Carlton Historical Walk
Carlton Historical Walk
Carlton is an area full of historic significance. This walk incorporates information from Heritage Victoria's database as well as a few local gems.
Summary
Carlton is an area full of historic significance. This walk incorporates information from Heritage Victoria's database as well as a few local gems.
Description
Although Lygon Street is renowned for its eateries, the area also boasts a treasure of culturally and historically important sites. Some of the more significant buildings and features are highlighted in this walk.
This walk can be done in parts, with breaks along various gelati shops, cafes and restaurants!
Please click on the individual links to find out more. If you would like a more comprehensive tour of Carlton, please visit Heritage Victoria - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/heritage.
26957 Views
Points of Interest
1. 1. Tramway signal box
Built in 1928 soon after the electrification of the Swanston St and St Kilda Rd cable tramways. Originally included female public toilets, roofed passenger waiting area, small store and staff toilets.
2. 2. City Baths
Built in 1903, the design reflected the social conventions of the time. Men and women were segregated for all facilities; second class baths were in the basement, first class on the main floor.
3. 3. Magistrates Court
Built on the site of the earlier Supreme Court, the building retains fittings from the earlier court including the Gothic canopy that judge Sir Redmond Barry sat under during Ned Kelly trial in 1880.
4. 4. Old Melbourne Gaol
Built between 1851 - 1864. As the oldest surviving penal establishment, it was the site where Ned Kelly was imprisoned, executed and buried, amongst many other criminals.
5. 5. Eight Hour Day Monument
Built in 1923, the monument commemorates the Eight Hour Day movement started by stonemasons in 1856 to improve working conditions - eight hours labour, eight hours rest and eight hours recreation.
6. 6. Trades Hall
Built in stages from 1873 - 1926, Trades Hall is of historical and social significance as a centre of radical and working class politics and activism in Victoria for over 100 years.
7. 7. Medley Hall
Built in 1893 as a private residence, the building has since housed the Italian Club, Italian Consulate and for short time was used for a 'less reputable purpose'.
8. 8. Lygon shop corner
Lygon Buildings is architecturally significant as the largest and most intact terrace of nineteenth century shops in Melbourne. There are no other comparable retail structures in Melbourne.
9. 9. Matthais House
A two storeyed stucco faced bluestone house of 1865-6 with many charming and unusual features - a tower and weathervane, a cantilevered cast iron balcony and delicately glazed arched windows.
10. 10. Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Built in 1855-56. In the 1930s and 1940s the Church of the Sacred Heart became a primary focus for Carlton's Italian community, and this continued into the 1960s.
11. 11. IMAX Theatre
IMAX is the world's largest cinema format, with a screen up to eight storeys high. Films, from documentaries to latest release movies, can be experienced in 2D or 3D.
12. 12. Melbourne Museum
The museum has eight galleries, including one just for children. Highlights include a complete skeleton of a blue whale, the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, a living rainforest and Phar Lap.
13. 13. Royal Exhibition Building
The Royal Exhibition Building is the only surviving Great Hall that once housed a 19th-century international exhibition and is still used for exhibitions.
14. 14. Carlton Gardens
Developed in 19th-century Gardenesque style, the Gardens feature symmetrically-placed garden beds, significant avenues, the path system, specimen and clusters of trees, 2 small lakes and 3 fountains.
15. 15. Playground
Wonderful playground with swings, slides and many opportunities to climb and clamber, plus small hills to roll down!
16. 16. Carlton Gardens Primary School
The school is an Italian Gothic style building built in 1884 with a hipped roof central pavilion buttressed either end by slightly projecting gables.
17. 17. Terrace Houses (201 - 205 Drummond Street)
Built in 1884, Holcombe Terrace is a fine example of boom style terrace architecture and notable among the works of Norman Hitchcock.
18. 18. Museo Italiano
Museo Italiano displays and interprets the experience of Italian migration, and the culture created by Italians in Australia.
19. 19. La Mama Theatre
Built in 1883, the building was used for various industrial purposes. In 1967, it was leased by Betty Burstall, teacher and theatre-lover, for use as a small theatre to nurture new Australian drama.
20. 19. Underground public toilets
The underground public toilets, built in 1939, are one of eleven built in Melbourne in response to public demand for public toilet facilities in Melbourne that were both sanitary and discreet.
21. 21. 313-315 Drummond Street
Built in 1889, the buliding is architecturally significant for its highly unusual grotesque Gothic facade. The kangaroo-gryphon grotesques on the parapet are highly unusual and distinctive.
22. 22. Carlton Court House
The Carlton Court House is historically significant as part of the civic core of Drummond Street. It is directly opposite the 1878 Carlton Police Station.
Features
Public Transport
Playground
Picnic spot
Drinking water available
Seating available
Public toilets
Historical interest
Local treasures
Art and culture
Lake, creek, river
Park / Garden
