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Flagstaff Gardens

Location

Latrobe, King, William & Dudley Streets, MELBOURNE VIC 3000 - Property No G13003

File Number

G13003

Level

State

Statement of Significance

Flagstaff Gardens, a prominent site in the early history of Melbourne, used as a cemetery in the 1830s, a signalling station in the 1840s, a magnetic observatory in the 1850s, and in continuous use as a public park from the 1860s, is of State significance:

- historically, as the site of Melbourne's first cemetery, a use which links Flagstaff Gardens with the other early Melbourne cemetery reserves (on the Victoria Market site and at Melbourne General Cemetery);

- as the site of a signalling station between the city and its ports; this function still able to be appreciated by views to Port Phillip Bay and Hobsons Bay;

- as the site of Melbourne's first magnetic observatory, an important precursor to the later and more accurate geophysical surveys of Victoria;

- as one of Melbourne's major city parks, providing a complement to Royal Park, Carlton Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens, Treasury Gardens and the Domain;

- for its retention of layout and landscape design from the period 1865 to c.1880s, elements from this period include boundaries (which conform to Robert Hoddle's 1837 grid plan for Melbourne), topography, much of the path system, major avenues and the general siting of the bowling greens;

- for its retention of planting from the period 1865 to c.1900, including perimeter planting, shrubberies, the tradition of ribbon planting, open lawns, specimen trees and avenue plantings;

- for the retention of a River Red Gum, an unusual occurrence in the central area of Melbourne and possibly remnant indigenous vegetation;

- for the retention of structures and works from the period 1865 to c.1920, including the Pioneer's Memorial (1871), The Court Favourite statue and Foreman's cottage (1922);

- for the involvement and retention of design elements of several leading Victorian landscape designers including Clement Hodgkinson and John Guilfoyle;

- socially, as a focus of public sentiment dating from its early use as a cemetery, the scene of rejoicings associated with colonial separation and its long use as a public garden.

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