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When businesses around Western Australia had to shutdown during the pandemic, many workers found themselves with a lot extra time on their hands.
Over at the Fremantle Prison, staff turned to a once-neglected historic garden, revitalising the century-old community icon.
Take a walk through the garden with Fremantle Prison tour guide Courtney Wilmot and ABC Perth Producer Kate Leaver.
Duration: 5min 21sec
The prison’s gardens have a history of turning non-gardeners into green thumbs. Since the terraced gardens were established in 1910 by reformist superintendent Hugh Hahn, prisoners have found purpose in digging in the dirt. “Killer grows prize blooms”, an article printed in The Mirror in 1955, tells the story of a convicted murderer who grows prize-winning carnations as an act of atonement. In addition to lifting inmates’ spirits, the gardens also served a practical purpose: at their peak, they supplied the prison kitchen with more than 10,000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables annually. With no prisoners to feed – the Fremantle Prison was decommissioned in 1991 before reopening the following year as a tourist attraction – the produce being grown is being donated fortnightly to St Patrick’s Community Support Centre, a longstanding Fremantle non-profit organisation that houses and feeds the homeless and rough sleepers. It’s a move that feels very “Freo”, partially b