What to See in Perth - Top Sights and Attractions

Former jail with exhibits on prison life. Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The six-hectare site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels. It was initially used for convicts transported from Britain, but was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally-sentenced prisoners. Royal Commissions were held in 1898 and 1911, and instigated some reform to the prison system, but significant changes did not begin until the 1960s. The government department in charge of the prison underwent several reorganisations in the 1970s and 1980s, but the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent culminated in a 1988 riot with guards taken hostage, and a fire that caused $1.8 million worth of damage. The prison closed in 1991, replaced by the new maximum-security Casuarina Prison.

The prison was administered by a comptroller general, sheriff, or director, responsible for the entire convict or prison system in Western Australia, and a superintendent in charge of the prison itself. Prison officers, known as warders in the 19th century, worked under stringent conditions until they achieved representation through the Western Australian Prison Officers' Union. Convicts were initially of good character as potential future colonists, but less desirable convicts were eventually sent. As a locally-run prison, Fremantle's population was generally short-sentenced white prisoners in the 1890s, with very few Aboriginal prisoners. By the late 20th century, most prisoners were serving longer sentences, a higher proportion of them were violent, and Aboriginal people were over-represented.

Prison life at Fremantle was extremely regulated. Meals were an important part of the day, eaten in the cells throughout the operational life of the prison. Convict or prisoner labour was used on public infrastructure works until around 1911; subsequently, only work inside the prison was allowed, though there was never enough to fully occupy the inmates. Punishments varied over the years, with flogging and time in irons eventually replaced by lengthening of sentences and deprivation of visitors or entertainment. More than 40 hangings were carried out at Fremantle Prison, which was Western Australia's only lawful place of execution between 1888 and 1984. Prominent escapees included Moondyne Joe, as well as John Boyle O'Reilly and six other Fenians in the 19th century, and Brenden Abbott in 1989. There have been various riots and other disturbances, with major riots causing damage in 1968 and 1988.

Since 1991, Fremantle Prison has been conserved as a recognised heritage site, and various restoration works have been undertaken. New uses have been found for some buildings within the prison, which has also become a significant tourist attraction. The process of obtaining World Heritage listing as part of the Australian Convict Sites submission focused historical interpretation and conservation efforts on the prison's convict era (1850 – 1886), at the expense of its more recent history, including Aboriginal prisoners held there.^[1]

Tourist attraction in Perth, Australia. The Swan Bells are a set of 18 bells hanging in a specially built 82.5-metre-high copper and glass campanile in Perth, Western Australia. The tower is commonly known as The Bell Tower or the Swan Bell Tower.

Taking their name from the Swan River, which their tower overlooks, and forming a sixteen-bell peal with two extra chromatic notes, they are the second largest set of change ringing bells in the world, the largest being Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, which has nineteen bells.

Twelve of the set are historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square in London; six others, cast in recent times by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, round off the set. The St Martin-in-the-Fields bells were donated to the State of Western Australia as part of the 1988 Australian bicentenary celebrations; the additional bells were cast with a subsequent donation of metals mined in Western Australia. The six newer bells include five that were presented to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth and to the people of Western Australia by the City of London, the City of Westminster and a consortium of British and Australian mining companies, and one bell commissioned by the Western Australian Government.^[6]

Expansive public parkland with memorials. Kings Park is a 400.6-hectare park overlooking Perth Water and the central business district of Perth, Western Australia.

The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two-thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland. Offering panoramic views of the Swan River and Darling Range, it is home to over 324 native plant varieties, 215 known indigenous fungi species and 80 bird species.

It is the most popular visitor destination in Western Australia, being visited by over five million people each year.

Besides tourist facilities Kings Park contains the State War Memorial, the Royal Kings Park Tennis club and a reservoir. The streets are tree lined with individual plaques dedicated by family members to Western Australian service men and women who died in World War I and World War II. The park is also rich in flora (both native and introduced) and during September of each year Kings Park hosts Australia's largest wildflower show and exhibition – the Kings Park Festival.

The park is an unincorporated area outside all local government areas; it is administered by the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, which is a state government authority.^[9]

Market in Fremantle, Australia. E Shed Markets is a weekend market located on Victoria Quay in the Fremantle Harbour in Western Australia. It is housed in a historic timber building known as "E" Shed that was constructed in 1929 further up the quay and closer to the wharf. The building is one of a number of sheds that had varying names and locations in the twentieth century.

The original "E" Shed was demolished in 1929, with its replacement built at the same location.

In 1995 this shed was moved from its location alongside the river at Victoria Quay to vacant land behind B and C sheds. The shed was rotated 180 degrees in the process. The design was carried out by Tarek Ibrahim for AND Design. The construction work was carried out by Fini Group for the cost of A$6M including developing the building into a market.^[11]

Shopping centre in Rockingham, Australia. Rockingham Centre is a regional shopping centre located 47 kilometres south-southwest of Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Rockingham. First opened in 1971 and formerly known as Rockingham City Shopping Centre, Rockingham Park Shopping Centre and Rockingham Shopping Centre, it has been redeveloped and expanded several times, and currently has a lettable floor area of 62,216 square metres incorporating 184 tenants. The major stores include Woolworths, Coles, Kmart, Target, and Ace Cinemas.

