View source for Cantonment Hill, Fremantle

{{Short description|Hill in Fremantle, Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox landform
| water             = 
| name              = Cantonment Hill
| other_name        = Dwerda Weelardinup, Walyarup
| photo             = File:Cantonment hill gnangarra-103.jpg
| photo_caption     = Cantonment Hill signal station
| map               = 
| map_caption       = 
| elevation_m       = 33.9
| elevation_ref     = {{Coord|32|2|37.05|S|115|45|18.89|E}}
| location          = [[Fremantle]], [[Western Australia]]
| range             = 
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| long_d            = 
| coordinates       = {{coord|32|2|37|S|115|45|19|E|display=inline}}
| region            = AU-WA
| display           = 
| length            = 
| width             = 
| area              = {{Convert|2.31|ha|acres}} 
| topo              = 
| type              = [[Limestone]]
| age               = 
| volcanic_arc/belt = 
| last_eruption     = 
| operator          = City of Fremantle
| designation       = 
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'''Cantonment Hill''' is a small rise overlooking the port city of [[Fremantle]], Western Australia.   Since the early 1900s the hill and the surrounding {{convert|4|ha|adj=on}} precinct has been mainly used for military purposes with extensive buildings now present.  It has been under the control of the [[Department of Defence (Australia)|Department of Defence]].

The area is known by the indigenous [[Whadjuk]] people as '''''Dwerda Weelardinup''''', meaning "place of the dingo spirit" and the peak is also referred to as '''''Walyarup''''', meaning "sea-eagle nest".<ref name=master>{{cite web|title=Cantonment Hill Master plan|url=http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/cityoffremantle/Councilgroupsandcommittees/Cantonment_Hill_Working_Group|publisher=City of Fremantle|accessdate=30 May 2015|date=18 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322025059/http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/cityoffremantle/Councilgroupsandcommittees/Cantonment_Hill_Working_Group|archive-date=22 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The site includes the last remaining stand of pre-European settlement Rottnest Island pine (''[[Callitris preissii]]'') on the mainland of Western Australia.<ref name=Parke />

==Site==
[[File:Cantonment Hill aerial photograph.jpg|thumb|right|Cantonment Hill from the air, showing the Navy warehouse, signal station, and Tuckfield Oval.]]
The Cantonment Hill site consists of a number of properties, lots 600, 601, 604 are owned by the Commonwealth Government lot 601 is the site of [[Army Museum of Western Australia]], lot 603 is privately owned. Lot 602 which consists of two parts totalling {{Convert|1.4675|ha|acres}}, lot 50 is between these two parts covers an area {{convert|0.8432|ha|acre}}. The approximately {{convert|4|ha}} site is bounded by [[Canning Highway]], Queen Victoria Street, Burt Street and Tuckfield Street. There are a number of buildings within the site besides those of the Army museum: the heritage listed former defence housing on Queen Victoria Street, the heritage listed Naval Store (1935<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85604669 |title=New Building for Naval Department. |newspaper=[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]] |location=Perth, WA |date=14 August 1935 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=5 |edition=City Final |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>) on the Corner of Queen Victoria Street and Canning Highway, and a signal station built for the Fremantle Harbour Trust in 1956.<ref name=master />

In the mid-1990s a group of local residents formed the Cantonment Hill Residents Action Group for the return of site to the City of Fremantle as per the original gift of 1892. In this Lot 50 was set aside as a [[Bush Forever]] site previously identified in 1981 by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 1989 and again in 1996 surveys of the area identified 20 native plants and 27 weeds. Included in the native plants is the only remaining natural occurrence of Rottnest Island pine ''([[Callitris preissii]])'' on the mainland. The 1989 survey also identified 16 bird species and 2 reptile species.<ref name=master />

==History==
For many thousands of years before European settlement, Cantonment Hill was a place of significance to the local Whadjuk people who are part of the [[Noongar]] people. They told stories about the site, and camped there. The site was known as ''Dwerda Weelardinup'', meaning "place of dingo spirit". Other families also called the site ''Walyarup'' which means [[White-bellied sea eagle|Sea Eagle]] nest. In 1829, Europeans established the [[Swan River Colony]] and the town of Fremantle. It is from the cantonment established nearby that its common name is taken. The site was a popular destination for picnics for the settlers due to the views over Fremantle, the river and ocean.<ref name=master />

When the Colonial Government established [[Rottnest Island]] as a prison for indigenous people, their families would gather on Sundays to send signals to those on the island using fire. These fires also aided those who attempted to escape from the Island. In 1830, Ensign [[Robert Dale (explorer)|Robert Dale]], who was working for Surveyor General [[John Septimus Roe]], sketched Fremantle from Cantonment Hill. This is one of the earliest depictions of Fremantle. Cantonment Hill remained relatively unchanged during Fremantle's early development, though in 1877 some limestone was quarried from the hill.<ref name=master />

