Woodman Point is a headland on the west coast of

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 ...

. It is located in the Perth suburb of Coogee, south-south-west of the city centre and south 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 ...

. It extends westward into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. The coastal waters immediately to the north of the point are known as Owen Anchorage, while to the south is Jervoise Bay. Woodman Point marks the northern extent of Cockburn Sound. Woodman Point is contained completely within the Woodman Point Regional Park, a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

with recreational facilities including

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

lands,

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

, and a

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

; and historic sites including a World War II

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

and World War II

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

History

Woodman Point was named after Thomas Woodman, who accompanied Captain James Stirling on the 1827 expedition that explored the upper reaches of the Swan River. When Stirling returned in 1829 with the first settlers for 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 ...

, Woodman Point would have been one of the first mainland landmarks sighted by the new arrivals. In the 1880s a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

station was established there to isolate immigrants from the community whilst being cleared of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

and

Spanish influenza The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

that was ravaging Europe, the Americas and Asia. The facility continued to be used intermittently as a quarantine station until about 1979 when it closed. The buildings, including dormitories and administration buildings as well as the crematorium, were placed in the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

in 1999. The dormitories and most other buildings are currently in use for school and other groups and now known as Woodman Point Recreation Camp.

Racecourse

Early accounts of horse racing in the Swan River Colony indicate that Woodman Point was always a favourite location for racing enthusiasts, with the first races being run there in 1833. By the mid 1880s, a regular carnival of events had grown around the unofficial racecourse, and Fremantle residents would come down by steam boat or private yacht to spend the day watching the races and picnicking. The course was taken over by the Fremantle Jockey Club in 1894, granted a 99-year lease in 1899, and run with varying degrees of success until 1900, when the club lapsed. During this time the racecourse was kept in excellent condition, with the 3-furlong straights levelled over a width of 66 feet and planted with couch grass. It was watered by a windmill and reticulation, and the club had built a bird cage of 24 stalls. For years racing enthusiasts had been requesting that the existing railway line to

Robbs Jetty South Fremantle is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Fremantle. History The first development in the area may have been when Richard Goldsmith Meares established a lime-burning kiln in 1831. Meares had arrived a ...

be extended to Woodman Point for ease of access, but to no avail. This eventually led to the decline of the area as a popular racecourse. In 1903 the State Government decided to resume the racecourse land for a new explosives magazine, as it was by then considered to be abandoned. Only then was the railway line extended.

Other uses

Woodman Light Woodman Light, also known as Woodman Point Lighthouse, Gage Roads Lighthouse and Coogee Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in Western Australia. Located on Woodman Point in the City of Cockburn, it has been in continuous operation since 1902. It is h ...

, a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

built in 1902, is located just beyond the eastern boundary of the reserve. The light is on a small hill to the east of Cockburn Road, and nearby are stone cottages used to house the lighthouse keepers. In 1966 the State Electricity Commission (now

Western Power The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

) built a

wastewater treatment plant Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environmen ...

at Woodman Point. It was replaced by another plant in a new location also at Woodman Point in 1984.

Munitions site

The munitions bunkers, located in a munitions reserve East of the quarantine station, were actively used for that purpose until the 1980s when the facility was decommissioned and moved to Karnup, southeast of Rockingham. By that time the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

had also established its own facility at on Garden Island.

Railway line

A dedicated railway spur line to service the munitions reserve originally ran parallel to Cockburn Road past Coogee Beach to South Fremantle and then to the inner harbour of the

Port of Fremantle Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval vis ...

, which was a major allied naval base during World War II. Removal of the munitions reserve was necessary before nearby land was developed into the residential suburb now known as Coogee. In the 1980s, a tourist railway operations centre at Woodman Point was proposed, but it never eventuated.

References

External links

* Parks and Wildlife Service
Woodman Point Regional Park
* Urban Bushland Council WA Inc.
Woodman Point Regional Park
{{Regional parks in Western Australia Cockburn Sound Headlands of Western Australia Quarantine facilities in Australia City of Cockburn