St Kilda Beach, Victoria
Encyclopedia
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
, Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, Victoria, 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...
, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south from the Melbourne city centre
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...
. It is Melbourne's most famous beach. The beach is a sandy beach about 700 metres (2,296.6 ft) long between St Kilda Marina and St Kilda Harbour along St Kilda Esplanade and Jacka Boulavard. It is located at the north-east corner of Port Phillip and is protected from ocean swell, though still affected by strong westerly winds. With Port Phillip Bay being open to the sea, St Kilda Beach is subject to regular tides.
The St Kilda Sea Baths
St Kilda Sea Baths
The St Kilda Sea Baths are sea baths on St Kilda Beach in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The first sea baths were opened in 1860 and rebuilt in 1910 to replace the 1862 "Gymnasium Baths" and have been rebuilt several times since. They closed in 1993, leaving only the front facade.-History:Until the...
are located at the beach.
The St Kilda Pier is another landmark. The pier is terminated by the St Kilda Pavilion
St Kilda Pavilion
The St Kilda Pavilion is a historic kiosk located at the end of St Kilda Pier, in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The kiosk was designed by James Charles Morell and built in 1904 by John W. Douglas. The kiosk was proposed and operated by Francis Parer. Until the 1930s the structure was widely...
, an eccentric Edwardian building in the mould of English pier pavilions which is considered of high cultural importance to Melburnians. It was recently reconstructed and listed on the Victorian Heritage Register after burning down. The pier has a long breakwater which shelters St Kilda Harbour and hosts a Fairy Penguin colony.
St Kilda Beach is one of the 46 bayside beaches which are monitored by EPA Victoria for water quality. St Kilda Beach water quality is generally rated as good (the highest rating given by EPA), being below 150 orgs/100 mL, which is set in the State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) 2003. The water quality is considerably lower for about 24 hours after rains, which flush stormwater drains. The reading exceeded the enterococci investigation trigger of 500 orgs/100 mL on 28 December 2009. This was short-lived, with bacterial levels returning below the investigation trigger the next day. The cause of the high reading was attributed to a oneoff, unidentified discharge into a stormwater drain, which is located close to the sampling site at St Kilda Beach.
Recreational activities
Besides swimming, sunbathing takes place on the beach as well as the grass area adjacent to it. People also engage in other watersport activities, such as windsurfingWindsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
, sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, kitesurfing
Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...
, rollerblading, beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
, jetskiing
Personal water craft
A personal water craft , also called water scooter, is a recreational watercraft that the rider rides or stands on, rather than inside of, as in a boat....
and waterskiing. A skate park for the Fitzroy street end of Albert Park is in the planning stages. There is also a walking track along the beach and a bicycle track.
St Kilda Beach is the home of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron is a yacht club located at St Kilda Beach in the suburb of St. Kilda in Melbourne, Australia. The squadron was originally founded in 1876. Its has occupied its grounds on Pier Road in St. Kilda since prior to incorporation....
, which began in the early 1870s as the St Kilda Sailing Club, with the present clubhouse dating to the 1920s and the St Kilda Lifesaving Club, which was established in 1911.
The roads which run alongside St Kilda Beach are popular for many sporting events, such as marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
s and bicycle racing
Bicycle racing
Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...
.
History
Sea bathing
Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval...
was not generally considered acceptable. It was permitted within large timber structures as protection from predatory marine life. The St Kilda Sea Baths were opened in 1860, and provided separate sections for men and women. Women were protected from the sight of men bathing because men frequently bathed naked. Sea bathing was popular as it was considered to have health benefits, as was exposure to the sun. Throughout the nineteenth century, there were as many as six different sea baths operating along the St Kilda shore. The Melbourne to St Kilda railway line
St Kilda railway line, Melbourne
The St Kilda railway line is a former suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia.-Operation:The line was opened by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in 1857...
, which had opened in 1857, as well as the St Kilda to Windsor loop line brought large numbers of people to the privately run St Kilda Sea Baths
St Kilda Sea Baths
The St Kilda Sea Baths are sea baths on St Kilda Beach in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The first sea baths were opened in 1860 and rebuilt in 1910 to replace the 1862 "Gymnasium Baths" and have been rebuilt several times since. They closed in 1993, leaving only the front facade.-History:Until the...