In 1833, the hill was the site of Western Australia's only [[duel]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32585176 |title=Pistols For Two |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |volume=XLIX |issue=9,524 |location=Western Australia |date=5 January 1933 |accessdate=16 June 2017 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

During the 1880s, residents of the Fremantle area urged the Fremantle Municipality to request the land be vested from the Crown for public space.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76213574 | title=Fremantle Municipality. | via=National Library of Australia | date=9 September 1886 | accessdate=30 May 2015 | newspaper=[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]] | location=Perth, WA | page=3}}</ref> In 1892 it was given by the [[Crown land|Crown]] to the [[City of Fremantle]] in perpetuity "for the purposes of a public garden".<ref name="Parke">{{cite web | url=http://www.openaustralia.org/debates/?id=2008-12-04.186.1 | title=Cantonment Hill | work=openaustralia.org | date=4 Dec 2008 | accessdate=13 October 2010 | author=Speech by [[Melissa Parke]], [[Division of Fremantle|Member for Fremantle]]}}</ref>

The Artillery Barracks in Burt Street were built on the site between 1910 and 1913 for Royal Australian Garrison Artillery, who manned the coastal defence batteries at Fort Arthur Head and Fort Forrest (North Fremantle).<ref name=c1911>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38825977 |title=New Military Barracks at Fremantle. |newspaper=[[Western Mail (Western Australia)|Western Mail]] |location=Perth, WA |date=8 April 1911 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.armymuseumwa.com.au/the-museum/artillery-barracks/|title=Artillery Barracks|work=Army Museum of Western Australia|accessdate=2008-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529092105/http://www.armymuseumwa.com.au/the-museum/artillery-barracks/|archive-date=29 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>  During [[World War I]] the site was used as a [[rehabilitation hospital]] for injured soldiers returning from the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] and later as an [[internment camp]] and as a [[quarantine station]].

In 1931, as part of the City of Fremantle's employment for sustenance to those left unemployed by the [[Great Depression in Australia|Depression]], a section of the land was cleared and levelled to make a park. Additionally a path was provided for the residents of Tuckfield, giving them direct access to Queen Victoria Bridge.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58640570 |title=City Improvements |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Western Australia)|Sunday Times]] |location=Perth, WA |date=1 February 1931 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  This area is eastern lot 602, known as Tuckfield Oval and used as playing fields by schools until the 1990s.

During [[World War II]] further development at the site saw construction of a tunnel network to an underground control room and a large warehouse on the north-eastern side. This latter was constructed after 1935<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/04af52c1-649b-4912-a302-22f03dbaecf3|title=Naval Stores, 141 Queen Victoria Street|access-date=2018-10-23}}</ref> and bears US Navy insignia and the motto ''[[non sibi sed patriæ]]'', but is not listed among the facilities [[Fremantle submarine base|used by that navy]] during World War II.<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Base Facilities Report |year=1944}}</ref> By the early 1950s, the property ceased to be used as military barracks but remained under Defence control.  The artillery barracks buildings were used from 1948 onwards as a training venue for the Army Reserve and in 1995 the Army Museum of Western Australia moved to the site, where they currently remain.  The barracks are the oldest continuously occupied defence site in Western Australia.

===Signal station===
[[File:Cantonment hill gnangarra-104.jpg|thumb|Signal station, with mural by [[Nami Osaki]]]]
In early 1929 a signal station was constructed on the peak of Cantonment Hill to replace the station that had operated at Arthur Head.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58427226 |title=Pickings from the Port. |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Western Australia)|Sunday Times]] |location=Perth, WA |date=14 April 1929 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  The station opened on 8 May 1929 when at {{format time|hh=7|mm=40|hour_format=g}} signalman Edward Ray raised the first ball for {{ship|SS|Gascoyne|1922|6}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85151382 |title=Persons in the News |newspaper=[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]] |location=Perth, WA |date=7 May 1929 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Ray retired in 1941 after 44 years service, 39 of them at Fremantle.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47301894 |title=Long watch ends. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth, WA |date=9 January 1941 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> This station was replaced with a masonry building by the [[Port of Fremantle|Harbour Trust]] in 1956 providing commanding views across to [[Rottnest Island]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31080309 |title=A fisherman pilot. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth, WA |date=13 May 1930 |accessdate=30 May 2015 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/projects/resource/info_artillery_barracks.pdf
|title=Information Sheet - Fremantle Artillery Barracks Feasibility Study Project |work=City of Fremantle|accessdate=31 December 2008}}</ref> The signal station closed in 1964 when it was replaced by the Port of Fremantle's new building on [[Victoria Quay, Fremantle|Victoria Quay]].<ref name=master />

