Melbourne & Australian Architecture Topics

Marvellous Melbourne’s Parks & Gardens

Fitzroy Gardens



The Fitzroy Gardens were established in 1848.
Valued for their historic, aesthetic, architectural, and horticultural significance, the gardens were classified by the National Trust in 1974 and placed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1999.
The path network is largely the same as that laid out 150 years ago.
From a ‘bird’s eye view’ the main avenues suggest the lines of the Union Jack flag.
One can see the Fitzroy Gardens in the right of the above satellite picture.

Below, old photographs and postcards of The Fitzroy Gardens ~ 100 years old.


In 1863 cement cast statues bought at auction from the closure of George Coppin’s Cremorne Gardens located at the Melbourne suburb of Richmond ended up at the Fitzroy Gardens. Many more were bought over time as well.
By 1940 what remained of the old statuary lining the paths had been removed because the Melbourne City Council considered it shabby and to the detriment of the gardens.




















The Conservatory was built in 1929.
It houses five luxuriant floral displays throughout the year and is a popular tourist attraction.


The original kiosk at the gardens that was demolished and replaced in 1963.


Built of hand-made bricks and Yorkshire stone, Cooks’ Cottage is furnished to reflect family life in an English village in the mid 1700s.
Above, we see the way it looked shortly after being rebuilt and below, the way it looks now.



The Model Tudor Village was placed in the Gardens in 1948. It was given to Melbourne by the citizens of Labeth (England) as a token of appreciation for food parcels sent during World War II.


A favourite attraction with the children, the Fairies’ Tree links the elves, fairies and goblins of traditional folklore with Australian animals.

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The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

http://www.thecollectormm.com.au/

Treasury Gardens


An Edwardian postcard of the Treasury Gardens.


Above and below, before World War 2 there used to be a Japanese Garden located in the Treasury Gardens which was removed for obvious reasons and never reinstated.

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Queen Victoria Gardens


Opposite the Victorian Arts Centre, the Queen Victoria Gardens is typified by flowering garden beds and manicured lawns.
Watching over the lily-covered pond is a memorial statue of Queen Victoria, just one of several contemporary and classical sculptures in the gardens.






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Carlton Gardens


North of the city centre, Carlton Gardens surround the majestic Royal Exhibition Building, which was built for the Great Exhibition of 1880.
Tree-lined avenues, a majestic fountain, formal flowerbeds and miniature lakes are a feature of the Gardens. As well, the Melbourne Museum and IMAX Cinema border the northern section of the gardens and the annual International Flower and Garden Show is also staged at the southern section of the gardens.

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The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

http://www.thecollectormm.com.au/

Royal Botanic Gardens


The Royal Botanic Gardens is considered to be one of the most significant botanical gardens in Australia. Established in 1846, the Royal Botanic Gardens cover 36ha. The gardens are home to over 12,000 different species of plants and are a natural sanctuary for native wildlife.
Features of the gardens include the Ornamental Lake, the National Herbarium of Victoria, Old Melbourne Observatory, the Australian Rainforest Walk and the Water Conservation Garden. A walk around the entire gardens will take 2 to 3 hours at a medium pace, these gardens are big.







Recent postcards of The Royal Botanical Gardens below.











The website:
http://www1.visitvictoria.com/displayOb ... /vvt.vhtml

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The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

http://www.thecollectormm.com.au/

Great post Collector.

Probably just as well that the statuary was removed in the 1940s. In Ballarat, some stupid kids knocked all of the heads off the marble statues in their botanic gardens. Just as well the same thing didn't happen here.

Snowden Gardens



This little snippet of a garden you see in the foreground of this postcard of Princes Bridge is no more.
It once was the home to Robin Boyd’s Southgate Fountain that we see below.
Built in 1959, I remember it well from my youth, sitting where the Art Centre Concert Hall is now. It was spectacular! I miss it.
It was dismantled to be reassembled in The Alexandra Gardens opposite its old site. This never happened and is probably sitting in storage in some council depot now. (I hope)
I once heard that it is was damaged beyond repair while in storage and then later dumped. I'm hoping that is not true.



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Alexandra Gardens



Yes, these gardens are still around with boat sheds and even a skate park now.



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Kings Domain



Above and below, Pioneer Women of Victoria Memorial, established in 1934.




Sidney Myer Music Bowl built in 1958 and commanding an elevated site in Kings Domain.

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Edinburgh Gardens

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The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

http://www.thecollectormm.com.au/

Really good post Collector, some great photographs. Thanks.

Quite a while ago I found these two fantastic photographs of the Fitroy Gardens:

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/5/ ... 3607.shtml

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/2/ ... 9911.shtml


There are also these lovely shots of the Flagstaff Gardens taken by Nettleton.

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/5/ ... 3198.shtml

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/a/5/ ... 3199.shtml