Aspendale, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Aspendale is a suburb in Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
, 27 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district
. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston
. At the 2006 Census, Aspendale had a population of 6404.
and Braeside
to the north, Edithvale
to the south, and Aspendale Gardens
to the East.
Aspendale is bisected by the Nepean Highway
and the Frankston line. These provide the main connections to inner Melbourne. On the beach side of the highway, there is more medium density development, and land prices are much higher. Some larger blocks with older houses remain in this area, although many of these larger blocks have been subdivided into flats and units in the past two decades. On the other side of the Nepean Highway, housing is typically low-density, and land values are lower. The Eastern boundary of Aspendale is the Mordialloc main drain. This area is more picturesque than it sounds, with eucalypts and a gravel running/cycling track that extends from the pathway down from St Louis De Montforts.
, Aspendale has an Australian Rules football team (Edithvale-Aspendale) competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League
(the original team of Gerard Healy
),
Aspendale is home to two primary schools - St Louis de Montfort Catholic Primary School and Aspendale Primary School; two kindergartens - Aspendale North Kindergarten and Nola Barber Kindergarten; and one secondary school - Mordialloc Secondary College
. There was previously also Aspendale Technical School, but this was closed in the 1990s and the land was sold by the State Government to be subdivided as housing.
Aspendale has two churches - St Louis de Montfort Catholic
Church and Aspendale Presbyterian
Church.
Aspendale has its own train station, which forms part of the Frankston line. There are two small commercial areas in Aspendale, located in Station Street and Laura Street. These take the form of single-sided strip shopping centres.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
facility at Aspendale houses about 150 staff from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
, together with scientific facilities such as a wind tunnel
for calibrating anemometer
s, and laboratories for studying air pollution
and climate change
.
for many thousands of years before European settlement. Europeans began farming the area in the 19th century and displaced local inhabitants. When European appropriation began, the land was occupied by the Bunurong
people. The geography of the area at the start of European settlement consisted of large sand dune complexes on the coast, and wetland areas inland. The area is flat and low-lying, reaching above sea level by only a few metres.
The geography and ecology of the area has undergone radical changes as a result of European settlement. Much of the wetland area was drained during the second half of the 19th century, with the largest remnants now protected in the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands
Ramsar site
, part of which lies in Aspendale. Likewise, only modest remnants of the sand dunes exist today near the beach. The beach is a depositary, sandy beach, and the waters remain shallow a long way out. Although no wetland areas remain in Aspendale itself, significant wetland areas have been preserved in the adjacent suburbs of Edithvale and Aspendale Gardens and these areas provide a good indication of what Aspendale once would have looked like. Migratory bird species from all over the world visit these areas.
Aspendale was home to Aspendale Park racecourse
, a horse racing and motor racing track. The suburb's name comes from Aspen, a successful racehorse. Aspendale train station was built primarily to cater towards the racing crowd in the early part of the 20th century. The racecourse closed in the 1920s, and nothing remains of it.
Although there are a few older houses nearer the beach, it was in the 1960s and 1970s that Aspendale was extensively subdivided for residential purposes. Today, it is almost entirely residential in character. Houses are typically detached and made of brick. Blocks of land from this era are usually a quarter of an acre in size. Many of the street names are Aboriginal words, e.g. 'Yallambee,' 'Iluka,' 'Tarlee,' 'Nirringa' and 'Cooinda.' Other streets are names after racehorses, e.g. 'Marabou,' 'Lincoln' and 'Gothic.'
Aspendale Post Office opened on 16 December 1908. Aspendale railway station opened in April 1891 as Aspendale Park Race-Course, and was renamed Aspendale in 1905.
During the late 1950s the Catholic population of Aspendale sought to celebrate Mass locally, initially at Martin’s Dance Hall opposite Aspendale Station. When the hall was sold, Mass was celebrated in the old Scout Hall at Regents Park. In 1961 the current Catholic school and church site was purchased, with the school opening in 1965.
