Flagstaff Gardens

Last updated

Facing north east in the Flagstaff Gardens Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne.jpg
Facing north east in the Flagstaff Gardens

Flagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first established in 1862. Today it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by residents, nearby office workers and tourists. The gardens are notable for their archaeological, horticultural, historical and social significance to the history of Melbourne.

Contents

The gardens are 7.2 hectares (18 acres) of Crown Land bounded by William, La Trobe, King and Dudley streets, managed by the City of Melbourne. On the southeast corner opposite is the entrance to Flagstaff railway station. Diagonally opposite stands the Victorian branch of the Royal Mint, established 7 August 1869. The former Royal Mint building is a well-preserved example of Victorian Gold Rush boom-period classical styled architecture. The facade features paired columns with scrolled capitals and the Royal Mint coat-of-arms.

On the northeast corner over William Street, is the Queen Victoria Market.

The park contains extensive lawns with a variety of mature trees, flowerbeds and wild animals including possums. The southern end is characterised by deciduous trees, while the northern end contains mature eucalypts. Avenues of elms shade pathways along with several large Moreton Bay Fig trees. The north corner contains a bowling lawn, rose beds, flower and shrub beds. Along William Street there are tennis courts, which also double as volleyball, handball and netball courts. Electric barbecues nearby provides a popular site for office parties in December. Scattered about the lawns and gardens are memorials and sculptures that illuminate some of the social significance of the area.

Flagstaff Gardens have been classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and is listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the Victorian Heritage Register. [1] At the listing ceremony by the Victorian Heritage Council in April 2004, Council Chair Chris Gallagher said "This listing ensures the much loved trees, landscaping and other individual features are conserved and protected. But it also means the whole site is recognised as an important place for gaining an insight into our historical, archaeological, aesthetic, horticultural and social heritage."

History

Aerial panorama of Melbourne city taken from Flagstaff Gardens.jpg
Aerial panorama of Melbourne city taken from Flagstaff Gardens.

Prior to colonisation, the high ground between William and King Streets was known as Brejerrenywun to the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung. [2] With the establishment of Melbourne in 1835, the first deaths in the colony were there buried, in what became colloquially known as Burial Hill. [3] The hill had panoramic views of the small colony, the Yarra River and Port Phillip.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg von Neumayer</span> German polar explorer and scientist (1826–1909)

Georg Balthazar von Neumayer, was a German polar explorer and scientist who was a proponent of the idea of international cooperation for meteorology and scientific observation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitzroy, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km (1.9 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population of 10,431 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitzroy North, Victoria</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km (2.5 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cites of Merri-bek and Yarra local government areas. Fitzroy North recorded a population of 12,781 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria</span> Botanic gardens at Melbourne and Cranbourne

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria are botanic gardens across two sites–Melbourne and Cranbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Melbourne</span> Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton Gardens</span> Garden in Melbourne, Australia

The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Australia. A popular picnic and barbecue area, the heritage-listed Carlton Gardens are home to an array of wildlife, including brushtail possums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treasury Gardens</span>

The Treasury Gardens consist of 5.8 hectares on the south-eastern side of the Melbourne central business district, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Wellington Parade, Spring Street, Treasury Place, and by the Fitzroy Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west. They form part of a network of city gardens including Fitzroy Gardens, Carlton Gardens, Flagstaff Gardens and Kings Domain. The gardens are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for their historical, archaeological, social, "aesthetic and scientific (horticultural) importance for its outstanding nineteenth century design, path layout and planting".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Trobe Street</span> Street in Melbourne, Victoria

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fitzroy Gardens</span>

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and Wellington Parade with the Treasury Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government House, Melbourne</span> Official residence of the Governor of Victoria

Government House is the official residence of the governor of Victoria, currently Linda Dessau. It is located in Kings Domain, Melbourne, next to the Royal Botanic Gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kings Domain</span>

Kings Domain is an area of parklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It surrounds Government House Reserve, the home of the governors of Victoria, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, and the Shrine Reserve incorporating the Shrine of Remembrance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Guilfoyle</span> English landscape gardener and botanist

William Robert Guilfoyle was an English landscape gardener and botanist in Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and was responsible for the design of many parks and gardens in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks and gardens of Melbourne</span> Parks and gardens in Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Melbourne is Australia's second largest city and widely considered to be a garden city, with Victoria being nicknamed "the Garden State". Renowned as one of the most livable cities in the world, there is an abundance of parks, gardens and green belts close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree-lined avenues, all managed by Parks Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James Old Cathedral</span> Church in Melbourne, Australia

St James Old Cathedral, an Anglican church, is the oldest church in Melbourne, Australia, albeit not on its original site. It is one of the relatively few buildings in the central city which predate the Victorian gold rush of 1851. The building was demolished and relocated in 1914 to a corner site of King Street and Batman Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Gardens</span>

Edinburgh Gardens is a large park located in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy. It is bounded by Brunswick Street and St Georges Road to the west, the curve of Alfred Crescent to the north and east, and Freeman Street to the south. It was created from a grant of land in March 1862 by Queen Victoria and laid out by Clement Hodgkinson, who designed many of Melbourne's parks and gardens. At approximately 24 hectares in size, the park is large by inner urban standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Street, Melbourne</span> Street in Melbourne, Victoria

William Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north–south from Flinders Street to Victoria Street, and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street is located in-between King Street and Queen Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Fitzroy</span> Local government area in Victoria, Australia

The City of Fitzroy was a local government area about 2 kilometres (1 mi) northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of 3.73 square kilometres (1.44 sq mi), making it the smallest municipality by land area in Victoria, and existed from 1858, until 1994.

The Melbourne City campus of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology is located in the city centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is sometimes referred to as "RMIT City" and the "RMIT Quarter" of the city in the media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Separation Tree</span>

The Separation tree was a heritage listed Eucalyptus camaldulensis tree, commonly known as a red river gum, located in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne in Victoria.

The Fitzroy Gasworks was a coal gasification plant in Fitzroy, Victoria. It is notable as the site for the first arc-welded gasholder in the world.

References

  1. "Flagstaff Gardens, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H2041, Heritage Overlay HO793". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  2. Clark, Ian D. (2002). Dictionary of Aboriginal placenames of Melbourne and Central Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corp. for Languages. p. 62. ISBN   0957936052.
  3. "BURIAL HILL TO FLAGSTAFF GARDENS". The Argus . Melbourne. 10 November 1934. p. 8. Retrieved 23 June 2013 via National Library of Australia.

Coordinates: 37°48′38″S144°57′16″E / 37.8105°S 144.9544°E / -37.8105; 144.9544