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Victoria Quay
Victoria Quay is the name given to South Wharf of the port in the Swan River at Fremantle to honour Queen Victoria - though the name should perhaps be changed, as there are too many placenames commemorating the British Empire (imo). It was given that name by the Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary) 26 July 1901 when she and the Duke (later King George V) visited (although Victoria had died 22 January, and Edward VII was monarch).
Cargo sheds A-D are still on the wharf, with E Shed now functioning as a tourist market on the other side of the access road. J Shed was moved to Arthur Head 1968/9.
There is a former Immigration Centre building of some heritage importance.
The Passenger Terminal is a large and significant building which is still available for the reception of cruise ships despite access to its eastern side being compromised by the area being mainly used for the temporary parking of imported motor vehicles. Architects: Hobbs, Winning and Leighton. Builder: A.T. Brine and Sons. Following World War II, Fremantle was a primary ‘gateway’ for immigrants. A new passenger terminal became necessary to cope with the increased demand and the present building was constructed in 1960-62. It replaced two earlier transit sheds, F and G, which had been built to replace three original sheds, G, H and I.
The Maritime Museum is on the most western extremity of the wharf.
The Fremantle Ports building is very close to the southern wharf, tho it has the nominal street address 1 Cliff St.
In 2021 there was a controversial proposal to build film studios on the wharf, which was withdrawn in 2022.
The proposal was supported by acting mayor Sullivan (among others) and opposed by the Fremantle Society, Roel Loopers (and others, including me).
An article by Mark Naglazas in the Guardian newspaper, 3 June 2021, summarised the debate.
John Dowson, as president of the Fremantle Society, wrote about the proposal several times.
As did Fremantle blogger Roel Loopers, a former president of the Society.
References and Links
Dowson, John 2001, Fremantle: the Immigration Story, Fremantle Society.
Dowson, John 2011, Fremantle Port, Chart and Map Shop Fremantle.
Hutchison, David, Fremantle Walks: Walk 1 - Victoria Quay.
Naglazas, Mark 2021, 'Hollywood or bust?', seesaw, 6 May.
Naglazas, Mark 2021, 'Lights! Cameras! Fremantle!', seesaw, 13 May.
Naglazas, Mark 2021, 'Will Hollywood fly to Perth for this? Doubts cast over Fremantle's $100m film studio', The Guardian, 3 June.
Notes in Fremantle, the newsletter of the Fremantle Society: October 1994 (E Shed), August 1998, March 2004, August 2007, September 2008, March 2010, October 2014.
Fremantle History Society: 'Victoria Quay Heritage Listing'.
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 13 May, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/streets/victoriaquay.html (it was last updated on 19 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.