Wailing Wall (Melbourne)

Last updated

The Wailing Wall is a section of brick retaining wall on the Flinders Street Extension, Melbourne, which is famous as the place where Wharf labourers who missed out on the daily work call would congregate.

Contents

Description

The wall is approximately 220 m long, rising to 5.5 m high at its centre with bluestone coping. [1] It has been breached for a stairway and has an enclosed glass walkway bridge across it connecting to the Melbourne World Trade Centre. The bridge was constructed as part of Melbourne's Temporary Casino. The western end has been truncated for Wurundjeri Way. [2]

Construction

Flinders Street Extension was constructed in 1890, as part of improvements to railway, road and wharf facilities west of Melbourne's CBD. The wall comprises a polychrome brick facing in red, brown and yellow Hawthorn bricks gently rising from the Flinders Street Viaduct near Spencer Street to the high point at the south end of the former Batman's Hill to then falling again to the west, where the entrance to the Spencer Street Railway Yards and No 2 Goods Shed, was once located. [3] Most of Batmans Hill was removed in 1863-65 for development of Spencer Street railway station, with the remaining arts removed in March 1892. [4]

Wharf labour pickup

From about 1900 to the 1940s, work on the wharves was obtained through the bull system of labour hire, where workers assembled twice a day at the stevedores offices on the south side of Flinders Street. The system forced wharf labourers to compete against each other for work, be chosen for work 'on the basis of brute strength, and, sometimes, compliance. [5] Those who missed out on the call were forbidden from loitering and sometimes moved on by the police. As a result, the habit of congregating on the opposite side of the road against the wall developed. [6] A similar system operated in Sydney along The Hungry Mile. [7] In 1917, waterside workers went on strike over the issue of the pick-up and demanded the establishment of a single central pick-up point at the Flinders Street extension and that their remuneration should include the time taken to travel to and from their assigned ships. The impending arrival of strikebreakers from Sydney resulted in the calling off of the strike and abandonment of the dispute about a central pick-up. [8]

The notorious 'Flinders Street Extension murder' in 1947 was indicative of the violence of the docks in the mid 20th century. An unknown assailant shot dead Yeung Shing, the bosun of the ship SS Fort Abitibi, and seriously wounded Albert Sydney Pack. [9]

Following the formation of the Melbourne Harbour Trust in 1876, Sir John Coode was engaged to develop a scheme to improve Melbourne's Port. Along with the creation of the Coode Canal and Victoria Dock, the plan emphasised the need for a main road linking the river wharves. The Flinders Street Extension was constructed to meet that need, and the wall was built where the road cut through what was left of Batman's Hill, a site closely associated with Melbourne's foundation. [10]

Surrounding features

A plaque on the wall commemorates the location of John and Eliza Batman's House, built in 1835. The Plaque was unveiled by the Premier Rupert Hamer in 1977. Opposite is the Mission to Seamen building and the first Melbourne World Trade Centre.

The Flinders Street tram line was extended along the Extension to link up with the docklands lines in 2000. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Southern Cross railway station

Southern Cross railway station is a major railway station in Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins and La Trobe Streets, at the western edge of the central business district. The Docklands Stadium sports arena is 500 metres north-west of the station.

Docklands, Victoria Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Docklands is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) west of the city's Central Business District (CBD). Its local government area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2016 Census, Docklands had a population of 10,964. Primarily a waterfront area centred on the banks of the Yarra River, it is bounded by Wurundjeri Way and the Charles Grimes Bridge to the east, CityLink to the west and Lorimer Street across the Yarra to the south.

Hawthorn railway station, Melbourne

Hawthorn railway station is located on the Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn, opening on 13 April 1861.

Auburn railway station, Melbourne

Auburn railway station is located on the Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines in Victoria, Australia, serving the eastern Melbourne neighbourhood of Auburn, which is located within the suburb of Hawthorn. The station opened as Auburn Road on 3 April 1882, and was renamed Auburn on 1 September 1882.

Flinders Street, Melbourne

Flinders Street is a notable street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid. It is exactly 1 mi (1.609 km) in length and one and a half chains in width. It is named for the explorer Matthew Flinders, erroneously credited with discovering Port Phillip at the time of its naming. It extends eastwards as far as Spring Street and the Treasury Gardens and westwards past Batman's Hill to the Melbourne Docklands. As the closest street to the river, Flinders Street serviced Melbourne's original river port. Customs House, now the site for Victoria's Immigration Museum, is on Flinders Street.

Melbourne tram route 70

Melbourne tram route 70 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network. It operates from Waterfront City Docklands to Wattle Park. The 16.5 kilometre route is operated by A and B class trams from Camberwell depot.

Spencer Street, Melbourne

Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the westernmost boundary of the Hoddle Grid.

Station Pier

Station Pier is a historic Australian pier on Port Phillip, in Port Melbourne, Victoria. Opened in 1854, the pier is Melbourne's primary passenger terminal, servicing interstate ferries and cruise ships, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

West Melbourne, Victoria Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

West Melbourne is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 3 km north-west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2016 census, West Melbourne had a population of 5,515.

