Locked Out of Fremantle Prison

Prison is not a place to be proud of. It is the place where criminals and people shunned by society are incarcerated. In my country, the word “prison” evoke thoughts related to Sigue-Sigue, Sputnik and Bahala na Gangs. Our prisons are cramped spaces where prisoners are worse than sardines inside a tin can. Of the many places that I visited, only Fremantle City is proud of its prison. Actually, the prison house is one of premier tourist attractions in Western Australia.

Prison and its prisoners are vital part of the history of Australia. Unsavory people in the British Islands are exiled to Australia. It is a good arrangement for the British government. They rid themselves of criminals and political enemies. They let the Australian colonial government handle the prisoners.

The Round House, which I talked about previously, is a gaol (jail) used to handle local prisoners of Fremantle. When prisoners from Britain start pouring to Australia, the leaders of Swan Colony realized that the Round House is too small. They built the Fremantle Prison to handle large number of incoming prisoners.
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Fremantle Prison

The prison was built in the 1850s by convicts and was used as a place for incarceration for almost 140 years. Now, it is the only World Heritage site in Western Australia.

I visited Fremantle Prison one afternoon after the seminar. The only place that I was allowed entry is the first gate. I did not get pass the second gate.
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Second gate of Fremantle Prison.

My timing is not right. I visited Fremantle Prison at the time when the day tours are over. The prison guards told me that the next tour is the Torchlight Tour, which starts at 7 PM.

Did I miss a lot when I failed to “do time” inside Fremantle Prison? Well, the Fremantle Prison website has the answer for that.

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