Convict Settlement Tour Norfolk Island

Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area

The Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area (KAVHA), is of outstanding significance to the nation as a convict settlement spanning the era of transportation to eastern Australia between 1788 -1855. It is also significant as the only site in Australia to display evidence of early Polynesian settlement, and the place where the Pitcairn Island descendants of the Bounty mutineers were re-settled in 1856. In 2010 the Australian Federal Environment Protection and Heritage Minister, Peter Garrett, and Norfolk Island Chief Minister, David Buffett, welcomed an announcement by the World Heritage Committee that Norfolk Island's Kingston and Arthur's Vale Historic Area has been included on the WORLD HERITAGE LIST as part of the Australian Convict Sites inscription.

Norfolk Island Cemetery

Norfolk Island has one cemetery, located at Kingston, on the shores of the aptly named Cemetery Bay. Burials have taken place here from the period of the first settlement to the present day.

The Crankmill

A witness to the horrific past of the now idyllic Norfolk Island, The Crankmill served as a facility for convicts from 1837 to 1855. Originally built as a store in 1827, the building changed its purpose several times before it was consumed by fire in the late 19th century. Today, you can see only the moss-covered walls and remnants of the old whaling boat, which survived from the period when the building was used as a boat shed. The remains of the crank mill mechanism are kept in the Norfolk Island Museum.

The Pier Store was originally known as The Beach Store and was built in 1825 as a Commissariat (a Government or Military store). Located at the end of Kingston Pier, it was the most efficient and suitable place to unload goods to. After a tsunami hit the building in 1834 it was converted to a mill where corn was ground by use of hand-mills. In 1841 the upper storey became a guard-room and the lower continued to be used as a store. After the arrival of the Pitcairners in 1856 the lower floor became a customs shed and the upper storey was also used as a coffin room. A complete renovation of the building began in 1977 and it was then used as a store for lighterage gear, old crankmill machinery and pallets of beer. In 1988 the building became available for use by the Norfolk Island Museum.