Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

Cantonment Hill in Fremantle

The word cantonment has strong connotations with the British military occupation of India in the 18th and 19th century. It was a name given to places used for military encampments, especially those of a semi-permanent nature.

The name Cantonment Hill has been applied to the bump of limestone at Fremantle since the earliest days of Swan River Colony. There are a series of published maps based upon the 1830s work of much acclaimed surveyor John Septimus Roe. The one below was published in 1844 and is from the online David Rumsey collection.

I've seen a copy of another map with a notation by the colony's first governor James Stirling on the Cantonment Hill area which says. "Unpleasant vegetation." Possibly as a result of his negative opinion, the original native flora on northern side of the hill has been left to fend for itself ever since. It's believed to be the last such example in the Fremantle port area and is therefore botanically precious. Here is my photo of what it looks like now.

Hidden in the bushes just to the right of the artificial cliff is a small abandoned quarry. It can't be seen from the road. My belief is that it was possibly a source of building limestone during the nineteenth century. But far more limestone was used in Fremantle in those times than this quarry could have provided, so they must have gone to a better source.

Nowadays the quarry is a refuge for homeless itinerants. They stash their stuff in the bushes during the day and return at night. Last summer a fire escaped and scorched part of the bushland on the northwestern side of the hill.

Dominating the crest of the hill is a redundant signal station. It was used to control shipping in the port, but operations were moved to the top of a multi-story Port Authority edifice near the South Mole about the 1970s. The structure is now vacant and its future is uncertain. The entire area should be totally retained for public use, but in these corrupt political times I wouldn't be surprised if it fell into private hands.

Behind the hill on the southern side is a pretty impressive brick Army barracks constructed in the early years following Federation, which occurred in 1901. They look like they were inspired by something from the Raj. For the past decade or so there's been a row going on with the Commonwealth Government over their future. The civilian-volunteer operated Army Museum has long had a major stake in the action and was recently granted a longer tenure for its activities. The Army also still uses part of the facility for training Reserves, but that seems to be more of a token gesture than anything else. Notre Dame University, which has gobbled up many old buildings at the western end of the port, was also seeking to acquire the facility for accommodating foreign students.

In this next photo of the hill which I took from a westerly direction, part of the Barracks can be seen on the right. The houses in the foreground were military too, but have been empty for many years. Sagging roofs indicate a bit of restoration is needed.

The 'wilderness' area of the hill can be explored by following a path from Tuckfield Street on the eastern side. If the weather is warm you might be lucky enough to see some jewel beetles having fun on the "unpleasant vegetation."

© MMVIII Paul R. Weaver.

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Original still photographs are stored online in a cache at my Panoramio website or my Picasa site. Most of them have a brief description and a link back to a relevant essay. Images on Panoramio can usually be enlarged several times by clicking them.

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Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write at least couple of million words. Zzzzzzzz!

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