History of Flagstaff Gardens told

West Melbourne: A Sense of Place is due to be published by the Hotham History Project early next year. The Flagstaff Gardens has an interesting history, and they continue to provide a venue for sport and recreation for West Melbourne residents and workers.

It is likely that the first sighting by Melbourne’s First Nations People of white settlers sailing up Port Phillip Bay in 1835 from what was first called Burial Hill.

This vantage point provided a view of the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers and what had been previously named the Blue Lake and the West Melbourne Swamp, an important meeting place and a source of food and fibre for the local Indigenous population.

The hill was also a burial ground for First Nations People, and the early settlers took over an area of the hill for a cemetery in 1836. This lasted for only two years as it was realised that it was not a large enough area for the steadily increasing population. Another area close to and encroaching on some of the land of the Queen Victoria Market was developed as a cemetery.

The high ground made an excellent site for a signalling station, and in September 1840 an octagonal-shaped building with dormer windows set into the roof was constructed.

A similar station constructed on Point Gellibrand at Williamstown allowed for communication on the movement of ships.  

Different colour flags raised on the masts signalled when ships arrived or departed. A time-ball was also attached to the mast that dropped daily at noon. With shipping news posted to a bulletin board on the station building, the area became a favoured meeting place for the community, while the surrounding grassy woodland was used as unofficial parkland.

The signal station also housed the first meteorological station in Port Phillip, becoming part of the first organised meteorological network in Australia.

The weather station operated until 1851 and started again in 1855. The signal and meteorological station closed in 1857 with the introduction of the electric telegraph, and the weather station was moved to the Public Office Grounds on La Trobe Street.

In 1858, the former signal station building was enlarged and developed as the first magnetic observatory in the colony. However, by 1860, rapid development around the hill had made the site ineffective as an observatory and it was moved in 1861 to the Domain in South Yarra.

The area became significantly degraded over the following years, with the extraction of gravel for road building and the dumping of rubbish. 

The government designated the area as a public garden in 1862, renaming the site as the Flagstaff Gardens. The gardens’ design was completed in 1865 by Clement Hodgkinson, the Assistant Commissioner for Crown Lands and Survey.

The gardens were designed in an informal style, with the path system determined by the site’s topography and location of the Queen Victoria Market adjacent to the north-east corner. 

Over the years the gardens were developed to provide play and sports areas for local residents. In 1879 the West Melbourne Bowling Club was granted land.

In 1918 separate playgrounds were established for boys and girls.  Play equipment included swings, slides, a merry-go-round and a maypole. Six years later two tennis courts and a dressing pavilion were established near the playgrounds.

Improved drainage works enabled an ornamental lake to be formed in 1921, a feature that survived until 1953. The lake was populated with yabbies and fishing for these were a favourite pastime of local children.

This article quotes extensively from the forthcoming publication. 

More information about the Hotham History Project can be found online at hothamhistory.org.au •