, located at the beach.The Esplanade Hotel was built in 1878.
The building of cable tram lines
Melbourne cable tramway system
The Melbourne cable tramway system was a cable car public transportation system operated from 1885 to 1940 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
to St Kilda station in the 1890s further increased the numbers of people with easier access to the beach. In 1911, the electric tram route to Malvern
Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust
The Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust was a former tram operator in Melbourne, Australia. The trust was formed in 1907, with its first line operating in 1910...
along Carlisle Street was completed, and the route was extended to Kew in 1913.
In 1906, Carlo Catani
Carlo Catani
Carlo Giorgio Domenico Enrico Catani was a civil engineer who worked in Australia for the Victorian Government for the majority of his career.He oversaw many projects, including:*the draining of the Koo-Wee-Rup swamp...
, a native of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, was contracted to prepare a masterplan for the beautification of the St Kilda foreshore to Point Ormond. His plan resulted in the famous leisure precinct along the foreshore. Notable features included the Dreamland
Dreamland (Melbourne amusement park)
Dreamland was an Australian amusement park in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which was opened on 2 November 1906. It was demolished in 1909, except for the Figure Eight rollercoaster which remained open until 1914. - History :...
amusement park, which existed between 1906 and 1909, the St Kilda Sea Baths
St Kilda Sea Baths
The St Kilda Sea Baths are sea baths on St Kilda Beach in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. The first sea baths were opened in 1860 and rebuilt in 1910 to replace the 1862 "Gymnasium Baths" and have been rebuilt several times since. They closed in 1993, leaving only the front facade.-History:Until the...
(1910), which replaced the 1862 "Gymnasium Baths", Luna Park
Luna Park, Melbourne
For other amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for other uses of the phrase, see Luna Park Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia...
(1912), Palais de Danse (1926), the Palais Theatre
Palais Theatre
The Palais Theatre is a former cinema, now functioning exclusively as a concert venue, located in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia. With a capacity of 2,896 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia....
(1927), St Moritz Ice Rink (1939), and many others. Several landmarks along the foreshore have been named after Catani, including the clock tower, gardens and arch.
St Kilda Council’s bye-law prohibited open sea bathing and bathing on Sundays and on Christmas and Easter. The bye-law was first challenged by the Open Sea Bathers’ League whose members entered the water in 1912, without being arrested. Open-sea bathing was legalised in 1917, with separate areas allocated for men and women and mixed bathing
Mixed bathing
Mixed bathing is a term that refers to members of the opposite gender swimming together in the same pool. In ancient Rome, mixed bathing was never the rule in public installations, although it did occur in private facilities. Today, in Japan, the practice is not common...
being prohibited. The prohibition to Sunday bathing was not revoked until 1922. By the time that the tram line was extended to pass St Kilda Beach in 1925, open-sea bathing was becoming more popular, with increasing numbers of people bathing in the open-sea, to the loss of patronage at the sea baths. To cater for the need, St Kilda Council erected three open-sea changing pavilions along its foreshore: at West St Kilda, on Beaconsfield Parade
Beach Road, Melbourne
Beach Road, is a bayside suburban coastal road in Melbourne, Australia. It runs along the south-eastern side of Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, starting at its southern point in Mordialloc and ending at the intersection of New St and the Esplanade in Brighton. Metro-route 33 continues as Esplanade...
; at St Kilda Beach (at 40 Jacka Boulevard, which still survives as a restaurant); and at Elwood (Ormond Esplanade, demolished in 1971). The beach pavilions proved more popular than the sea baths.
Standards of acceptable ‘decency’ and dress at St Kilda beach, as along Victorian beaches in general, were the subject of vigorously local debate. "Mixed bathing" was legalised in 1927. By 1928 men and women were mingling freely in the water of St Kilda Beach. In 1938, "mixed bathing" in the St Kilda Sea Baths was restricted to weekends and only in the ladies’ section. However, during World War II (1939–45) nude sunbathing made an appearance on St Kilda beaches. Also in 1945, 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...
, who was living in St Kilda, painted the beach and the Sea Baths, and in works such as The Bathers and St Kilda painted nude sunbathers.