Esplanade Park is a public reserve in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Western Australia. Situated on

Marine Terrace A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,P ...

and opposite the Esplanade Hotel, the reserve features about 100 mature

Norfolk Island pine ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

s (''araucaria heterophylla'') and the Explorers' Monument. The park has also been called Fremantle Esplanade as well as Fremantle Oval. The latter conflicts with the current name of nearby

Fremantle Oval Fremantle Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as Fremantle Community Bank Oval, is a stadium in the centre of Fremantle, Western Australia, located on Parry Street. It currently has a capacity of 17,500 with terracing and a members ...

which was previously known as "Barracks Green Field". The park known as "Fremantle Park" is located between Ord and Ellen Streets, Fremantle.

History

Prior to the founding of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

, the southern Fremantle foreshore approximately followed the line of where Marine Terrace (previously called Fitzgerald Terrace) is today. In 1831, two years after settlement,

Henry Reveley Henry Willey Reveley (1788–1875) was a civil engineer responsible for the earliest public works at the Swan River Colony, the foundation of the state of Western Australia. Life Reveley was the son of Willey and Maria Reveley (later Gisborne) ...

built a stone jetty nearby, possibly from Anglesea Point near Bathers Beach. A second jetty (South Jetty) was built in 1854 on the same site. Winter storms continued to cause damage to the foreshore buildings and a sea wall was built by convicts (c.1880) which partly alleviated the problem, but encroachment from the sea and sand drift persisted. In 1873 the kilometre-long

Long Jetty Long Jetty is a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located on a peninsula between Tuggerah Lake and the Pacific Ocean south of The Entrance. It is part of the local government area. The only street in The En ...

was built nearby, extending from Anglesea Point. In 1902 more land was reclaimed from the sea and the Esplanade was created thanks to funds provided by the state government and the resumption of an area of private land owned by J. Briggs M.L.C. A bandstand was opened in 1906. The first Norfolk Island Pines were planted in 1908.

Activities

Concerts and performances

The popular Fremantle Sardine Festival is staged on the park each January.''Food festivals''
The Age, July 19, 2006

Transportation

Public transport

The former

The Esplanade railway station The Esplanade railway station was a railway station on the Transperth network. It was located on the Fremantle line, 19.8 kilometres from Perth station between Bathers Beach and Esplanade Park. History On 22 October 1898, the Fremantle line w ...

is to the west of the Esplanade on the far side of the

Fremantle railway line The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle. History The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban rai ...

, between the park and

Little Creatures Brewery Little Creatures is a brewery based in Fremantle, Western Australia, operating as a subsidiary of the Japanese firm Kirin Company. It is owned by Little World Beverages, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lion Nathan which is itself a wholly owned s ...

References

{{coord, 32, 3, 29, S, 115, 44, 42, E, display=title Parks in Perth, Western Australia Marine Terrace, Fremantle