Fremantle Prison

Here in Western Australia not too far from where I live 😁

Fremantle prison was built by convict labour between 1851 and 1859 and was the main prison for Western Australia until 1991.

It was also the only place in WA where capital punishment was carried out by hanging. The buildings are still original and the gallows are still there. I remember being told a gruesome story by a former guard, he told of a guy who didn’t want to be caught by police & put on death row so he shot himself in the face but survived.. Although almost every bone in his face was shattered!! When it came to his hanging they put the rope around his neck & proceed as usual when he dropped he was decapitated because the bones in his jaw were so weak!!

The last person hanged there was in 1965.

The chair was there for prisoners that were too weak to stand in their final moments.

There is an area outside where they used to carry out floggings, the last flogging occurred in 1943

The Prison is open to the public & they do guided tours day & night.
Under the prison is a network of tunnels which was opened for public tours in 2005

The prison is said to be haunted by many restless spirits including that of
Martha Rendell (born 1871) who was the last woman to be hanged in Western Australia. She was convicted of murdering her de facto husband's son, Arthur Morris, in 1908. She was also suspected of killing his two daughters, Annie and Olive.

She always claimed she was falsely accused and it is reported that she said she would haunt the prison until her name is cleared. She is seen and heard many places in the old closed down prison but especially in the church.
An unusual illusion appears on one of the church windows It is said to be the portrait of Martha. The thing that makes this image so unusual is the fact that it can only be seen on the outside of the window and when inside the church looking out the glass is smooth and even with no unusual shape or texture

She was hanged at Fremantle Prison on 6 October 1909. She is buried at Fremantle Cemetery, in the same grave where Eric Edgar Cooke the last male to be hanged was interred more than half a century afterwards.

There are some amazing murals & paintings around the prison that were done by an inmates on their cell walls & some were even allowed to paint the yards next time I go I will take some pics

wow bodhi now that look like a cool place perhaps this calls for a trip to OZ! woot 😁

Ohhh Wow! this is too cool Bodhi! I think I feel a plane ride in my near future. Have a guest room? 😆 😆

Tim & Princess there are plenty more places around here that would keep you going for a while if you ever did decide to venture over 😁 Would love to have either of you here 😁

Hmmmmmmmmm Wishful thinking is relocating. I am all for it but I dunno about hubby:)