The Whalers Tunnel - it’s quite old

You've likely walked through or past the Whalers Tunnel in Fremantle, found at the end of High Street. It was excavated for whalers, yes, but its deep and involved history goes back farther than I could imagined - all the way back to the very early days of the Swan River Colony. Arthur's Head (which it travels through) has a large involvement in Bathers Bay too - starting out as an Aboriginal meeting place, becoming a prison, a fort and now a tourist precinct.

Sources:

https://freotopia.org/buildings/whalerstunnel.html.

https://www.waholidayguide.com.au/round-house-and-whalers-tunnel

https://www.abc.net.au/education/the-whalers-tunnel/13868360

https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au/2022/03/12/places-i-love-whalers-tunnel-fremantle/

https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/news-and-media/heritage-minister-inspects-whalers-tunnel-canopy

https://freoview.wordpress.com/2022/03/11/convicts-did-not-built-fremantle-whalers-tunnel/

https://www.perthnow.com.au/local-news/perthnow-fremantle/new-conservation-works-at-arthur-head-and-whalers-tunnel-officially-opened-c-6149877

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/fremantle/fremantle-roundhouse-whalers-tunnel-closed-amid-rock-fall-fears-ng-b88782387z

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathers_Beach,_Fremantle

https://cofremantle.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/arthurs-heads-changing-face/

https://asha.org.au/pdf/australasian_historical_archaeology/04_04_McIlroy.pdf

https://museum.wa.gov.au/maritime-archaeology-db/sites/default/files/no._145_arthur_head_0.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Head

https://freotopia.org/arthurhead/index.html

https://freotopia.org/arthurhead/fort.html

Newspaper Sources:

11th May 1837

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/23543210

Asking for the tunnel to be built. specifically asking for prison labour and stating that it’s soft rock.

10th June 1837

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/977

Site inspection by Revelry and Roe, among others.

17th May 1928

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/2764321

Article about rock fall, about 5 tons! Barricades on both sides. Includes photo.

Image Sources:

https://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2112316__Sbathers%20beach__Orightresult__U__X6?lang=eng&suite=def

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b6756344_1

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b7375159_5

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b2503342_1

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b2647358_1

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b7274014_1

https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b5715124_1

https://catalogue.data.wa.gov.au/dataset/arthur-s-head-landuse-capability-survey-fremantle-1838/resource/540fbb17-f3d6-401f-9d3f-6aae9a3109b5

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099520/1877302,1

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099520/1873233,8

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099520/1876715,2

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11101139/1874859,51

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099585/1878412,1

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099611/1876212,1

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099747/1876356,95

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099797/1877290,8

https://fremantle.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FULL/OPAC/ARCENQ/11099747/1876767,78

https://collection.artgallery.wa.gov.au/objects/14428/view-of-the-tunnel-under-the-round-house-and-whaling-jetty-at-fremantle