The ornithologist Archibald James Campbell
took a number of nature photographs in Aspendale between 1896 and 1903. In the 1960s, the art dealer and restaurateur Georges Mora
had a beachside house in Aspendale which was regularly visited by artists such as Albert Tucker
and Sidney Nolan
. This role of Aspendale as an artists' haven was recognised in an exhibition at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in early 2008.
Prior to forming part of the City of Kingston
, Aspendale was part of the City of Chelsea
and, before that, the Shire of Carrum.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 27 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...
. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston
City of Kingston
The City of Kingston is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port Phillip...
. At the 2006 Census, Aspendale had a population of 6404.
Description
Aspendale is bordered by Port Phillip Bay to the west, MordiallocMordialloc, Victoria
Mordialloc is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston...
and Braeside
Braeside, Victoria
Braeside is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston...
to the north, Edithvale
Edithvale, Victoria
Edithvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Edithvale had a population of 4991.-Public transport:...
to the south, and Aspendale Gardens
Aspendale Gardens, Victoria
Aspendale Gardens is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. It's Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Aspendale Gardens had a population of 7,319....
to the East.
Aspendale is bisected by the Nepean Highway
Nepean Highway
Nepean Highway runs south from the centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.- History :...
and the Frankston line. These provide the main connections to inner Melbourne. On the beach side of the highway, there is more medium density development, and land prices are much higher. Some larger blocks with older houses remain in this area, although many of these larger blocks have been subdivided into flats and units in the past two decades. On the other side of the Nepean Highway, housing is typically low-density, and land values are lower. The Eastern boundary of Aspendale is the Mordialloc main drain. This area is more picturesque than it sounds, with eucalypts and a gravel running/cycling track that extends from the pathway down from St Louis De Montforts.
Facilities
Recreational facilities in Aspendale include the Rossdale Golf Course and Aspendale Life Saving Club. Other sports clubs include the Aspendale Cricket Club and the St Brigid-St Louis Cricket Club. In conjunction with neighbouring suburb EdithvaleEdithvale, Victoria
Edithvale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Edithvale had a population of 4991.-Public transport:...
, Aspendale has an Australian Rules football team (Edithvale-Aspendale) competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League
Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League
The Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League is an Australian rules football competition, governed by the Victorian Country Football League. The MPNFL contains teams near the south eastern region of Victoria, Australia...
(the original team of Gerard Healy
Gerard Healy
Gerard Healy is a former Australian rules footballer and commentator.Healy attended St Bede's College in Mentone, where he was the Senior Football Captain.-Melbourne Demons:...
),
Aspendale is home to two primary schools - St Louis de Montfort Catholic Primary School and Aspendale Primary School; two kindergartens - Aspendale North Kindergarten and Nola Barber Kindergarten; and one secondary school - Mordialloc Secondary College
Mordialloc Secondary College
Mordialloc Secondary College or Mordialloc College is a state co-educational secondary school located in the suburbs of Melbourne at Aspendale, City of Kingston, on the south bank of the Mordialloc Creek....
. There was previously also Aspendale Technical School, but this was closed in the 1990s and the land was sold by the State Government to be subdivided as housing.
Aspendale has two churches - St Louis de Montfort Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Church and Aspendale Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church of Australia
The Presbyterian Church of Australia is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. .-Beginnings:...
Church.
Aspendale has its own train station, which forms part of the Frankston line. There are two small commercial areas in Aspendale, located in Station Street and Laura Street. These take the form of single-sided strip shopping centres.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...
facility at Aspendale houses about 150 staff from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research is one of the currently c.20 Research Divisions of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia's largest government-supported research agency.-About CMAR:...
, together with scientific facilities such as a wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
for calibrating anemometer
Anemometer
An anemometer is a device for measuring wind speed, and is a common weather station instrument. The term is derived from the Greek word anemos, meaning wind, and is used to describe any airspeed measurement instrument used in meteorology or aerodynamics...
s, and laboratories for studying air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
and climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
History
Aspendale was occupied by Australian AboriginalsIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
for many thousands of years before European settlement. Europeans began farming the area in the 19th century and displaced local inhabitants. When European appropriation began, the land was occupied by the Bunurong
Bunurong
The Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...
people. The geography of the area at the start of European settlement consisted of large sand dune complexes on the coast, and wetland areas inland. The area is flat and low-lying, reaching above sea level by only a few metres.
