Round House
The Round House is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia.[1] It is located at Arthur Head in Fremantle, and recent heritage assessments and appraisals of the precinct of the Round House incorporate Arthur Head.[2]
The first permanent building in the Swan River Colony, it was designed by Henry Willey Reveley and built in 1830.[3]
Intended as a prison, it had eight cells and a jailer's residence, all of which opened onto a central courtyard. The design was based on the Panopticon, a type of prison designed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham.[4]
It was used for colonial and indigenous prisoners until 1886, when control of the Convict Establishment prison (now Fremantle Prison) was transferred to the colony. After that, the smaller Round House was used as a police lockup until 1900, when it became the living quarters for the chief constable and his family.[5]
The Round House had a plaque placed by the Royal Western Australian Historical Society as part of commemorating historical sites in the Western Australia Centenary year of 1929.
The Fremantle City Council took over responsibility for the Round House in 1982, and it was opened to the public shortly afterwards. Currently it opens to the public seven days a week. Entry is by gold coin ($1 or $2) donation.
[edit] References
- ^ Heritage Council of Western Australia :: Round House and Arthur Head Reserve
- ^ Heritage Council of Western Australia :: Round House and Arthur Head Reserve - Comprehensive Report
- ^ Campbell, R. McK (1973), The Round House. Report no. 2, R.M. Campbell, http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/157754279, retrieved 20 December 2011
- ^ The Round House Gaol: Western Australia's first lunatic asylum.
- ^ Conole, Peter. and Graeme Sisson (2005) Policing in the Round House. including details of Constable Thomas Powers who lived in the building in 1898. Newsbeat (http://www.police.wa.gov.au/ABOUTUS/News/Newsbeat/tabid/1224/Default.aspx), July/Aug. 2005, p. 16.
[edit] Further reading
- Davidson, Dianne.(2001) The rescue of the round house. Newsletter (Fremantle History Society), Summer, 2001, p. 1-3,
- Scott, Peter.(1989) Hiding history : The Round House. (Aboriginal imprisonment in the Round House). Murdoch ethos, p. 37-50, (essays in Australian history in honour of Foundation Professor Geoffrey Bolton edited by Rae Frances and Bruce Scates. Murdoch, W.A.: Murdoch University. - see also Litchfield, John (1998), "The Round House and its questions about community in Fremantle", Imagined Places: the Politics of Making Space: 31–38, ISBN 978-1-86446-471-9
- Webb, David and Warren, David (2005) Fremantle : beyond the Round House Fremantle, W.A. Longley Books.
[edit] External links
- http://register.heritage.wa.gov.au/viewplace.html?place_seq=896&offset=1&view=library Heritage Council Library bibliography of books, reports and studies 1984 to 2006
Coordinates: 32°3′22″S 115°44′29″E / 32.05611°S 115.74139°E
