Port Arthur Historic Site

Port Arthur Historic Site, Australia

The sandstone ruins of the Old Convict Church stand on a green lawn by the water at sunrise.

The Tasman Peninsula's convict ruins make a sobering, beautifully sited day out from Hobart.

The place

Port Arthur is a small town on the Tasman Peninsula, in south-eastern Tasmania, and its historic site is the preserved heart of a former convict settlement. Water surrounds the peninsula on most sides, which made it a natural place to hold prisoners. The one land link to the mainland was a narrow neck of ground at Eaglehawk Neck, and it was fenced and watched by soldiers, dogs and traps. Escape by sea was attempted often, and some attempts worked, so boats were kept under close control. Whaling was banned in the district for the same reason, because whaleboats could carry men away.

Today the site is a scatter of stone and brick buildings along the shore of the bay, with lawns, mature trees and paths between them. Several structures are roofless or partly ruined, which makes the place feel more like an archaeological site than a museum. Radcliffe Creek drains the immediate area into Carnarvon Bay, and the water is never far from view. Visitors tend to spend a long morning here, moving slowly between the buildings and reading the interpretation panels.

The site forms part of the Australian Convict Sites, a group of surviving penal places across the country that together show how convict transportation and colonial expansion worked. Port Arthur is also remembered as the birthplace of rail transport in Australia. The town lies about 100 kilometres south-east of Hobart, the state capital, so most visitors come as a day trip.

Its story

Port Arthur started in 1830 as a sawmill camp, where workers felled timber for government construction. The settlement took its name from George Arthur, who served as lieutenant governor of Van Diemen's Land. The settlement only became notorious once it took on a harder role. From 1833 until 1877 it received men classed as the most persistent re-offenders among the convicts transported to Australia. These so-called secondary offenders had broken the rules again and again after arrival, so the place was built with some of the strictest security in the British penal system. The authorities still held that prisoners could be reformed while they were being punished, which sat uneasily with the rest of the regime.

The Separate Prison was the most striking part of this thinking. Its design drew on Jeremy Bentham's panopticon idea of a building watched from a single centre. It was finished in 1853 and extended in 1855, and its plan was a cross with exercise yards at each corner. Each prisoner wing connected to a central surveillance hub, and from there the wings could be seen as a whole, though individual cells could not. The chapel stood in the middle hall. Port Arthur's version departed from Bentham's theory in that detail.

The prison also marked a shift in how discipline worked. Whipping was thought to harden men rather than correct them, so officials leaned on food and routine instead. Good conduct earned better rations, and poor behaviour cost them. The change did not make the regime gentle, but it moved punishment from the body towards the daily timetable of the men inside.

What to see

Culture

Port Arthur is a place where the convict past is open for discussion, and locals are relaxed about it. Tasmanians as a whole are easygoing and tend to be happy to point visitors in the right direction or offer advice when asked. The one subject people handle with care is the mass shooting at the site in 1996, which remains painful for many, including people who were nowhere near the scene. Ask about the convicts, the buildings and the bush, and you will get open and often good-humoured answers. Raise the 1996 shooting only if a local brings it up first, and then let them set the tone. Keep your voice down in the chapel and near the ruins where other visitors are reading the panels, and do not climb on the walls or step past the ropes.

What to wear

The traditional dress tied to Port Arthur is the convict clothing of the 1800s. Prisoners were issued coarse wool and cotton garments, often in drab greys and browns, and the cloth was rough, hard-wearing and cheap to make. Men wore plain shirts, trousers and jackets, while some garments carried marks to identify the wearer as a prisoner. Tasmania's Aboriginal communities have their own living traditions of dress and design, which are best learned about directly from local Aboriginal organisations rather than from a costume display. Today Tasmanians dress casually: jeans, jumpers, fleece and waterproof jackets are common in town and on the trails. Visitors should bring a waterproof jacket and warm layers, because the weather can change within an hour. Wear sturdy closed shoes with good grip for gravel, grass and uneven stone. A hat and sunscreen help on sunny days, and a light scarf or thermal layer is useful in the wind off the water. Modest, practical clothing suits the site best.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. December to March suits a visit best, when the days are longest, though the weather is hot, with highs near 28 °C, and the site is busy in the summer months. Tasmania's weather is changeable all year, so check conditions before you travel. Shoulder seasons in autumn and spring can be quieter.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Fly into Hobart Airport, which has flights from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Auckland, then drive south-east to the peninsula, about 100 kilometres. Hire a car in Hobart, or join an organised tour from the city.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources