Port Arthur Attractions
Remote and harsh with escape a seeming impossibility was the original Port Arthur appeal, the best preserved convict site in Australia and one of the nation's most visited heritage attractions. As ...
Built in 1867, the asylum housed over 100 mentally ill and senile prisoners, until 1877 when it became headquarters for the free Port Arthur. Houses a scale model of Port Arthur in the 1860's.
Prisoners were shackled and escorted by armed guard to Sunday service. Originally seated a congregation of 1140.
Prisoners lived and worked in separate cells in total silence, were known only by number and wore masks to prevent recognition. Warders communicated by signals.
The home of the Irish rebel William Smith O'Brien, who was transported in 1848. The building was first used as a military hospital.
Lies in the middle of Port Arthur Bay, east of Puer Point (where the boy's reformatory once stood). Over 1769 convicts were buried here, although only graves of 200 prison staff and soldiers are ma...
