Yarra Park, Melbourne
Encyclopedia
Yarra Park is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct - the premier sporting precinct of Victoria
, Australia
. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne & Olympic Parks. The park and sporting facilities are located in the inner-suburb of East Melbourne
. In the late 1850s, many of the earliest games of Australian rules football
were played at Yarra Park, which was known at the time as the Richmond Paddock.
Tree-lined paths run parallel to Punt Road and Swan Street, and criss-cross the park. Some of the lawns are used for parking for sporting events. Two footbridges allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the railway lines to the different sporting venues and easy access to the Yarra River Trail.
Around the MCG are sculptures to several Australian sporting heroes including: Australian rules football
ers Ron Barassi
and Dick Reynolds
; cricket
ers Sir Donald Bradman
and Keith Miller
; athletics
"golden girl" Betty Cuthbert
. Nearby is an old eucalyptus scar tree which shows a big scar caused by harvesting of bark for a canoe by the original inhabitants of the Yarra River Valley, the Wurundjeri
people of the Kulin
Nation.
The adjacent Punt Road Oval
, home of the Richmond Football Club
features a statue of Tiger legend Jack Dyer
.
proclaimed 81 hectares of parkland, extending from Punt Road to Swanston Street
, and from Wellington Parade to the Yarra River
. Initially the area was also used as police paddocks for the agistment of police horses.
On 31 July 1858, a football
match was played at the Richmond Paddock.
By the 1860s five recreational ovals were marked out: the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Richmond Cricket Ground, East Melbourne Cricket Club ovals (two), and an oval in Gosch's Paddock, south of Swan Street. In the southern section of the park land was set aside for the Friendly Society
's Gardens (now Olympic Park), and the Scotch College oval. In 1874 Yarra Park Primary School was opened in the north east corner of the park. A housing subdivision was excised from the park in 1881.
Since this time major excisions have been made for Melbourne's eastern and southeastern rail lines, the Hurstbridge railway line, Olympic Park Sporting Complex
, Rod Laver Arena
in Melbourne Park's National Tennis Centre. However, Gosch's Paddock still links Yarra Park to the Yarra River at the Morrell Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.
In 2007 The Government Introduced the 'Melbourne Cricket Ground and Yarra Park Amendment Bill'.
Sports Minister James Merlino
told Parliament ‘The main focus of the bill, is to transfer responsibility for Yarra Park from the City of Melbourne to the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust.’
The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
.
37.8180437°N 144.9852312°W
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...
. Located in Yarra Park is the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG) and numerous sporting fields and ovals, including the associated sporting complexes of Melbourne & Olympic Parks. The park and sporting facilities are located in the inner-suburb of East Melbourne
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....
. In the late 1850s, many of the earliest games of Australian rules football
History of Australian rules football
The history of Australian rules football is claimed to have begun in Melbourne in 1858 with the earliest recorded organised football matches organised by Tom Wills and other early proponents. The earliest recorded experimental match was played at the Richmond Paddock on 31 July...
were played at Yarra Park, which was known at the time as the Richmond Paddock.
Tree-lined paths run parallel to Punt Road and Swan Street, and criss-cross the park. Some of the lawns are used for parking for sporting events. Two footbridges allow pedestrians and cyclists to cross the railway lines to the different sporting venues and easy access to the Yarra River Trail.
Around the MCG are sculptures to several Australian sporting heroes including: Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
ers Ron Barassi
Ron Barassi
Ronald Dale Barassi, Jr AM is a former Australian rules football player and coach. During a long and decorated career, Barassi has been one of the most important figures in the history of Australian football. His father, Ron Barassi, Sr., was the first Australian footballer killed at Tobruk during...
and Dick Reynolds
Dick Reynolds
Richard Sylvannus 'Dick' Reynolds was an Australian rules footballer and coach who represented Essendon and Victoria with great distinction....
; cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
ers Sir Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
and Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
; athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
"golden girl" Betty Cuthbert
Betty Cuthbert
Elizabeth Cuthbert AM, MBE is an Australian athlete, and a fourfold Olympic champion....
. Nearby is an old eucalyptus scar tree which shows a big scar caused by harvesting of bark for a canoe by the original inhabitants of the Yarra River Valley, the Wurundjeri
Wurundjeri
The 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 of the Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
Nation.
The adjacent Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval
Punt Road Oval is a sporting ground located in Yarra Park, East Melbourne, Victoria situated only a few hundred metres to the east of the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground....
, home of the Richmond Football Club
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
features a statue of Tiger legend Jack Dyer
Jack Dyer
John Raymond Dyer Sr. OAM , always known as Jack Dyer, was one of the colossal figures of Australian rules football during two distinct careers, firstly as a player and coach of the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1931 and 1952, and later in the broadcast media for...
.
History
In 1856, Victorian Governor Charles La TrobeCharles La Trobe
Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...
proclaimed 81 hectares of parkland, extending from Punt Road to Swanston Street
Swanston Street, Melbourne
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is historically one of the main streets of central Melbourne, laid out in 1837 as part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district...
, and from Wellington Parade to 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...
. Initially the area was also used as police paddocks for the agistment of police horses.
On 31 July 1858, a football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
match was played at the Richmond Paddock.
By the 1860s five recreational ovals were marked out: the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Richmond Cricket Ground, East Melbourne Cricket Club ovals (two), and an oval in Gosch's Paddock, south of Swan Street. In the southern section of the park land was set aside for the Friendly Society
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
's Gardens (now Olympic Park), and the Scotch College oval. In 1874 Yarra Park Primary School was opened in the north east corner of the park. A housing subdivision was excised from the park in 1881.
Since this time major excisions have been made for Melbourne's eastern and southeastern rail lines, the Hurstbridge railway line, Olympic Park Sporting Complex
Olympic Park, Melbourne
The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct is a series of sports venues and stadia, located in Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The precinct is situated around 3 km east of the Melbourne city centre, between the suburbs of East Melbourne and Richmond, and close to the north-eastern bank of...
, Rod Laver Arena
Rod Laver Arena
Rod Laver Arena is a tennis stadium that is part of the Melbourne Park complex located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and has been the main venue for the Australian Open in tennis since 1988, replacing the ageing Kooyong Stadium...
in Melbourne Park's National Tennis Centre. However, Gosch's Paddock still links Yarra Park to the Yarra River at the Morrell Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.
In 2007 The Government Introduced the 'Melbourne Cricket Ground and Yarra Park Amendment Bill'.
Sports Minister James Merlino
James Merlino
James Anthony Merlino is an Australian politician serving as the member for Monbulk in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, as a member of the Australian Labor Party.Merlino was elected at the 2002 state election defeating Steve McArthur...
told Parliament ‘The main focus of the bill, is to transfer responsibility for Yarra Park from the City of Melbourne to the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust.’
The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
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...
.
External links
37.8180437°N 144.9852312°W