Edinburgh Gardens facts for kids
Edinburgh Gardens is a big park in Fitzroy North, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It's surrounded by Brunswick Street, St Georges Road, Alfred Crescent, and Freeman Street. Queen Victoria gave the land for the park in March 1862. Clement Hodgkinson, who designed many of Melbourne's green spaces, planned the park. It covers about 24 hectares (60 acres), which is quite large for a park in the middle of a city.
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A Look Back at Edinburgh Gardens
Edinburgh Gardens has a rich history, starting over 160 years ago. It has been an important place for sports and relaxation for many generations.
How the Park Began
The area that became Edinburgh Gardens was first set aside as a public space in 1862. Soon after, the Collingwood Commercial Cricket Club started playing there. This began a long tradition of organized sports in the park that continues today. Around 1872, the park got its name, honoring Prince Alfred, who was the Duke of Edinburgh.
At first, only parts of the park were developed. Animals even grazed on some of the land until the early 1880s. The Fitzroy Council officially became the park's managers in 1878. In 1882, the Gardens were made a permanent public reserve. The next year, in 1883, work began to formally lay out the park. This included digging trenches and planting trees, following a simple design by Joseph Martin Reed.
Changes Over Time
In 1888, a railway line was built right through the middle of the Gardens. This was the Fitzroy spur line, part of the Inner Circle Railway. Even with the railway, the park continued to grow and change throughout the 1900s. More sports facilities, beautiful decorations, and memorial structures were added.
Today, Edinburgh Gardens still has many of its original paths. It also features old avenues of elm trees and other special trees planted long ago. Many important buildings and structures from the 1800s and early 1900s can still be found within the park.
What Makes the Park Special?
Edinburgh Gardens is special because of its large size and interesting history. It also has some unique features. For example, in the center of the park, there's a stone stand that was meant to hold a large statue of Queen Victoria. However, the statue disappeared over a century ago after only being there for three years. It was never replaced, and the empty stand remains as a curious reminder of the past.
The park's unusual shape comes from how different street layouts meet there. The idea was to create a grand crescent with central gardens, playing fields, and railway facilities. This design helped solve the challenge of connecting the different street grids.
The Old Railway Line
A part of the old Inner Circle railway line used to cut through Edinburgh Gardens. This line, called the Fitzroy spur, went from Park Street, crossed Alfred Crescent, and ended at the old Fitzroy railway station. This station was located behind the Brunswick Street Oval.
The passenger train service on this line was not very popular and closed just a few years after it opened. The area was then used for moving goods until the 1980s.
You can still see some parts of the old railway track in the park today. The places where roads crossed the tracks (called level crossings) were kept even after the tracks were removed. The old railway path has now been turned into a shared path for walking and cycling. This path connects to the Linear Park Reserve and leads to the nearby Capital City Trail.
Factories that were once connected to the railway line have been torn down. The land they stood on has either been given back to Edinburgh Gardens or sold. An old wooden bridge in the southwest of the gardens was removed around 2003.
W.T. Peterson Community Oval
In the southwest corner of Edinburgh Gardens is an Australian rules football oval. It's officially called the W.T. Peterson Community Oval, named after a man who served on the Fitzroy City Council for 21 years. However, many generations of Fitzroy Football Club fans know it better as the Brunswick Street Oval.
The oval can hold about 15,000 spectators. It was the home ground for the Fitzroy Football Club from 1883 until 1966. The last game played there was in August 1966, when Fitzroy played St Kilda. Fitzroy lost that match. Today, the Fitzroy Football Club still uses the ground for its teams in the VAFA and YJFL leagues. It is seen as the spiritual home of the club.
The oval still has some of its original features. These include the gate structure for visiting members at the corner of Freeman and Brunswick Streets. There is also a grandstand, gates, and a ticket box from the late 1800s on the opposite side of the oval. The main grandstand is considered a very important historical building in Victoria.
The biggest crowd ever at Brunswick Street Oval was on May 6, 1935. A huge 36,000 fans watched Fitzroy draw with Collingwood. Both teams scored 14 goals and 9 behinds, ending the game tied with 93 points each.
