Arthur Head

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]

Arthur Head
Arthur Head Reserve from near the Old Kerosene Store on Bathers Beach
General information
Type	Headland
Location	Fremantle, Western Australia
Coordinates	32.056847°S 115.741461°E / -32.056847; 115.741461 (Arthur Head)
Western Australia Heritage Register
Official name	Round House and Arthur Head Reserve
Type	State Registered Place
Designated	19 November 1993
Reference no.	896

1914 map of Arthur Head area Fremantle. Notable features are the Round House, tram sheds, Long Jetty, Old Kerosene Store.

Historian Bob Reece identifies the geographical prominence of the location in his entry in the Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia:^[4]: 387

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 (6.7 m) in diameter, 72 feet (22 m) 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]

1900 era plan of area surrounding Arthurs Head

Notes

1. "GAOL HILL, FREMANTLE". The Inquirer and Commercial News. Vol. LV, no. 3032. Western Australia. 17 May 1895. p. 7. Retrieved 2 August 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Ourone (31 May 1895). "THE REMOVAL OF GAOL HILL". The Inquirer and Commercial News. Vol. LV, no. 3034. Western Australia. p. 5. Retrieved 2 August 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "THE PROPOSED DESTRUCTION OF GAOL HILL, FREMANTLE". Western Mail. Vol. IX, no. 447. Western Australia. 14 July 1894. p. 11. Retrieved 2 August 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Reece, Bob (2009). "Fremantle". In Jenny Gregory; Janice Gothard (eds.). Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia (PDF). Crawley: UWA Publishing. pp. 387–389. ISBN 978-1-921401-15-2. OCLC 405500003. OL 45266821M. Wikidata Q5773872. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
5. "Fremantle: The Port's History". Daily News (Perth). 1 October 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 26 July 2020 – via Trove.
6. Hutchison, D. E. (David Eric); Fremantle Arts Centre Press (2006), Fremantle walks, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, p. 84, ISBN 978-1-921064-30-2 Hutchison summarises the work of Pearson (Pearson, Michael; Fremantle (W.A.). Council (1984), Report of an investigation into the historical archaeological resource within the Arthur Head area, Fremantle, Centre for Prehistory, University of Western Australia, retrieved 17 May 2013) with comment that Pearson counted 72 structures, most demolished, in the vicinity of Arthur Head.
7. "Arthur Head". Lighthouses of Western Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
8. "HARBOUR SLIPWAY". The West Australian. Perth. 3 November 1945. p. 10. Retrieved 9 May 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
9. Plans of the telescopic cradle at the Arthur's Head Slipway, Fremantle Harbour, W.A, State Records Authority of New South Wales, 31 December 1940, retrieved 27 September 2013