The place behind the detail.

The Port Arthur Historic Site acknowledges that it is built on unceded Aboriginal land and pays respect to the Palawa, the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, and their Elders past and present.

The convict story told here is one chapter in a much longer history of the Tasman Peninsula.

From 1833 until 1877, Port Arthur received convicts who had reoffended in the colony. Its security was among the strictest in the British penal system, and the narrow isthmus at Eaglehawk Neck was guarded by soldiers and dogs.

Alongside punishment, the settlement put convicts to work: felling timber, building ships and making goods. Its buildings, from the Penitentiary to the Separate Prison and the church, show changing ideas about punishment and reform.

• Read the history of Port Arthur→

In 2010 the Australian Convict Sites, eleven places across Australia, were inscribed on the World Heritage List. Port Arthur is one of them, cared for since 1987 by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

• Read the history of Port Arthur→
• Explore the timeline→