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Fremantle Fortress

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Rottnest Island Cannon
Rottnest Island Cannon

Fremantle Fortress was the combined coastal defences protecting the harbour of Fremantle, Western Australia, since the mid-1930s and, predominantly, during World War II. The coastal defences of the Fremantle Fortress stretched along the coastline of Perth from Cape Peron to Swanbourne and also included installations on Garden Island and Rottnest Island. While the first coastal batteries of the future Fremantle Fortress were installed at Arthur Head in 1906, the military installations protecting the harbour were expanded in the 1930s, being eventually dismantled again by 1963. During World War II, Fremantle Harbour, guarded by the Fremantle Fortress, was home to the Fremantle submarine base, which was the second-most important submarine base in the Pacific War after Pearl Harbor. The coastal batteries were manned by members of the Royal Australian Artillery, the Royal Australian Engineers and the Volunteer Defence Corps. Apart from these men, members of the Australian Women's Army Service also served at the Fremantle Fortress. Of the former installations, the Oliver Hill Battery and its associated railway have been preserved, remaining a tourist attraction on Rottnest Island. Parts of the Leighton Battery, Buckland Hill, have been restored and its underground facilities are accessible. A bunker and one of the Panama mounts of the Peron Battery are also preserved and accessible.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fremantle Fortress (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fremantle Fortress
Rous Head Road,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -32.05 ° E 115.73333333333 °
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Address

Rous Head Road

Rous Head Road
6959 , North Fremantle
Western Australia, Australia
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Union Bank, Fremantle
Union Bank, Fremantle

The site of 4 High Street was purchased by the Union Bank of Australia in 1881 and for several years the bank operated from the existing building, which had been the residence of Captain Daniel Scott. A new building was erected in 1889 with plans prepared by Melbourne architect William Edward Robertson, the construction was supervised by James Wright. The bank built new premises further along High Street in 1930 and placed the existing building up for auction. It was advertised as having a 119-foot (36 m) frontage along High Street and a 64.5-foot (20 m) frontage along Cliff Street. The ground floor of the brick building had a large banking chamber, a manager's office, strongroom, entrance hall, dining room and kitchen. The first floor contained a drawing room, seven bedrooms, bathrooms and linen closet. There were balconies at both the front and rear of the building.In 1931 the property was purchased by the Church of England for the Flying Angel Mission to Seamen organisation. In December 1937 plans were approved for the construction of the St Andrew's Mariners Chapel to the west (along High Street) behind the former bank building. It was constructed by Hawkins & Son at a cost of £1,731 and continued to function as a chapel until the late 1960s. As of 2016 both buildings were owned and used by the University of Notre Dame Australia. The Flying Angel Club had moved to 76 Queen Victoria Street by 1968. It is within the Fremantle West End Heritage area.

Arthur Head
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. Historian Bob Reece identifies the geographical prominence of the location in his entry in the Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia:: 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). 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.: 4  It has been significantly altered since European settlement in the 1830s, and is the site of a large number of demolished structures.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. 1834 Courthouse (first) 1840 Courthouse (second) 1852 Police station complex Lighthouse keeper quarters Harbourmaster quartersThe 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 was known as the Arthurs Head Slipway.