Architecture of Fremantle Prison

The architecture of Fremantle Prison includes the six-hectare (15-acre) site of the former prison on The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. Limestone was quarried on-site during construction, and the south-western corner (the South Knoll) and eastern portion of the site are at a considerably higher ground level. The Fremantle Prison site includes the prison cell blocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and related infrastructure.

The Main Cell Block is the longest and tallest cell range in Australia, and a dominating feature of the prison. New Division, constructed between 1904 and 1907, continues the façade alignment of the main block. Service buildings were converted into the separate Women's Prison. Fremantle Prison is surrounded by limestone perimeter walls, while a two-storey limestone gatehouse, with a central clock, presents an imposing entrance. North and south of the gatehouse, on The Terrace, are several cottages and houses – three of which are built in Victorian style in contrast to the Georgian style of the others.

A tunnel network exists under the prison, built to provide the prison, and later the town of Fremantle, with a supply of fresh water. Other elements of the site include the hospital building, prisoner workshops, open spaces, and a limestone ramp on the axis of the gatehouse, heading down towards the port area of Fremantle. Archaeological zones and sub-surface remains of varying levels of significance are found throughout the area of the convict grant.