Batmans Hill

Batman's Hill in Melbourne, Australia was named for the Vandemonian adventurer and grazier John Batman. Now removed, the 18-metre-high hill was located to the south of today's Collins Street and Southern Cross railway station, and is the site of a steel marker the same height as the original hill.

Sandridge Bridge

The Sandridge Bridge is a historic former railway bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The 178.4-metre-long (585 ft) bridge which runs diagonally to the river's banks was redeveloped in 2006 as a new pedestrian and cycle path featuring public art. It is the third bridge on the site and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

La Trobe Street, Melbourne

La Trobe Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and forms the northern boundary of Melbourne's central business district. The street was laid out as an extension of the original Hoddle Grid in 1839 and was named after Charles La Trobe. La Trobe Street extends from Victoria Street in the east to Harbour Esplanade in the west.

Melbourne tram route 48

Melbourne tram route 48 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network. It operates from Balwyn North to Victoria Harbour Docklands. The 13.5 kilometre route is operated by A and C class trams from Kew depot.

Melbourne city centre Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne city centre is the central built up area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city laid out in 1837, and includes its fringes. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne which includes this area and the inner suburbs around it.

Flinders Street Viaduct

The Flinders Street Viaduct is a railway bridge in Melbourne, Australia. Made up of six tracks of varying ages, it links Flinders Street station to Southern Cross station and forms the main link between the eastern and western parts of the Victorian rail network.

Jolimont Yard

Jolimont Yard was an array of railway lines and carriage sidings on the edge of the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. Located between Flinders Street station, Richmond Junction, the Yarra River and Flinders Street they were often criticised for cutting off the city from the river, being the site of many redevelopment proposals. The Princes Gate Towers were built over part of the yard in the 1960s, which themselves were replaced by Federation Square in the 1990s. The rail sidings themselves were progressively removed from the 1980s to the 1990s with only running lines today, but the area continues to be referred to as the 'Jolimont railyards' by Melburnians.

Batman Park

Batman Park is an urban park, located on the northern bank of the Yarra River in central Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Victoria Dock (Melbourne) harbour basin in Melbourne, Australia

Victoria Dock is a large excavated harbour basin located off Footscray Road and Docklands Highway, Docklands, in Melbourne. It was constructed between 1887 and 1892, under the supervision of Melbourne Harbour Trust engineer Joseph Brady, to modified designs of British engineer Sir John Coode.

No 2 Goods Shed

No. 2 Goods Shed is a large railway freight shed in the former Spencer Street rail yards off Flinders Street Extension, Melbourne, Australia. It was constructed in 1889, originally called 'A Goods Shed', and at the time was the longest single building in Australia. Its address is at 733 Bourke Street, Docklands.

The Melbourne tram network began in 1884 with the construction of the Fairfield Horse Tramway. However, the purpose of the line was to increase land prices in the area, and it soon closed during the depression in 1890. The first genuine attempt to construct a tramway network was the construction of the Richmond cable tram line by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company in 1885. Over the next few years, 16 more cable tram lines were constructed, as well as numerous other horse tramways. The depression of the early 1890s slowed further expansion of the cable network. The first electric tram line was the Box Hill and Doncaster tramway which opened in 1889. This was a pioneering line in what was then the countryside and thus didn't receive much patronage. It closed in 1896. The next attempt at an electric tramway was Victorian Railways' St Kilda to Brighton line, which opened in 1906. Later that year, the North Melbourne Electric Tramway and Lighting Company opened lines to Essendon and Maribyrnong. Many local councils formed their own tramway trusts and built tramways within their own constituency. The most successful of these was the Prahran and Malvern Tramway Trust.

References

  1. ↑ OnMyDoorStep 'Retaining Wall' Heritage 588-754 Flinders Street Extension Melbourne
  2. ↑ RETAINING WALL, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0932
  3. ↑ Docklands Heritage Study: A Report to the Docklands Task Force, Andrew Ward, Peter Milner, Gary Vines and Ron Greenaway Docklands Task Force. Historic Buildings Council (Vic.) Jan 1, 1991
  4. ↑ 'Batmans Hill' eMelbourne encyclopaedia Published by School of Historical Studies Department of History, The University of Melbourne July 2008 Updated: 25 February 2010
  5. ↑ A History of Struggle on the Wharves, Sydney Trades Hall
  6. ↑ BATMAN'S HOUSE Victorian Heritage Inventory (HI) Number D7822-1958
  7. ↑ Image of pickup semicircle at Walsh Bay Sydney
  8. ↑ Robert Bollard, Victorian workers in the 1917 Mass Strike Australian National University
  9. ↑ "Flinders Street Extension Murder MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE TO POLICE". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 31 January 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  10. ↑ RETAINING WALL, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H0932
  11. ↑ 'Road Infrastructure at Docklands Now Complete' Melbourne Docklands Authority Friday, 15 September 2000

Further reading

Coordinates: 37°49′17″S144°57′13″E / 37.821341°S 144.953592°E / -37.821341; 144.953592

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.