Rockingham is a suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

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 th ...

, located 47 km south-south-west of the city centre. It acts as the primary centre for the

City of Rockingham The City of Rockingham is a council and local government area, comprising the south coastal suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth. History Rockingham is located in the southern part of the traditional tribal territory of the ...

. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of

Cockburn Sound Cockburn Sound (Nyungar Aboriginal Australian name: Derbal Nara) is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia. It extends from the south of the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle for about 25 km to Point Peron ne ...

. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

. Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway. To the west and south lies the

Shoalwater Islands Marine Park The Shoalwater Islands Marine Park is a protected marine park located in Western Australia and stretches from the northern point of the Garden Island Causeway to the southern point of Becher Point. The marine park is located offshore from the ...

History

Rockingham received its name from the sailing ship , one of the three vessels that

Thomas Peel Thomas Peel (1793 – 22 December 1865)Alexandra Hasluck,, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 2, MUP, 1967, pp 320-322. retrieved 2009-11-04 organised and lead a consortium of the first British settlers to Western Australia. He was ...

had chartered to carry settlers to Western Australia (the others being and ). ''Rockingham'' arrived on 14 May 1830. ''Rockingham'' was blown ashore and eventually abandoned after failed attempts to refloat her. She eventually broke up, having sunk in shallow waters.Draper, Richard ''Rockingham – The Visions Unfold.'' City of Rockingham. 1997; p. 27. Settlers supposedly camped near the wreck used the name "Rockingham Town" as their address. The region had been inhabited for several thousand years by tribes of the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

people whose leader at that time was Galyute. Rockingham was first surveyed and lots offered for sale in 1847. However, few lots were sold until the development of a railway and jetty in 1872 to transport jarrah timber and

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

from Jarrahdale overseas. Rockingham prospered until the construction of the Inner Harbour of

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 ...

in 1897, which caused Rockingham as a timber port to steadily decline. Another factor that contributed, albeit gradually, to the decline of the port's importance for timber export was the opening in 1893 of the South Western Railway, the line of which intersected the Jarrahdale-Rockingham line and created the possibility of trucking timber north to Fremantle or south to Bunbury where the ports were capable of taking larger ships with deeper draughts. By the turn of the century, the international timber trade was being handled by larger ships and when the timber merchants determined that they could not justify the expense of dredging to enhance access to the port of Rockingham timber exports shifted to Fremantle. After 1908 the port saw no further use for timber exports. The ending of the port coincided with the arrival of the motor car, and this new mode of transport gave impetus to the rapid development of the little coastal settlement into a seaside resort town. It was a comfortable day trip by motor car from Fremantle and Perth, and a sufficient distance from those centres for the "travellers" to legally purchase alcoholic beverages at the

Rockingham Hotel The Rockingham Hotel is a historic former hotel and contemporary condominium at 401 State Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1885, it is a prominent early example of Colonial Revival architecture, built in part in hom ...

on Sundays during an era when such sales were strictly regulated to protect the sanctity of that day. Holidaymakers had the use of the old port's jetties while they remained, but by 1947 they were gone, destroyed through the effects of decay and storms. From the earliest years of the 20th century, holiday shacks were developed in the town, and by the 1970s Rockingham had also become a desirable locale for retirement villas - mostly of a modest scale. In recent decades Rockingham has become a satellite city in Perth's southwest, together with

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 Australian census, 2 ...

, and is among Australia's fastest-growing residential districts. The maritime tradition has been strengthened by steady growth of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

's main fleet base

HMAS Stirling HMAS ''Stirling'' is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base that is part of Fleet Base West situated on the west coast of Australia, on the Indian Ocean. The base is located on Garden Island in the state of Western Australia, near the city of ...

and by the development of major shipbuilding and marine support services at nearby

. Since the nineteenth century, abundant sightseeing and recreational attributes have been the basis of a tourism industry. Visitors can launch small boats or board ferries to view dolphins, seals, pelicans and penguins in the adjacent Marine Park. The coast at nearby Safety Bay is ideal for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

. On 7 May 2009, a boundary realignment of Cooloongup and

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had b ...

approved by the Minister for Lands incorporated the Rockingham Train Station into Rockingham.

