"Old" Melbourne

I have had an absolutely mad week at work. Over the past few weeks many other services have simply been closed because the Christmas/New Year period coincides with many people’s summer holidays. The spin-off of this is that the numbers of people accessing our services have exploded. We have been having up to 250% of our usual numbers! As a result, I have been coming home a bit too weary to think about posting. Things should ease this coming week as most other agencies such as the Salvation Army homeless service have now reopened.

Now “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy” so I had much of yesterday off and today is all mine! So here I go with a post.

As I have posted before, Melbourne in the mid to late 1800s was the richest city in the world, thanks to the wealth generated by the Victorian gold rushes. The city that is now Melbourne exploded in population and in municipal areas.
In the older suburbs, as well as in the city centre, there remain grand (perhaps grandiose) statements of how much wealth was sloshing around the boroughs of Melbourne in those days.

As you know I love pointing my camera at almost anything. Yesterday I drove around just a few of the older and innermost suburbs of Melbourne to grab a few piccies of the grandest statements of old (should I say oldish? None of these buildings are over 150 years old). I speak of municipal town halls. Here are a sample of 6 of the 24 town halls scattered across Melbourne. Most of these buildings are quite close together, some as little as a good old mile apart (we have used kilometres here since 1975).

Preston Town Hall in northern Melbourne.I took this so close as it is difficult to shoot because of the trees out the front.
This is one of the more restrained buildings. Neo-classical features are at a minimum and there is no clock tower. I love the contrast between the warm bricks and the white stucco.

Northcote Town Hall, again in the north.The painted stucco look is a bit more gaudy but the building is still comparatively simple.

Now we get a bit grander. North Melbourne (formerly Hotham) Town Hall adds a clock-tower to the stucco façade.With amalgamations of municipal councils in recent decades some town halls no longer fulfil their original function.
North Melbourne is one of them.

Fitzroy Town Hall goes all out for the grand imperial statement.
The Neo-Classical look is taken to the extreme. This building would, I expect, feel quite at home somewhere in London.

Like many Fitzroy also had a public library attached to the council chambers.
Just a few blocks across from Fitzroy is Collingwood Town Hall.
The clock tower at Collingwood is as gaudy as they come and I would guess the tallest in Melbourne.

Last, but definitely not least, South Melbourne (formerly Emerald Hill) Town Hall.
Apparently this structure, like Collingwood’s is in “Second Empire” style.
I find the attention to detail of these former craftsmen amazing.Like the capitals atop these Corinthian columns.

So there you have it. Statements from the burghers of old Melbourne about their wealth and power, but also their commitment to Empire.

Somewhere in Europe?

Yesterday being a Saturday we got twitchy to be out and about.
Instead of following our usual path and driving out into the countryside we headed into the heart of Melbourne City. We drove into the city because as one of the few perks of working for a charity I have free access to a car parking space near the centre.

I am afraid I am putting my “Uncle Harry” tour guide hat on for the rest of the post.
Melbourne is by European (and even by American East Coast) standards a young city.
The first European settlement occurred here in 1835.
Initially the town grew slowly, but by 1847 Melbourne was declared a city by Queen Victoria.

Then the Victorian gold rushes of the 1850’s began. Immense wealth flooded into the city and the population exploded. By the 1880s Melbourne was the second largest city in the British Empire (after London) and the richest city in the world.

The wealth of the time is reflected in many grand (and also some grandiose) buildings that still survive in the CBD. Anyway we were in the city for about two hours and I took photos of sections of three streets.

A few blocks from where we parked is the “Old Treasury Building”. The building, on Spring Street, was completed in 1862. Its main function was to house the vaults that contained literally tonnes of precious metal that were flooding in from the goldfields. I like it what do you think?
Behind this statue of Adam Lindsay Gordon (a 19th Century bush poet of local renown) is the modern treasury building. Not a patch on the original in terms of style.
Across the road is the Windsor Hotel. The Windsor is the only surviving “Grand Hotel” of the 19th Century left in Oz. Again I think the Windsor is a quite tasteful piece of architecture. Some pretensions, but not too over the top.
I should say something about the tram. Melbourne unlike the rest of Australia’s major cities left its tram system intact in the 1960’s. This tram is of a 1950’s or 60’s vintage. A few of these old style trams are kept running in sections of the city where there are significant numbers of tourists.

Still on Spring Street, is the Victorian Parliament. Overall the building is, I think a bit grandiose. When you look at some of the decorative details it goes over the top. The lamps (originally gas) are simply gaudy.
While the friezes go the whole hog on the “Empire” theme. You’d think we were in Ancient Rome or something. Also what is really galling for me is that while the craftsmen who did this work were very technically competent, the art is simply a poor imitation of the classical period.
Across the road from Parliament is The Princess’ Theatre:
Which is so gaudy it is almost attractive:

In terms of feel, Melbourne is the most European city in Oz. Although the older sections of most Oz cities were trying to remind their inhabitants of what they still saw as home.

These few streetscapes complete with the next couple of generations of trams (1980s and 2000s) and deciduous trees complete the European look.
Then walking up through Parliament Gardens I got this shot of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral through a window of foliage.
Up on Albert Street is a what appears to be a Roman temple. VECCI is the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I think the building is quite attractive but the architecture says “Rome” and “Empire” not “Australia”. Am I being too parochial?

Still on Albert is Saint Peter’s East Hill Anglican church. St Peter's is the oldest Anglican Church in Victoria. It has the interesting distinction that the letters patent of Queen Victoria declaring the city status of Melbourne were read here in 1848.

Finally St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral. This building was clearly deigned to dominate the Melbourne Skyline and this perspective gives the impression that it still does. In reality the skyscrapers behind it tower over it and the rest of the 19th Century buildings of the city.