Perth - Fremantle Prison

Roots - In search of the bread thieves.

Fremantle has a prison. An old prison. It started off full of convicts and then went on to house WA'a ne'er do wells until only a few years ago. Think tats, mullets, and Guns and Roses.

The main gate.
Once inside, it is dominated by the main cell block.
There are even tennis courts - probably not an original facility.
The gantries are where the guards hung out and the walls are painted white so that you can see an escapees at night.
Inside the main cell block. This was split into 4 sections, the badder you were, the further away from the kitchens was your cell. This is the ground floor with a suicide-net to catch the falling bodies. Not sure that all of the suicides were actually voluntary, though.
One of the exercise yards. Prisoners spent most of the day just hanging around here. The toilets are at the far end and, from what our guide told us about what went on there, a strong bladder is probably a very good idea indeed. The roof was a late addition. Before that they were in what ever the weather threw at them.
Where the guard stood to keep an eye on things. Good idea, all those bars.
A more salubrious yard - still with those best-avoided toilets.
Our guide - previously a prisoner or guard. He wouldn't tell us which but he was probably a guard - there was a certain amount of relish in the tales of incarceration.
A bit higher up the main block.
The chapel.
A painting on one of the cell walls - by a prisoner. It's true, most of the paintings around the place were about the outside.
The best photo I could get of one of the original-size cells. Not very good because the light isn't very good and it's so small, you can't get a good enough angle on it.
A more 'modern' cell. This one had it's own exercise yard - not because the prisoner was higher up the pecking order. On the contrary - these were the guys who had to be kept seperate from everybody else. They were mostly ex-cops, ex-prison guards or peadophiles.
And this is where you go if you were a very naughty boy indeed.

And now to answer that question - I checked with the guide whether, if you are English and you marry an Australian, there is a convict-return program. No, apparently.