The last major redevelopment was completed in 2009. In 2016, the centre expanded its external dining and entertainment precinct on Syren Street to include a number of restaurants and bars surrounding the cinemas.

The centre has 3,229 parking bays including around 300 undercover spaces, and lies between Council Avenue, Read Street, Chalgrove Avenue and Contest Parade.^[12]

Tourist attraction in Perth, Australia. Elizabeth Quay is a mixed-use development project in the Perth central business district. Focusing on an area located on the north shore of Perth Water near the landmark Swan Bells, the precinct being developed by the project was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II during her Diamond Jubilee.

The project includes construction of an artificial inlet on what was previously the Esplanade Reserve, and modifications to the surrounding environs including Barrack Square. The project plan shows nine building sites. Completed facilities are projected to include 1,700 residential apartments, 150,000 square metres (1.6 million square feet) of office space and 39,000 square metres (0.42 million square feet) of retail space.

Planning Minister John Day and Premier Colin Barnett turned the first ground at the Esplanade Reserve on 26 April 2012, and Barnett announced the name "Elizabeth Quay" on 28 May 2012. Construction of the inlet and associated infrastructure were completed in January 2016, ahead of the Perth International Arts Festival and Fringe World. The quay was officially opened on 29 January 2016. Construction of the associated buildings has been estimated to be completed at varying times, with the first – The Ritz Carlton Hotel and the adjacent residential towers – opening on 15 November 2019. Alongside this, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority's marketing and sales is being undertaken between 2014 and 2022.^[14]

Cathedral in Perth, Australia. St Mary's Cathedral, Perth, officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, and seat of its Archbishop, currently Timothy Costelloe.

The cathedral is at the centre of Victoria Square, on the northern end of Victoria Avenue, Perth, Western Australia.

The cathedral as it now stands was constructed in three main phases, with the first phase completed in 1865. Plans were drawn up for the replacement of the cathedral in the 1920s with a larger Perpendicular Gothic edifice. However, construction was interrupted by the onset of the Great Depression, leaving a new transept and sanctuary, with the aisle of the original cathedral as its nave. After being incomplete for 70 years, with portions of the cathedral requiring extensive repair work, funds were eventually raised in the late 1990s and early 2000s for the completion of the expansion. A new curved design for the expansion was created, and featured a second spire and underground parish centre. The cathedral closed for construction in 2006, and reopened in December 2009.^[17]

Concert hall in Perth, Australia. The Perth Concert Hall is a concert hall located in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. Owned by the City of Perth, the hall is the main venue of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and also hosts a number of other events and performances. The building itself is located in Perth's central business district, adjacent to the Supreme Court Gardens and Government House. The building has two façades: facing north over St Georges Terrace, and facing south over the Swan River.

The concert hall was constructed on land granted to the City of Perth by the Government of Western Australia, and opened on Australia Day, 1973. Designed by Howlett and Bailey Architects, local architectural firm, the building is constructed in the Brutalist style, making heavy use of white off-form concrete and a solid opaque interior. The main auditorium of the hall seats 1,729 people, as well as a 160-person choir gallery and a 3000-pipe organ. Acoustically, the venue is considered one of the best in Australia, with the design overseen by the New Zealand acoustician Sir Harold Marshall.^[19]

Park in the City of South Perth, Australia. Sir James Mitchell Park is a park along the southern foreshore of Perth Water in Perth, Western Australia. It lies within the suburb of South Perth from Mends Street Jetty, to just south of Heirisson Island.

It is named after Sir James Mitchell, the 13th Premier of Western Australia

It was formerly a riverside area with a number of issues regarding management. In the 1950s market gardens were closed in the area.

Since the 1970s considerable effort has been made to improve amenity, access and environmental issues.

The South Perth City Council considers the park, or parts of it to be suitable for hire, and it has hosted numerous events since its improvements and landscaping.

As of December 2015 it is a very regularly used location for cyclists, runners and dog walkers around the river, with links to a circuit that continues around the whole of Perth Water, utilising pedestrian facilities on the Narrows Bridge and The Causeway.^[20]

Theatre in Perth, Australia. His Majesty's Theatre is an Edwardian Baroque theatre in Perth, Western Australia. Constructed from 1902 to 1904 during a period of great growth for the town, the theatre is located on the corner of Hay Street and King Street in Perth's central business district.

At the time the theatre was opened, it was the largest theatre in Australia, and had seating for over 2,500 people. It is also thought to be the first reinforced concrete building constructed in Perth.

Over its life, the theatre has hosted large-scale musicals, ballet, opera, Shakespearean plays and many other events. It has been renovated numerous times, most notably in the late 1970s when the State Government purchased it and performed an ornamental restoration whilst modernising the facilities provided. Since that time, it has been the home of the West Australian Ballet and West Australian Opera companies, both of which perform regularly.

The importance of His Majesty's Theatre to the cultural fabric of Western Australia has been recognised by its inclusion on the State Register of Heritage Places and the Register of the National Estate. It has also been named a "State Heritage Icon", and is believed to be the only remaining working Edwardian theatre in Australia.^[22]

Bridge in Perth, Australia. The Narrows Bridge is a freeway and railway crossing of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.

Made up of two road bridges and a railway bridge constructed at a part of the river known as the Narrows, located between Mill Point and Point Lewis, it connects the Mitchell and Kwinana Freeways, linking the city's northern and southern suburbs. The original road bridge was opened in 1959 and was the largest precast prestressed concrete bridge in the world. Construction of the northern interchange for this bridge necessitated the reclamation of a large amount of land from the river.

The bridge formed part of the Kwinana Freeway which originally ran for only 2.4 miles (3.9 km) to Canning Bridge. Over the following decades, the freeway system was expanded to the north and south, greatly increasing the volume of traffic using the bridge. As a result, in 2001, a second road bridge was opened to the west of the original bridge, and in 2005, the railway bridge was constructed in the gap between the two traffic bridges. Passenger trains first traversed the Narrows in 2007 with the opening of the Mandurah railway line.^[23]

Principal church in Perth, Australia. St George's Cathedral is the principal Anglican church in the city of Perth, Western Australia, and the mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. It is located on St Georges Terrace in the centre of the city.

On 26 June 2001 the cathedral was listed on the Western Australia Heritage Register with the following statement of significance:

The cathedral is a fine example of Victorian Academic Gothic architecture, designed by noted Australian architect Edmund Blacket; occupying a strategic position at the corner of Saint Georges Terrace and Cathedral Avenue, the cathedral is a major element within the Central Government Precinct, and makes a major contribution to the streetscape of central Perth; as the cathedral of the See of the Anglican Archbishop of Perth, the place is held in high regard by the members of the Anglican Church and the general community; and, the building is closely associated with the establishment and growth of the State through its role as the premier place of worship for the Crown.^[26]

Lighthouse in North Fremantle, Australia. The North Mole Lighthouse began operation in 1906 at entrance to Fremantle Harbour. The occulting red light, emitted from a fixed lightsource at a focal plane height of 15 metres above sea level, is visible for 11 miles and indicates the westernmost point of the harbour and its entrance. The lighthouse established permanent service from 1906; after the mole's foundations had settled a temporary lighting arrangement there was discharged. The light originally planned for the house was found to be too powerful and was sent to Broome for the steel lighthouse at Gantheume Point.

The lighthouse and its technically identical yet green coloured partner on the south mole are the last remaining of their type. It has an 'indicative place' status of the Register of the National Estate and is a well-known landmark to seamen visiting the port. It was designed by Charles Yelverton O'Connor, an engineer responsible for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and who advanced the proposal of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. The 15 m tower is made of cast iron, painted red and features classical decorations. It is located at the end of North Mole Drive. The position is a well used recreational fishing spot and a vantage point for ocean yacht racing or birdwatching.^[29]

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.

The harbour was named after HMS Challenger, which was under the command of Captain Charles Fremantle when, on 2 May 1829, he hoisted the British flag on Arthur Head, the south head of the mouth of the Swan River, to mark the establishment of the Swan River Colony.

The harbour was built for the 1987 America's Cup in 1983–84 and included facilities specifically for the associated 12-Metre class racing yachts. A stone breakwater protected the harbour from the ocean. It has since been modified for recreational vessels only, with seven jetties (including one jetty leased to the Fremantle Cruising Yacht Club and four jetties leased to the Royal Perth Yacht Club), as well as short-term serviced apartments. Pens range in size from 10 metres (33 ft) up to 35 metres (115 ft). The marina is owned and administered by the Western Australian Department of Transport.

In January 1999 the Fremantle Sea Rescue's communications centre was sited at the harbour, until a 2016 move to the former signal station on Cantonment Hill.^[33]

Garden in Perth, Australia. Supreme Court Gardens is a park in the central business district of Perth, Western Australia, bounded by Riverside Drive, Barrack Street, Governors Avenue, and the buildings of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

In the late 1880s Perth Water extended further north than its current boundary, and the river covered part of the area now occupied by the Supreme Court Gardens. What land there was south of the original court house and the Supreme Court building of the time was occupied by the police stables and Waterside Police Station. The police buildings were demolished in 1902 when a new Supreme Court building was constructed, and part of the river was reclaimed.

The gardens have had extensive trees, shrubbery and fencing, various small structures at different stages in the grounds in the past.

The gardens have at times been very poorly lit, and had many darkened areas due to the vegetation - this culminated in concerns in 1985 over safety due to inadequate lighting. By the 2000s large amounts of low shrubs and fences had been removed and better lighting introduced.

For many years The West Australian newspaper had an annual art show in the grounds.

The orchestral shell was constructed and opened in the grounds on 22 January 1956, and was burnt down in the 1990s.

The gardens have had a significant number of events and concerts, many associated with the Perth International Arts Festival.^[34]