Geography

Rockingham is topographically flat, has sandy soils and coastal vegetation. It has a northern aspect to

, from Rockingham Beach and Palm Beach.

Transport

Rail

High-frequency passenger services are accessible at the Rockingham Railway Station and

Warnbro railway station Warnbro railway station is a commuter railway station in Warnbro, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It is on the Mandurah line, which is part of the Transperth commuter rail network, and is located immediately south-east of the interchang ...

on the

Mandurah Line The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the ...

. A bus network operates throughout Rockingham with multiple routes terminating at the railway stations. The "Rockingham Shuttle Bus 555" is a frequent service which connects the train station with the Rockingham Beach foreshore. Frequent services connect Rockingham with Fremantle via the bus service 549 (via Kwinana and Spearwood) running at 15-minute intervals Monday to Friday and the 548 (via. Coogee). All three of these routes service the primary centre via dedicated bus lanes. Local heavy industry is serviced by branches of the

Kwinana freight railway The Kwinana freight railway lines are a network of railways predominantly servicing the heavy industrial areas at Kwinana Beach south of Perth and to provide for the transport of freight servicing Fremantle Harbour, Kewdale Intermodal Facility ...

which has a number of

level crossings A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

within the City of Rockingham. A

Rockingham Light Rail The Rockingham Light Rail is a proposed light rail system within the City of Rockingham in Western Australia. The proposal aims to link Rockingham station with the Rockingham Beach foreshore via the shopping centre and central business distric ...

service is proposed to connect the railway station with the city centre and foreshore.

Road

The

Kwinana Freeway The Kwinana Freeway is a freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with Mandurah to the south. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Cl ...

is about 15 minutes' drive from the primary centre via Kulija Road ( State Route 22) or via

Safety Bay Road Safety Bay Road is an east-west metropolitan road located in the City of Rockingham, about south of Perth, Western Australia. The road starts in Rockingham's coastal suburbs and heads south from Peron, Western Australia, Peron past Lake Richmo ...

, giving fast access to Perth, Mandurah and Bunbury.

National Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

(Patterson Road and Ennis Avenue) provides alternative road connection with Perth, Fremantle and Mandurah.

Cycling

Perth Bicycle Network route SW38 links Rockingham Beach with Waikiki Beach in Safety Bay.

Facilities

Education

Rockingham Beach Primary School was founded in 1895 and is supplemented by Bungaree, Charthouse, East Waikiki,

, Safety Bay and

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

primary schools. Public secondary schools are

Rockingham Senior High School Rockingham Senior High School is a public co-educational high day school, located on Read Street in Rockingham, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Overview The school was established in 1971 and caters for students from Year 7 to Year 12 ...

and

Safety Bay Senior High School Safety Bay Senior High School is a Public school (government funded), public Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary education#Australia, high day school, located in the southern Perth suburb of Safety Bay, Western Australia, on Malibu Ro ...

. Private schools in the district include the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Star of the Sea Primary School, Kolbe Catholic College (High School), Rockingham

Montessori The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

School, South Coast Baptist College (formerly Maranatha Christian College), and

Living Waters Lutheran College The Living Waters Lutheran College is an independent Lutheran school providing a Kindergarten to year 12 education in Warnbro, Western Australia Warnbro is a southern outer suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, located on Warn ...

. The Rockingham campus of

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...

, located on Dixon Road, comprises buildings for engineering studies, arts and commerce, administration and a library which is also accessible to the local community, being one of the largest public libraries in the state. It is linked with the Rockingham Information and Library Services group which includes Warnbro Community Library, Safety Bay Public Library and Mary Davies Public Library. The campus can be accessed by bus services from

via Kwinana, and from the Rockingham train station on the

Mandurah line The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the ...

Retail shopping outlets

Rockingham is served by two substantial shopping districts, an extensive precinct near the local-government offices; and the older Rockingham Beach "high-street" shops. The former includes several

fast-food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredient ...

outlets, a

petrol station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...

