The Barrack Arch, a four storey Tudor arched gateway, is all that remains of the Pensioner’s Barrack which was built to house soldiers (and families) of the Enrolled Pensioner Forces. These soldiers known as the Pensioner Guards were sent to Western Australia to guard the convicts that were transported to the Colony from 1850-1865. The Pensioner Guards were made up of soldiers and veterans who had been honorably discharged from the British Army.
Public Works Department
The Pensioner’s Barrack was built in 1863 by the British Imperial Establishment and the Public Works Department of the Western Australia Colonial Government. The original design of the barracks was by Captain E.M. Grain and James Manning and included wings extending either side of the arch. The wings consisted of a 120 rooms. Richard Roach Jewell was responsible for the detail and later additions. The building was constructed by convict labour using hand made bricks from Brickfield Reserve, now Queens Garden.
Many of the soldiers stayed on after the removal of the British troops in 1868. Following the eventual disbandment of the Pensioners Guard in 1878 some of the soldiers stayed on at the Barracks until 1904 while many retired to farming lots which had been granted to them in return for their services.
In 1904 The Barrack became the Public Works Department headquarters and it was from there that the Goldfields Water Supply was planned. The Chief Engineer C.Y.O’Connor had his office immediately above the archway.
Barracks Demolished
In 1966 two wings of the Pensioner’s Barrack were demolished to make way for the Mitchell Freeway and give the newly built Parliament House a clear view down St George’s Terrace. Needless to say, the public was outraged. Unfortunately despite the public’s disapproval the State Government went ahead and demolished the Barracks. What a different landscape Perth’s Central Business District would have been had it been preserved. The only compensation was that the Barracks Arch was saved from the same fate.
