Cantonment Hill, Heritage site and lookout point in Fremantle, Australia.
Cantonment Hill sits above Fremantle Port and provides views across the Swan River and surrounding areas. The hill is home to one of the last stands of Rottnest Island pine found on the mainland.
The Artillery Barracks were built between 1910 and 1913 for the Royal Australian Garrison Artillery. During World War I, the site became a rehabilitation hospital.
The Whadjuk Noongar people know the hill as Dwerda Weelardinup, 'place of the dingo spirit', and the peak as Walyarup, 'sea eagle nest'. After Rottnest Island became a prison, families gathered here on Sundays to send fire signals to those held there, and the fires also guided escapees.
The roughly 4-hectare site is bounded by Canning Highway, Queen Victoria Street, Burt Street and Tuckfield Street. The 1956 signal station stands on the peak, and the 1935 Naval Store is at the corner of Queen Victoria Street and Canning Highway. The Army Museum of Western Australia occupies lot 601; lot 603 is privately owned.
Indigenous families once used fire signals from the hill to communicate with relatives imprisoned on Rottnest Island during the colonial period. This method of long-distance communication connected loved ones across the water.
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