, the Rockingham Centre, medical practices, restaurants and two multi-screen cinema complexes. Many of the older beachside shops have either switched to catering for tourism and recreational visitors, or have been redeveloped in a blend of high-rise residential units and associated services such as restaurants. Other shopping centres, located at nearby

, Warnbro and

Port Kennedy A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

add to available variety and choice. Residents also benefit from the proximity of large light-industrial,

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

and

showroom A plumbing fixture showroom, Canada, 1921 A showroom, also referred to as a gallery, is a large space used to display products, entertainment or visual arts. Marketing location A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, suc ...

developments, including major vehicle dealers, all types of trade and professional services, discount electrical appliances, building and landscaping materials, household and mechanical maintenance services. A further abundance of similar competitive services is available in the adjoining suburbs mentioned above.

Sport

Mike Barnett Sports Complex is a seven-court multi-purpose community facility situated on Dixon Road. The stadium was opened in the 1980s and is the home of the

Rockingham Flames Rockingham Flames is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of the Rockingham Basketball and Recreation Association (RBRA), the major administrat ...

, who play in the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

Notable sights

Catalpa memorial

On 9 September 2005, a memorial was unveiled at Palm Beach, Rockingham, to commemorate the

Catalpa rescue The ''Catalpa'' rescue was the escape, on 17–19 April 1876, of six Irish Fenian prisoners from the Convict Establishment (now Fremantle Prison), a British penal colony in Western Australia. They were taken on the convict ship ''Hougoumont'' ...

, the famous escape of six Irish

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...

convicts from

Fremantle Prison Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottage ...

on 17–18 April 1876. After journeying south from Fremantle by horse-drawn cart, the escapees were rowed from the beach to the ''Catalpa'', an American whaler. The perilous flight succeeded in the face of an overnight storm and naval interception at dawn. The memorial consists of six wild geese in flight symbolic of the flight to freedom and, to all Irish people, emigration. This is mounted on a plinth built with stones from ship's ballast. Mounted on the plinth are six granite panels sandblasted with photos of the six Fenian prisoners and a granite dedication stone. At the outer circumference of the circle there are six bronze plaques bearing text inscriptions from the ''Wild Goose Journal'' which the Fenians had written on board the ''

Hougoumont Château d'Hougoumont (originally Goumont) is a walled manorial compound, situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in the Braine-l'Alleud municipality, near Waterloo, Belgium. The site served as one of the advanced defensi ...

'' as prisoners on their voyage to Australia. Creation of the memorial was initiated and documented by Francis Conlan and executed by Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith. Historical information was sourced from ''The Fenian Wild Geese: from the last convict ship to the Catalpa rescue'' by Ormonde D. P. Waters (Catalpa Publications, 2011).

Naval Memorial Park

To the north of Rockingham lies the

Rockingham Naval Memorial Park Rockingham Naval Memorial Park is a List of Australian military memorials, military memorial in the City of Rockingham, Western Australia, dedicated to the Royal Australian Navy. It contains a number of commemorative plaques, a gun turret from ...

, opposite HMAS Stirling. It contains a number of

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

s, a gun turret of

HMAS Derwent (DE 49) HMAS ''Derwent'' (F22/DE 22/DE 49), named for the Derwent River (Tasmania), Derwent River, was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was laid down by Williamstown Naval Dockyard in 1959, and commissioned into the ...

and a submarine fin from

HMAS Orion HMAS ''Orion'' (S 61) was an ''Oberon'' class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of six submarines ordered by the RAN during the 1960s, ''Orion'', named after the constellation in a break from ship-naming tradition, was built in S ...

, added in 2009.Fin slices into history books
accessed: 26 November 2009

Image gallery

File:Rockingham Foreshore, July 2019 01.jpg, Beachfront landscaping File:Norfolk Island pines, Rockingham Hotel, May 2020.jpg,

File:Rockingham Foreshore, July 2019 06.jpg, Trees and development File:Rockingham Foreshore, August 2021.jpg, "Boardwalk" restaurant strip File:Catalpa memorial detail.JPG, Wild geese detail File:Rockingham Naval Park Entrance Arch.jpg,

References

External links

*
City of Rockingham

City of Rockingham Community Information Portal
{{Authority control Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs in the City of Rockingham