The old convict settlement of Port Arthur is one of the most interesting places to visit not only in Tasmania but in the whole Australia. It is much more than ruins of a convict prison – it’s a whole town full of convict history. Some interesting buildings are the Port Arthur Church, Model Prison and Port Arthur Penitentiary. Outside the town is an old graveyard on the Isle of the Dead, and Tasmanian Devils in the Tasmanian Devil Park. Here is some information about Port Arthur Tasmania, the life of Australian convicts, Port Arthur accommodation and Port Arthur tours, and in the end of this page is accommodation, and a Port Arthur map.
The Worst of Australian Convicts Between 1830 and 1877, 12,500 convicts served their time here. Port Arthur's convicts were the worst of Australian convicts - they were the ones that after having been sent to Australia continued committing crimes. Port Arthur was a good place for such bad criminals because it is connected to the rest of Tasmania only by Eaglehawk Neck - a strip of land less than 100m wide. The narrowest passage along the Eaglehawk Neck was lined by ferocious guard dogs and the waters around it were full of sharks so it wasn't easy to escape.
The Oldest Buildings in Port Arthur Tasmania When the convicts first arrived, they built huts and barracks for the guards and for themselves for protection from weather while the rest of the town was built. There are no remains of these huts today except old fragments buried under the soil, which occasionally have been dug out later. Soon after the establishment the convicts built the Commandant’s Cottage with nice gardens and a magnificent views over the water. Next to it they built the Guard Tower which was ready in 1936.
Port Arthur Church The Port Arthur Church was ready in 1837, with enough room to hold 1000 convicts and 200 guards, and it continued to operate until 1884 (years after the convict colony had closed) when it was destroyed by a fire.
Hospital ruins in Port Arthur Tasmania In 1842 the hospital was ready, a sign of a fairly humane treatment of convicts at the time, but possibly only a result of the guardians’ fear for a disease to break out and kill themselves too. There are only ruins left from the hospital today, but once it accommodated up to 80 sick prisoners.
Port Arthur Penitentiary The main prison, called Port Arthur Penitentiary, was ready in 1844. Located right on the waterfront, this 75m long four-storey building was at the time the largest building in Australia. It had 136 single cells but most of the prisoners lived in large dormitories housing 513 prisoners. Although all the timber in the building burned up in a fire in 1897, you can still see a lot of details and imagine a life in a 135cm long cell.
Model Prison of Port Arthur Tasmania A few years after finishing the Port Arthur Penitentiary, in 1848, the Model Prison was built, reflecting the new philosophy of building of gaols in England, with a thought that silence would be the cruellest form of punishment, and that separation from others would make the prisoners to think about their crimes. They would be called by numbers instead of their names, they’d have to be silent all the time, they’d wear head masks while in the exercise yard, and while in the church they’d be separated in different boxes.
Asylum in Port Arthur Tasmania With that sort of treatment it is not to wonder that a mental hospital was soon needed, and Asylum was built to house mentally ill patients. It was the last major building, built as late as in 1867, only 10 years before the penal colony was closed. You can see today that Asylum is much more modern than the other buildings in town.
Isle of the Dead in Port Arthur Tasmania Only months after the establishment of Port Arthur in 1831, the island of Opossum became a burial ground of the settlement, and it was named the Isle of the Dead. The settlers and convicts had separate cemeteries and there was a plan to leave the convicts’ graves unmarked, but some of the convict tombs do have headstones. A ferry trip to the island definitely adds to your Port Arthur experience.
Port Arthur Tours It is not easy to imagine what the life in Port Arthur was like. You can book various tours such as the 40-min guided tour, Point Puer Boys Prison Tour, Ghost Tour, and a cruise the Island of the Dead through the Port Arthur Historic Site Visitors Centre. The tours are excellent and give you an insight what a self-sufficient settlement it was with convicts making shoes and clothing, growing vegetables, building ships and processing timber.
Map of Port Arthur TasmaniaHere's a Port Arthur map, where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
