Port Arthur
May. 10th, 2010 09:04 pmNot sure where to start with this. The buildings on the site are sort of grouped thematically (military, civil, convict) so I'll use that for individual posts. But to start with? I should make some attempt at an overview, so a mixture of photos that aren't enough to make a post on their own :)
You can see where the bridge from the first photo must be, even if you can't see the actual thing :)
Here's one thematic grouping: paupers' mess (at front), asylum (orange building with sandstone tower at the front and separate/model prison (low brown/grey building at rear). You can see the connection?
This was one of the last buildings constructed, in 1863, with the nearby asylum added five years later. (*mutters about websites that are glorified advertisements)
In the late 1850s there was an influx of invalids and paupers that had formerly been housed in the station at Impression Bay. To cope with them, four timber dormitories and a mess hall were built. The timber dormitories were demolished. The mess here was destroyed in one of the bushfires.
From the mess, that's the hospital on the hill.
View from on top of the hill. (Yes, that big brick thing is the penitentiary, it's a bit hard to avoid it :) The ruins, except for the dockyard, are on this side of the site. The big open space is a cricket oval. The shiny visitors centre is up to the left, in the trees. The smaller brick building just in front of the trees used to be a cafe.
Part of Civil Row, a row of houses built for the civil officers (surgeon, accountant, medical officers, magistrate & chaplains).
See the long, glass-fronted building at the back? That's the motel we stayed in. That's called "close to the historic site". Rather convenient (also, breakfast is included in the room price).
Other half of Civil Row and the Church of the Glowing Windows. The little weatherboard building is St Davids Anglican Church, built 1927.
There were more houses at the military end of town. These steps led up to the garden of Rose Cottage, home to the senior military officer and his family.
Steps from the cottage. According to the information panel, it was a timber cottage but the kitchen and outbuildings were of brick, which is what remains now. It survived the 1895 bushfire but fell to the 1897 fire.
A good view of the dockyard from here.
Next door to Rose Cottage and at the end of the road, is the commandant's house. From the driveway, through the ornate entrance gate, you get a good view of the rest of the site.
Point Puer
Carnarvon-era houses.
Hmm. I could use almost any of those as a jumping off point to the next chapter. Any requests? :)
You can see where the bridge from the first photo must be, even if you can't see the actual thing :)
Here's one thematic grouping: paupers' mess (at front), asylum (orange building with sandstone tower at the front and separate/model prison (low brown/grey building at rear). You can see the connection?
This was one of the last buildings constructed, in 1863, with the nearby asylum added five years later. (*mutters about websites that are glorified advertisements)
In the late 1850s there was an influx of invalids and paupers that had formerly been housed in the station at Impression Bay. To cope with them, four timber dormitories and a mess hall were built. The timber dormitories were demolished. The mess here was destroyed in one of the bushfires.
From the mess, that's the hospital on the hill.
View from on top of the hill. (Yes, that big brick thing is the penitentiary, it's a bit hard to avoid it :) The ruins, except for the dockyard, are on this side of the site. The big open space is a cricket oval. The shiny visitors centre is up to the left, in the trees. The smaller brick building just in front of the trees used to be a cafe.
Part of Civil Row, a row of houses built for the civil officers (surgeon, accountant, medical officers, magistrate & chaplains).
See the long, glass-fronted building at the back? That's the motel we stayed in. That's called "close to the historic site". Rather convenient (also, breakfast is included in the room price).
Other half of Civil Row and the Church of the Glowing Windows. The little weatherboard building is St Davids Anglican Church, built 1927.
There were more houses at the military end of town. These steps led up to the garden of Rose Cottage, home to the senior military officer and his family.
Steps from the cottage. According to the information panel, it was a timber cottage but the kitchen and outbuildings were of brick, which is what remains now. It survived the 1895 bushfire but fell to the 1897 fire.
A good view of the dockyard from here.
Next door to Rose Cottage and at the end of the road, is the commandant's house. From the driveway, through the ornate entrance gate, you get a good view of the rest of the site.
Point Puer
Carnarvon-era houses.
Hmm. I could use almost any of those as a jumping off point to the next chapter. Any requests? :)
