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Today this area is silent and almost empty. But if you had been here
between 1834 and 1848, you would have found the busiest and most
productive ship yard in Van Diemen’s Land.
History
Here, convict labourers crafted hundreds of whaleboats, ship’s’
buoys, brigantines and barques for private and government customers.
One of only three dockyards in the British Empire to have used
convict labour to build the yard and the ships, it is also the best
preserved.
Master shipwright David Hoy worked in the Port Arthur dockyard from 1836 until its closure in 1848. Read more about his life here.
Present Day
Local artists Ben Booth and Colin Langridge have created the 25-metre
long ship sculpture which sits in one of the Dockyard’s slips, evoking
visions of the scale of the ships that were made here.
Embedded in the grass are steel outlines of the buildings which stood
here—boat sheds, steamers, a sawpit, the overseer’s hut and
blacksmith’s shop. As you pass by, the sounds of long-vanished industry
surrounds you—the clattering of hammers, sawing, capstans rattling, a
mother calling her children to bed.
The Dockyards is an evocative and fascinating part of the Port Arthur
Historic Site, the product of years of archaeological and documentary
research, and innovative technology and interpretation.
Visit
The Dockyard precinct is a short stroll along the waterfront to the
north of the main site. Fact sheets can be found at the entrance to the
dockyard.
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