The Quarry Amphitheatre is an outdoor venue located close to the ocean in City Beach,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It has a sprung wooden stage and changing facilities for around 80 performers. It was officially opened on 9 November 1986 and is owned and operated by the

Town of Cambridge The Town of Cambridge is a local government area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth's central business district and extending to the Indian Ocean at City Beach. The Town covers a ...

. The amphitheatre is located in an old limestone quarry, first quarried in 1834 by

Henry Trigg Henry Trigg (1791–1882) was the Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the Congregational Church in Perth. Biography Henry Trigg was born on 30 June 1791 in Gloucester, England, the son of Hen ...

. The limestone from the quarry was used for construction and lime-burning. In 1847 Trigg sold the landholdings to

Walter Padbury Walter Padbury (22 December 1820 – 18 April 1907) was a British-born Australian pioneer, politician and philanthropist. Early Life Padbury was born in Stonesfield in the English county of Oxfordshire on 22 December 1820. At the age of 10, ...

, who continued the quarrying operations. At the height of the limestone kiln operations, more than 50 men worked at the site. The land was then sold to brothers Henry and Somers Birch in 1869, and then on to Joseph Perry in 1879. Perry kept the quarry and lime kilns working, with the last lime kiln being built in 1897. The quarrying ceased in 1906. In 1917 the land was sold to the Perth City Council. The concept of converting the quarry into an amphitheatre was conceived by Diana Waldron, the director of the Perth City Ballet Company, in the early 1980s. With funding support from the Commonwealth Government, Lotteries Commission and the former

City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

, the vision finally became a reality and the Quarry Amphitheatre was officially opened on 9 November 1986. It is set in natural bushland and supports a capacity audience of . It is a licensed BYO facility. The venue is used extensively between October and May for a range of events from ballet to concerts and large weddings.

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* {{Cinemas in Western Australia Music venues in Perth, Western Australia Quarries in Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the Town of Cambridge

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