Parade Ground

Significance

The perimeter limestone walls are a major historical convict-built component of Fremantle Prison, and give emphasis to the defining institutional aesthetic of the site. The walls mark and define the place as a prison; are a landmark in the local context; and distinguish the Prison from the urban surrounds of Fremantle. They also continue to form a barrier to the place and to emphasise the historical security requirements of, and restricted access to, the Prison. More generally, the comparative lack of external openings (windows and doors) is a direct reflection of the function of the place and the need to maintain security and control access and egress.

The walls were built with minimal excavation and therefore they also help to define the original topography of the Prison site, at least to the south, east and north. The gentle rise and fall of the walls, as they follow the topography, assists in ‘reading’ this aspect of the Prison’s establishment.

Those parts of the perimeter walls of exceptional significance are as follows:

convict-era limestone perimeter walls to all of Prison boundary, including early buttresses and later additional courses

No parts of the perimeter walls are of considerable significance.

Those parts of the perimeter walls of some significance are as follows:

coping, razor wire and broken glass as added to the tops of the walls

Those parts of the perimeter walls of little or no significance are as follows:

later repairs of cement-based fabric including render
modern lighting, services and the like
all other modern fabri

Principles

PRINCIPLE 141: Retain and conserve the stone perimeter walls. The retention of the walls is essential to the conservation of the place’s OUV both in physical terms and as physical evidence of the function and construction of the place.

PRINCIPLE 142: As a general comment, the walls should be maintained and repaired using traditional materials and techniques.

PRINCIPLE 143: The prominence and visibility of the external perimeter walls should be maintained in the local context, and internal perimeter walls within the Prison.

PRINCIPLE 144: Generally, the current character of the walls should be retained including evidence of repairs, other than where the repairs are causing damage to the significant wall fabric (such as the cement-based repairs). The walls should be retained to their full existing height, including the buttresses and extra courses added in later periods. In works to the walls, including maintenance and repairs, the following should be retained where practicable and feasible:

later stonework and additional stone courses
historic signage, murals and graffiti
evidence of original or early lighting, with its function interpreted
razor wire, although a restricted sample area should suffice for retention
broken glass embedded in some wall copings

PRINCIPLE 145: Should any section become unsafe, the priority is to stabilise and retain the section of wall, over dismantling and reconstructing. An integrated new strengthening system which is sensitive to the appearance of the wall, is preferred and should be explored. If this is not feasible, then the wall should be reconstructed in similar materials to the same height and dimensions as before. This also applies to later coursework.

PRINCIPLE 146: Evidence of the use of the walls as sites for signage and as canvases for murals and graffiti should be retained. This principally relates to internal walls and dividing walls within the Exercise yards.

PRINCIPLE 147: As a general principle, it is preferred that only existing openings, or blocked former openings, should be considered for access through the walls. Similarly, no new windows should be pierced through the perimeter walls, however existing windows may be retained and former windows may be reopened.

PRINCIPLE 148: No new buildings or structures, other than very minor or temporary elements, should be built against the external or internal faces of the walls (see also ‘Structures and Spaces – Sterile Zones’), to assist in retaining their current visibility.

PRINCIPLE 149: Lighting, to illuminate the walls at night, is encouraged and is reflective of the historical need to maintain surveillance. In contemporary terms it also serves an aesthetic/interpretation purpose, through highlighting the form, materiality and texture of the walls.

PRINCIPLE 150: New plantings should not be introduced which impact on the setting or obstruct views to the perimeter walls and which impede an appreciation of them.

PRINCIPLE 151: To help maintain the structural integrity of the walls, no plantings (other than grass) should come within 7 m of the walls.

PRINCIPLE 152: Interpretation of the perimeter walls can ‘tell the story’ of their construction, materiality, historical repairs and works, and contemporary conservation measures. The walls communicate the place’s OUV. They should be regarded, in part, as a vehicle for heritage interpretation.

Structures & Spaces Actions

ACTION 70: Preferably remove later elements and accretions which currently conceal or impact on external and internal views of the walls, even where these impacts are minor.

ACTION 71: Preserve the water shedding capability of the coping and keep footings drained.

ACTION 72: Where feasible under state and local town planning provisions, review local development projects sited within the urban context of the Prison, including the World Heritage Listing Buffer Zone, to be cognisant of any proposals which have the potential to diminish the prominence and visibility of the walls, and make submissions accordingly.

ACTION 73: Discourage, and in preference progressively remove, car parking from abutting or immediately adjoining the walls.

ACTION 74: Consult with relevant government agencies to remove introduced or self-seeded plantings which obstruct appreciation of the walls and/or are to the physical detriment of the walls.

ACTION 75: Where feasible and not currently in place, introduce new lighting systems to the exterior and interior faces of the walls. The systems should be discrete and preferably set off from the wall, or at ground level to uplight the walls; and should not involve penetrations to the significant fabric.

ACTION 76: Continue to allow supervised and guided (but selective) public access by small groups of visitors to the walls (see also ‘Structures and Spaces – Watch Towers and Walkways’).