The geography and ecology of the area has undergone radical changes as a result of European settlement. Much of the wetland area was drained during the second half of the 19th century, with the largest remnants now protected in the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands
Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands
The Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands are a group of two principally freshwater swamps, totalling , lying in the suburbs of Aspendale, Edithvale, and Seaford in south-eastern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Together they form the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands Ramsar Site...
Ramsar site
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
, part of which lies in Aspendale. Likewise, only modest remnants of the sand dunes exist today near the beach. The beach is a depositary, sandy beach, and the waters remain shallow a long way out. Although no wetland areas remain in Aspendale itself, significant wetland areas have been preserved in the adjacent suburbs of Edithvale and Aspendale Gardens and these areas provide a good indication of what Aspendale once would have looked like. Migratory bird species from all over the world visit these areas.
Aspendale was home to Aspendale Park racecourse
Aspendale Racecourse
Aspendale Racecourse or Aspendale Park Racecourse was a horse racing and motor racing track located at Aspendale, Victoria, Australia.Aspendale Racecourse opened on 14 April 1891...
, a horse racing and motor racing track. The suburb's name comes from Aspen, a successful racehorse. Aspendale train station was built primarily to cater towards the racing crowd in the early part of the 20th century. The racecourse closed in the 1920s, and nothing remains of it.
Although there are a few older houses nearer the beach, it was in the 1960s and 1970s that Aspendale was extensively subdivided for residential purposes. Today, it is almost entirely residential in character. Houses are typically detached and made of brick. Blocks of land from this era are usually a quarter of an acre in size. Many of the street names are Aboriginal words, e.g. 'Yallambee,' 'Iluka,' 'Tarlee,' 'Nirringa' and 'Cooinda.' Other streets are names after racehorses, e.g. 'Marabou,' 'Lincoln' and 'Gothic.'
Aspendale Post Office opened on 16 December 1908. Aspendale railway station opened in April 1891 as Aspendale Park Race-Course, and was renamed Aspendale in 1905.
During the late 1950s the Catholic population of Aspendale sought to celebrate Mass locally, initially at Martin’s Dance Hall opposite Aspendale Station. When the hall was sold, Mass was celebrated in the old Scout Hall at Regents Park. In 1961 the current Catholic school and church site was purchased, with the school opening in 1965.
The ornithologist Archibald James Campbell
Archibald James Campbell
Archibald James Campbell was an Australian civil servant in the Victorian, later the Australian federal, customs service, as well as an amateur ornithologist. He was one of the principal founders of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1901 and served as its President in 1909 and 1928...
took a number of nature photographs in Aspendale between 1896 and 1903. In the 1960s, the art dealer and restaurateur Georges Mora
Georges Mora
Georges Mora was a German-born Australian entrepreneur, art dealer, patron, connoisseur and restaurateur.- Early life :Mora was born Gunter Morawski in 1913 in Leipzig, Germany of Jewish/Polish heritage. As a young medical student Mora became a member of a communist cell and fled Germany to Paris...
had a beachside house in Aspendale which was regularly visited by artists such as Albert Tucker
Albert Tucker (artist)
Albert Lee Tucker , a pivotal Australian artist, was a member of the Heide Circle, a group of leading modernist artists and writers that centred on the art patrons John and Sunday Reed, whose home, "Heide", located in Bulleen, near Heidelberg , was a haven for the group...
and Sidney Nolan
Sidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
. This role of Aspendale as an artists' haven was recognised in an exhibition at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in early 2008.
Prior to forming part of the City of Kingston
City of Kingston
The City of Kingston is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port Phillip...
, Aspendale was part of the City of Chelsea
City of Chelsea
The City of Chelsea was a Local Government Area located about south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the eastern side of Port Phillip. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1920 until 1994.-History:...
and, before that, the Shire of Carrum.