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The current Water Police building is at the end of Harvest Road North Fremantle, on Point Direction.
Water Police building
Marine Terrace
Water Police Station and Quarters
Architect: John Grainger, Chief Architect, Public Works Department
Builder: Herbert Abbott
Photograph of a painting by Toby Leek, courtesy of the artist.
Hutchison:
On the corner of Marine Terrace and Cliff Street. When built in 1903 as offices and quarters for the Fremantle Water Police, this building, in Free Federation Classic style, to would have been close the original foreshore. It replaced an earlier building on the site, which had been used by the police since the establishment of the force in 1851. The Imperial Water Police were charged with ensuring the safety of shipping in the port and preventing the escape of convicts. The force came under the control of the Colonial Government in 1885. Subsequently, the building was used as a sailors rest, and the office section was used by the Architectural Division of the Public Works Department from 1937. From 1958 the building provided low-cost inner-city housing. In 2004 it was divided into six strata titles for mixed residential and commercial use. Hutchison: 90-91.
Thanks to the Fremantle Library for this 1972 photo #1034 of the water police barracks:
Library:
Looking across the Esplanade to the Water Police Barracks in Marine Terrace. These were completed in 1903 at a cost of 3590 pounds, twelve shillings and one penny by the builder Mr Abbott.
My 2017 snap. I couldn't get the whole building in the iPhone frame.
Cliff Street elevation of no. 10, showing the ornamental belvedere.
References and Links
Hutchison, David, Fremantle Walks.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 1 October, 2017 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/waterpolice.html (it was last updated on 15 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.