Port
Arthur
is located
on the
Tasman
Peninsula
and
is the
best
preserved
convict
penal
colony
in Australia
and
the
most
visited
place
in Tasmania.
More
than
20 000
people
a year
wander
through
the
old
sandstone
remains.
Isolated
by a
narrow
strip
of land
called
Eaglehawk
neck
and
a magnificently
rugged
coastline,
it made
an ideal
location
for
a penal
colony.
Port Arthur
was
home
to 12
000
convicts,
both
men
and
boys
between
1830
and
1877.
Tales
of infamy
and
cruel
inhumanity
abound
with
prisoners
living
under
threat
of the
lash
and
an experimental
isolation
system
which
often
drove
them
to madness.
Although
the
discipline
was
strict,
well
behaved
prisoners
were
rewarded
with
easier
jobs
many being
taught
trades,
reading,
writing
and
arithmetic
classes
were
held
after
supper.
Escape
was
rare
and
many
stayed
till
the
end
of their
life,
then
buried
in mass
graves
on the
Isle
of the
Dead.
Today's
Port
Arthur
is quiet
and
peaceful
with
English
oaks
and
green
lawns
rolling
to the
water's
edge.
The
tranquil
gardens
at Port Arthur
are
the
latest
project
to be
completed
in the
ongoing
restoration
programme
of the
historic
site.
There
are
regular
guided
tours
which
leave
from
the
information
office
throughout
the
day
and
take
in the
penitentiary,
asylum,
officers'
headquarters,
Commandment
residence,
medical
officer's
home,
Smith
O'Brien's
Cottage
and
the
notorious
Model
Prison.
The
Model
Prison
was
operated
on the
theory
that
complete
isolation
was
an effective
form
of rehabilitation.
Prisoners were
not
allowed
contact
with
each
other
and
visitors
can
inspect
the
chapel
where
wooden
partitions
isolated
each
of the
inmates.
A ferry
trip
to the
Isle
of the
Dead
is a
chilling
experience.
As night
falls
guided
ghost
tours
operate
and
there
are
screenings
of the
classic
Australian
film,
For
the
Term
of his
N atural
Life,
shot
at Port
Arthur
in 1926
