Claremont
The classy, up-market suburb of Claremont is located on the northern bank of the Swan River, on Freshwater Bay, between Perth and Fremantle. Claremont s retail precinct, St Quentins Ave or Bayview Tce is where Perth's beautiful people go for some serious retail therapy.There are plenty of cafes, eateries and bars too.
Claremont has numerous grand homes in the Agett Road and Richardson Avenue areas on the south side of Stirling Highway, while lesser areas include the areas around Ashton Avenue to the north.
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Lake Claremont is a seasonal lake, a unique biodiversity hotspot that is host to a wide variety of flora and fauna. It is a Conservation Category Wetland and a designated Bush Forever site. The area covers approximately 70 hectares.
The Perth Royal Show, an annual agricultural show, has been held at the Claremont Showgrounds since 1905. The Showgrounds also hosts a number large music events and festivals, including The Big Day Out. Its pavilion was built for the State of Western Australia Centenary in 1929, as well as other features in the grounds.
The Perth Royal Show features informational exhibits, agricultural competitions and display animals, a fairground and rides, and showbags. It has been held for over 100 years and is organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia. It currently occurs during the spring school holidays (either the last week of September or the first week of October) and attracts around 500,000 people a year.
The Claremont Showgrounds are serviced by a special events railway station on the Fremantle line. Opened on 20 September 1995, it has direct connection with the showgrounds. The original Showgrounds Station, opened in 1954, was located 350 metres further east with platforms on either side of the line, and required negotiating road crossings to access the showgrounds.
The Showgrounds have in the past been regularly used for WAFL football matches. Perth won its first premiership against East Fremantle there in 1907. They were the original home of Claremont-Cottesloe Football Club in its first year in the WAFL before moving to Claremont Oval in 1927. On 19 March 2005, the venue was used to host a one-off WAFL match between Claremont and West Perth, with Claremont winning in front of 7,812 spectators. Due to a redevelopment occurring at Claremont Oval, Claremont will use the Showgrounds as a home ground in 2014 and 2015.
From 1927 until 2000, the 586 metres Claremont Speedway operated on a track around the edge of the main oval of the showgrounds. Its size saw it the largest speedway in weekly operation in a state capital in Australia. With the closure of Claremont, speedway in Perth moved to the 500 metres Perth Motorplex Speedway in Kwinana Beach.
Bishops Road Reserve
Claremont sits at the head of Freshwater Bay, a large kink in the Swan River estuary about 5 km upsteam for where the river enters the indian Ocean at Fremantle. Extensive residential development along the foreshore over the years has resulted in there being limited public access to the river foreshore. There are a few small parks wedged in between the luxury houses, however, which give access on foot to the river. Alex Prior Park, Mrs Hubert's Park and Bishop Road Reserve, on the eastern side of the bay, all have water access.
A 2 km long narrow strip of accessible foreshore reserve extends from near Alex Prior Park, Dalkeith, across the head of the bay and down to Butlers Hump at Mosman. This makes for a very pleasant walk; it can be accessed from the end of Bayview Terrace. Provided the tide is out, it is possible to take a very pleasant walk along the beach from Bishop Road Reserve all the way to Point Resolution (see photo above).
Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, John Butler, a settler, set up an inn at Freshwater Bay (in modern-day Peppermint Grove) to attract travellers on the road from Perth to Fremantle.
After the arrival of convicts in the colony in 1850, work began on constructing the Fremantle Road. The Government allocated land on the foreshore and at Lake Claremont (then known as Butler's Swamp) to 19 pensioner guards and their families, and a permanent convict depot was established on Freshwater Bay, operating until 1875.
As the community grew, a school (1862) and church were built, and a community grew around what is now Victoria Avenue. In the 1870s, a number of influential men, including the Trigg, Sandover and Stirling families, bought land in the district and settled in what is now the Christ Church Grammar School and surrounding areas. Some of their homes have been maintained as school buildings.
In 1881, the railway line from Perth to Fremantle came through and the community's focus shifted to the area between Fremantle Road (Stirling Highway) and the railway, particularly around Bay View Terrace.
The community was named Claremont by Mr James Morrison, the owner of Swan Location 702, after his wife, Clara - the name was first used for the railway station in 1883. The Freshwater Bay school ceased to play a central role, and became a boarding house nicknamed "Appy One" in 1892 (and in 1975 a museum).
Land speculators bought in the area and subdivided blocks at varying sizes, leading to a wide class diversity within the suburb. By about 1903, the entire suburb, other than a dozen or so streets, had been subdivided, and by the Second World War, the community was firmly established.
