Sketching Fremantle Prison: A UNESCO World Heritage Treasure

Fremantle Prison is part of our convict past and apparently one of the largest surviving convict prisons in the world today. I am not sure that is something to be proud of, as the reason it is substantially intact, is that it was only in 1991 it was decommissioned. Fremantle Prison has also been described as “authentic” which is equally troubling!

I lived in Fremantle in the 80’s and remember constant riots by the prisoners because the conditions at the prison were so bad. Passing the razor wire topped stone walls each day always made me uncomfortable. The building always felt cold and mean. It is not that the prison was built that makes me feel ill at ease, it is that it was employed way past its use by date that disturbs me.

Using limestone quarried on the site Fremantle prison was built by convict labour between 1852 and 1859. Convict transportation ceased in 1868 after nearly 10,000 convicts passed through the doors.

Apart from being on the classified list of the National Trust, the Register of the National Estate, the State Register of Heritage Places, in 2010 it added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Australian Convict Sites Serial Listing.

Listed under the theme of “Convictism and Forced Migration” Fremantle Prison joins ten other Australian convict sites. In New South Wales the Hyde Park Barracks, Cockatoo Island Convict Station, Old Government House and Domain (Parramatta) and Old Great North Road are listed. On Norfolk Island the Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area is listed. Down in Tasmania the Port Arthur Historic Site, Coal Mines Historic Site, Darlington Probation Station, Cascades Female Factory and Brickenden-Woolmers Estates are listed.

I sketched this on location in the tradition of Urban sketchers. Urban Sketchers is a global network of people who draw the cities they live in and travel to. Their slogan is to see the world one drawing at a time. You can find out more from the Urban sketchers website where there is a global directory of groups. If you are interested in finding out more about a group in your town or city check out the Chapter map here.