROUS' HEAD". The Inquirer & Commercial News . Perth, WA. 18 July 1866. p. 3. Retrieved 7 February 2016– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ Western Australia. Fremantle Port Authority (1995), Proposed seawall & land reclamation to extend Rous Head, Fremantle : proposed change to environmental conditions, The Authority, retrieved 7 February 2016
  7. ↑ Western Australia. Environmental Protection Authority; Western Australia. Fremantle Port Authority (1995), Seawall and land reclamation to extend Rous Head, Fremantle : change to environmental conditions : Fremantle Port Authority : report and recommendations of the Environmental Protection Authority, The Authority, ISBN   978-0-7309-5717-1
  8. ↑ Sinclair Knight Merz (Firm); Western Australia. Environmental Protection Authority; Fremantle Ports (2009), Fremantle Port inner harbour & channel deepening, reclamation at Rous Head and offshore placement of dredged material public environmental review, Sinclair Knight Merz, retrieved 7 February 2016
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