Visit Kingston & Arthurs Vale Convict Area, Norfolk Island (UNESCO site)

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"Australian Convict Sites” is a set of UNESCO World Heritage sites that consisting of 11 remnant penal sites throughout Australia. Originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips at Sydney, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, and Fremantle. UNESCO states that these are "the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts." These properties were all individually included on the Australian National Heritage List before inclusion on the World Heritage list. Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area is an old settlement on the Kingston coastal plains (bounded by hills), southern side of Norfolk Island, consisting of a large group of buildings from the British Empire's convict era (1788–1855). This area contains many buildings historic and cultural significance including: Government House (1829+) Old Military Barracks from 1829 (now the Legislative Assembly and Norfolk Island Court) Commissariat Store (now All Saints Church 1835) – the finest commissariat store left in Australia New Military Barracks (now Norfolk Island Government Administration offices of 1836) Nine houses that provided quarters for military and civil officers (1832-47) Prisoners' Barracks (1828-48) including the Protestant Chapel New Prison (Pentagonal Prison) (1836-40 and 1845-57) ruins of the hospital (1829) Surgeon's Quarters and Kitchen (1827) Landing Pier (1839-47) and sea wall; and Beach store (1825) Settlement Guardhouse (1826) Crankmill (1827-38) Royal Engineer's office and stables (1850) Police Office, now boatshed (1828-29) Blacksmith's Shop (1846) Salt House (1847) Windmill base (1842-43) The Cemetery (1825-present) has an outstanding collection of headstones and other remains dating from the earliest period of European settlement, including the first and second penal settlement periods. Many stone walls, wells, drains, building platforms, bridges, culverts, roads, quarry sites, and privies add to the archaeological evidence for Norfolk including the remains of Bloody Bridge. The remnant serpentine landscape is an outstanding example of colonial period attitudes to landscape design in Australia. When the Pitcairn Islanders arrived in 1856 they were housed in the former penal settlement buildings and houses. When the government evicted them in 1908 many of these structures were then destroyed by fire. Some have since been restored.

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