==Return to public ownership==

In 1989 the Department of Defence mooted plans to dispose of the property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.armymuseumwa.com.au/Barracks_sum.html#Proposal%20to%20sell |title=Proposal to Sell |work=Army museum of Western Australia |accessdate=2008-12-29 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719042107/http://www.armymuseumwa.com.au/Barracks_sum.html#Proposal%20to%20sell |archivedate=19 July 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>  Options considered have been the sale of the property to [[Notre Dame University]] and a transfer to the [[Government of Western Australia]]  by way of a [[Federation of Australia|Centenary of Federation of Australia]] gift from the [[Australian Government|federal government]].  Progress in negotiations was stalled however, as the parties have requested the Commonwealth to provide funding to reinstate the site to a usable condition—then [[Premier of Western Australia|Premier]] [[Geoff Gallop]] announced in September 2003 that the Government had formally declined the offer.

Since 1997, a community-based Cantonment Hill Residents Action Group has lobbied for its return to the City according to the original gift and its restoration and retention as public property with full public access.

On 21 January 2010, the Prime Minister announced that Cantonment Hill, including Tuckfield Oval, would be sold back to the people of Fremantle.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pm.gov.au/node/6426 | title=Cantonment Hill returned to the people of Fremantle | publisher=Australian Government | date=2010-01-21 | accessdate=28 January 2010 | first1=Kevin Rudd | last2=Minister for Finance | first2=Lindsay Tanner | last3=Member for Fremantle | first3=Melissa Parke | last1=Prime Minister}}</ref> The council was to reportedly pay $76,000 for the land, and had plans to rehabilitate the vegetation and build walking paths and picnic facilities.  The signal station was to have been turned into a café and Aboriginal interpretive centre.  The handover was to have been completed by March 2010.<ref name="herald">{{cite news|title=Cantonment Hill victory for Freo|first=Jenny|last=D'Anger|newspaper=Fremantle Herald|date=23 January 2010}}</ref>

In December 2012 the City of Fremantle re-established the Cantonment Hill Working Group, consisting of councillors including the mayor Dr Brad Pettitt, a representative of the city's CEO and five residents. This same group was responsible for the development of a master plan for the site as well previous works to clean up the area along restoration of the area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cantonment Hill Working Group|url=http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/cityoffremantle/Councilgroupsandcommittees/Cantonment_Hill_Working_Group|website=City of Fremantle|publisher=City of Fremantle|accessdate=29 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150322025059/http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/cityoffremantle/Councilgroupsandcommittees/Cantonment_Hill_Working_Group|archive-date=22 March 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the beginning of February 2015, it was reported that [[Fremantle Volunteer Sea Rescue Group Inc|Fremantle Sea Rescue]] would likely become based in the signal station. This drew criticism from members of the Cantonment Hill Working Group who had developed the master plan for the site which the City of Fremantle had previously given assurances to implement.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mitchell|first1=Brian|title=Sea Rescue Station for Signal Station|work=The Fremantle Herald|date=2 Feb 2015}}</ref> In late March 2015 draft plans were presented at a council meeting detailing the creation of a convention center and restaurant for the site, with the FSR suggested as being a medium-term occupant while this larger plan came to fruition.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Grant|first1=Steve|title=Heartbreak Hill|work=Fremantle Herald|date=28 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Loopers|first1=Roel|title=Community Consultation Just Ticking a Box in Freo|url=https://freoview.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/community-consultation-just-ticking-a-box-in-freo/|website=Freo's View|accessdate=29 May 2015}}</ref>

A mega mural was installed on the top floor of the signal station in March 2015; the mural is part of the City of Fremantle's cultural development plan. The mural by artist Nami Osaki depicts a girl and dingo in a [[Manga|Japanese manga style]] reflecting the site's indigenous history. It wraps around the whole building, with the girl positioned so as to be peering out over the river while she sits with her dingo at a camp fire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mega mural watches over Fremantle from Cantonment Hill|url=http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/home/List_of_News_and_Media/2014/March/Cantonment_Hill_Mural|publisher=City of Fremantle|accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110605031052/http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazm01?placename=cantonment+hill&placetype=0&state=0 Gazetteer of Australia entry for Cantonment Hill]
*[http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=-32.043825&lon=115.7553&zoom=18&layers=B000FTF Map of Cantonment Hill on Openstreetmap]

[[Category:Fremantle]]
[[Category:Military installations in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian Army]]
[[Category:Military installations closed in the 2010s]]