More Melbourne

Today my day started with a nice long walk on Carrum Beach.  Carrum Beach is one of Melbourne’s many, many beaches, it stretches for about 2 kms and also has a boardwalk.  No boardwalk walking for me though - I wanted my toes in the sand! 

St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral stands at the heart of the city of Melbourne, literally directly across the street from Flinders Street Railway Station.  In style it echoes the grand cathedrals of Europe and is built in the neo-Gothic transitional style, partly Early English and partly Decorated.  It stands on the site where the first public Christian services were held in Melbourne in 1836, and the Cathedral’s foundation stone was laid in 1880.  The central spire is the second highest in the Anglican Communion, after Salisbury Cathedral.

The grand cathedral organ was created in 1891. It has four manuals and pedals with 53 stops.

There’s no doubt that over the past 125 years many choristers have carved their names and initials into these choir stalls.  The Cathedral Choirs of Boys and Men, and Girls, Women and Men sing six choral services a week. 

An exhibition by artist Russell Shiells (a Melbourne based artist) in the Transept Gallery, features themes of reconciliation and faces the legacy of colonization in Australia.  Emigration/Immigration/Dispossession blends images from the earliest days of European arrival in Australia through to the present day to create themes that contrast privilege and disadvantage.

Arts Centre Melbourne is a very distinctive landmark building with its 162 metres tall spire, topped with a 10-metre mast.  The whole area houses several theatres and concert halls.

Victoria State Parliament House is in Melbourne.  Construction began in 1855, and the first stage was officially opened the following year.  Construction continued and various sections were completed over the following decades however it has never been completed, and the planned dome is one of the most well known unbuilt features of Melbourne.  Between 1901 and 1927 it served as the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, during the period when Melbourne was the temporary national capital.

On the grounds of the Parliament House is the first memorial statue in Melbourne dedicated to two Aboriginal community leaders, Pastor Sir Doug (1906-1988) and Lady Gladys Nicholls (1906-1981) who vigorously fought for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia.

Also on the grounds of the Parliament House is the Coles Fountain.

The Hotel Windsor opened in 1884 and is notable for being Melbourne’s only surviving purpose-built “grand” Victorian era hotel.

St. Peter’s Eastern Hill is the oldest Anglican Church standing on its original site in inner city Melbourne. The foundation stone was laid in 1846 and the building was being used for services in 1847.

This is the former Melbourne Magistrates’ Court. Completed in 1914, this building originally accommodated three large courtrooms and offices with a two-storey octagonal main vestibule.

The State Library of Victoria (in Melbourne) opened in 1856, barely 20 years after the city was settled, and it spans one entire city block.

The magnificent octagonal domed reading room is both a quiet space for study and an iconic Melbourne location.

Grandma Poss and Hush from Mem Fox’s book Possum Magic which has delighted generations of children (and adults too).

Melbourne Town Hall was completed in 1887 and in addition to being the administrative seat of the local municipally of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors,  it is also frequently used for art and cultural events, concerts, festivals, plays and exhibitions.

A couple of Melbourne’s theatres.  The Princess Theatre, established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886, is the oldest surviving entertainment site on mainland Australia.

Her Majesty’s Theatre was built in 1886.

On the right, the Old Melbourne Gaol is a former jail and currently a museum.  It was first constructed starting in 1839, and during its operation as a prison between 1845 and 1924, it held and secured some of Australia’s most notorious criminals (including bushranger Ned Kelly).  I love how it’s set against a background now of very modern Melbourne.

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) is a public research university in Melbourne…with some very interesting architecture