Fawkner Park, Melbourne facts for kids
Fawkner Park is a well-known park located in Melbourne, Australia. It sits in the area called South Yarra and is managed by the City of Melbourne. This large park is a great place for sports and fun. You can find teams playing Cricket, Softball, Soccer, Australian Rules Football, Tennis, and Rugby here.
Park History and Design
Fawkner Park was created in 1862. It was named after John Pascoe Fawkner, who helped found the city of Melbourne. The park has a special shape, like a trapezoid, which is a shape with four sides where two sides are parallel. It covers a big area of about 41 hectares (101 acres).
The park's land gently slopes down to a flat area. When it first opened, different parts of the park were used for more than seven activities at once. People also loved to walk and stroll through the park. The way the park looks today is very similar to how it looked over 100 years ago. There are paths that cut through the park, lined with beautiful elm trees, oak trees, and large Moreton Bay Fig trees.
A Planned Memorial Maze
After World War One, the government had an idea for a special memorial. They planned to build a hedge maze to honor Morgan Goldstein. He was a very important person in growing plants and gardens. Goldstein moved to Australia from Germany in 1882.
He was famous for successfully growing Moreton Bay Fig trees in the area. Local businesses used these figs to make tasty jams and pies. However, the plans for this maze were stopped when World War Two began. The money was then needed to help with the war effort instead.
