Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne
Encyclopedia
East Melbourne, Victoria
East Melbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, adjacent to Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, East Melbourne had a population of 4,330....
, 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...
. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and Wellington Parade with the Treasury Gardens
Treasury Gardens, Melbourne
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...
across Lansdowne street to the west.
The gardens are one of the major Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
landscaped gardens in Australia and add to Melbourne
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...
's claim to being the garden city of Australia. Set within the gardens are:
- an ornamental lake
- kiosk and cafe
- Conservatory
- Cooks' Cottage - a house where James CookJames CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
reputedly spent some years of his childhood (the cottage was in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
at that time). - Sinclair’s Cottage (Visitor information)
- Model Tudor village
- Fountains and sculptures
- Band Pavilion
- the Rotunda
- the fairy tree
Horticulture
The gardens were initially designed by Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson was a notable English naturalist, explorer and surveyor of Australia. He was Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874.- Exploration in New South Wales :...
and planted by park gardener, James Sinclair, as a dense woodland with meandering avenues. The land originally had been swampy with a creek draining into the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
. The creek was landscaped with ferns and 130 willows, but that did not stop it smelling foul from the sewage from the houses of East Melbourne. The creek was used for irrigation of the western side of the gardens for fifty years. In the early 1900s the creek water substantially improved when sewerage mains were installed to the residences of East Melbourne.
In the early years quick growing blue gums and wattles were planted to provide wind breaks. Elm Trees were planted to create avenues along pathways, which created a pattern in resemblance to the Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
.
Clement Hodgkinson described the landscaping design:
- ...the chief desiderata were shade along the numerous paths therein forming important lines of traffic, and such dense and continuous masses of foliage as would tend to check the inroad of dust from the adjacent streets.
- Consequently, in such reserves, strict adherence to the rules of landscape gardening, with regard to the grouping of trees, etc., had to be abandoned in favour of the formal lining of the paths with rows of umbrageous trees, and the planting in the background of dense masses of conifers, evergreen shrubs, fern trees, etc., small flowering shrubs and bedding flowers being merely introduced to mask the unsightly aspect of the grass in such reserves during summer
During the 1880s and 1890s many of the blue gums and elms were removed to create more room for existing trees, as well as sweeping lawns and ornamental flowerbeds.
Heritage Listing
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
states in part:
- The Fitzroy Gardens are of historical, aesthetic, architectural, scientific (horticultural) and social significance to the State of VictoriaVictoria (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....
.
- Why is it significant? The Fitzroy Gardens are of historical significance as one of a ring of public reserves around Melbourne established in the nineteenth century to provide respite and relaxation for the city's residents. The Fitzroy Gardens have been viewed as the flagship of this group of city gardens, which includes the FlagstaffFlagstaff Gardens, MelbourneFlagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first established in 1862. In 2005 it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by nearby office workers and tourists...
, TreasuryTreasury Gardens, MelbourneThe 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...
, CarltonCarlton Gardens, MelbourneThe Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
and AlexandraAlexandra Gardens, MelbourneThe Alexandra Gardens are located on the south bank of the Yarra River, opposite Federation Square and the Melbourne Central Business District, in Victoria, Australia. The Gardens are bounded by the Yarra River to the north, Princes and Swan street bridges, with Queen Victoria Gardens and Kings...
Gardens and the Kings Domain. In a statewide context, while not as intact as the Royal Botanic GardensRoyal Botanic Gardens, MelbourneThe Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...
or the Ballarat Botanical GardensBallarat Botanical GardensThe Ballarat Botanical Gardens Reserve, located on the western shore of picturesque Lake Wendouree, in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, covers an area of 40 hectares which is divided into 3 distinct zones. The central Botanical Gardens reserve in the 'gardenesque' style of the Victorian pleasure...
, the Fitzroy Gardens are an important remnant of the city's nineteenth century garden heritage. They are also a reminder of the city's relatively large investment in public gardens, a reflection of 19th century beliefs about the moral and health benefits of green spaces in often dirty, smelly and overcrowded cities.
- The Fitzroy Gardens are of social significance because, from their establishment in the early 1860s, the Gardens have been a place of relaxation, passive recreation and entertainment; the Gardens have been the people's park in the city.
Scarred tree
A scarred treeScarred trees
Scarred trees are trees which have had bark removed by indigenous Australians for the creation of canoes, shelters, shields and containers, such as coolamons. They are among the easiest to find archaeological sites in Australia....
in the gardens has been preserved. The plaque at the bottom of the tree reads:
- The scar on this tree was created when Aboriginal people removed bark to make canoes, shields, food and water containers, string, baby carriers and other items.
- Please respect this site. It is important to the WurundjeriWurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
people as traditional custodians of the land and is part of the heritage of all Australians.
- All Aboriginal cultural sites are protected by law.
History
- 1848 the Fitzroy Gardens were permanently reserved as public gardens, with title shared by the State Government and City of Melbourne. The gardens were known as Fitzroy Square until 1862, named after Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoyCharles Augustus FitzRoySir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, KCH, KCB was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century.-Family and peerage:...
, a governor of New South Wales. - 1857 James Sinclair appointed head gardener, and worked in the gardens until his death in 1881.
- 1860 responsibility for Fitzroy Gardens taken over by the Lands Department. Clement Hodgkinson, the head of the Lands Department, takes a detailed interest in the planning and development of the city parks, including Fitroy Gardens.
- 1862 Path network established and band pavilion built
- 1864 Sinclair's Cottage and Small Tudor style gate keepers lodge built
- 1873 Neo-classical rotunda "Temple of Winds" built
- 1880 Removal of many Blue Gums
- 1890 Every alternate Elm tree on Avenues removed
- 1901 Nursery and stable yard transferred from centre of gardens to present site
- 1908 timber style Kiosk opened
- 1915 External picket fence replaced by stone edging
- 1917 Control of gardens passed onto City of Melbourne
- 1927 Plant Managers house built
- 1930 Conservatory for displaying glass-house plants opened
- 1934 Cook's Cottage erected after being bought, shipped to Australia, and donated by the Grimwade family. Artist Ola CohnOla CohnOla Cohn, born Carola Cohn in Bendigo was an Australian artist, author and philanphropist best known for her work in sculpture in a modernist style and famous for her Fairies Tree in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne....
completes carving the Fairies Tree and donates it to the children of Melbourne. - 1960 Kiosk damaged by fire
- 1960s Central section of creek piped underground
- 1964 New kiosk opened
- 1970s Eighteenth Century Cottage garden added to Cook's Cottage