Victoria Square, also known as Tarntanyangga (formerly Tarndanyangga) (), is the central square of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. It is one of six squares designed by the founder of Adelaide, Colonel William Light, who was

Surveyor-General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor gen ...

at the time, in his 1837 plan of the City of Adelaide which spanned the

River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...

Valley, comprising the city centre (South Adelaide) and

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

. The square was named on 23 May 1837 by the Street Naming Committee after Princess Victoria, then

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

of the British throne. In 2003, it was assigned a second name, Tarndanyangga (later amended to Tarntanyangga), in the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...

language of the original inhabitants, as part of the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

's dual naming initiative. The square has been upgraded and modified several times through its lifetime. It has become a tradition that during the Christmas period a tall

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

is erected in the northern part of the square.

Dual naming and significance

The square was first named "Victoria Square" on 23 May 1837 by the Street Naming Committee, in honour of the then Princess Victoria. VictoriaSquare South

In line with the Adelaide City Council's recognition of

country, the square was officially referred to as Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga from 2002, modified to Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga by 2013, when Stage 1 of a major upgrade was done. The names "Tarndanya", sometimes recorded as "Dharnda anya" (or variant spelling) by colonial sources means "red kangaroo rock" and was reportedly the name used by the Kaurna people for "the site of South Adelaide" or the central-South Adelaide area; the local people whose central camp had been "in or near Victoria Square" were called the "Dundagunya tribe" by colonial sources. Tarndanyangga/Tarntanyangga is derived from the

word for "red kangaroo" – ''tarnta'' (''tarnda'') – and that for "rock" – ''kanya''. The ending "''-ngga''" means it's a location, implying "in, at or on", which is often used in Kaurna place names. Many quarries were built on the southern bank of the Torrens, and ''Tarnta Kanya'' probably referred to one or more rock formations which were quarried, providing much of the stone for the large early buildings on North Terrace. Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga is still considered an important meeting place for

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait ...

. It is the focus for many political and community-based Indigenous events, such as the National Sorry Day commemoration held by Journey of Healing (SA) on 26 May each year. Each year during

NAIDOC Week NAIDOC Week ( ) is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which was originally National Aborigines Day ...

in July, there is a "family fun day" held at the square and a march to Parliament House. The Australian Aboriginal flag was flown at Victoria Square for the first time in the country at a land rights rally in Victoria Square in Adelaide on 9 July 1971. On 8 July 2002 the

endorsed the permanent flying of the flag, which now flies adjacent to the Australian flag.

Description

Victoria Square is in the centre of the city's

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...

, designed by William Light. It is bordered by numerous public institutions at its north and south ends, including the

Supreme Court of South Australia The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state i ...

, the Adelaide

Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

, the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

, the historic old Treasury building (now a hotel run by the Adina hotel chain) and the former Adelaide

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

. On the eastern side is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Cathedral Church of St Francis Xavier, the SA Water headquarters, State Government offices, including the office of the Premier, and the Torrens Building, which houses the

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. The west side of the square contains more commercially oriented buildings, including an entrance to the Adelaide Central Market, the Hilton hotel, and the offices of various consultants, law firms and insurance companies. King William Street passes through the centre of the square from north to south, creating a diamond shape, with the southbound carriageway passing through the east side, and the northbound carriageway passing through the west side of the square. The square is bisected on its east–west axis by the section of road (technically part of the square) that connects

Wakefield Street Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...

(entering from the east) with

Grote Street Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, in Adelaide, South Australia. It is on the northern border of Chinatown and the Adelaide Central Market, and is a lively centre for shopping and r ...

(to the west). A tram stop (formerly the terminus) for the Glenelg tram line is just south of the Queen Victoria statue; it was shifted from the centre to the western edge of the square in 2007, as part of the extension that was made to the tram line around that time.

History

The link between the Aboriginal people and the square, as a centre for the surrounding area, stretches back many centuries, to a time when Tarndanya (Red Kangaroo Dreaming) people gathered there for special ceremonies and dances. Tarndanyangga was the "headquarters" or central camp of the "Dundagunya tribe", a community numbering in the thousands. During the 1960s the Aboriginal community renewed its activities in Victoria Square, with the area in front of what was then the central Police Station, (and is now the Commonwealth Law Courts building), becoming a social and gathering point.

19th century

Statue of Queen Victoria at Victoria Square, Adelaide

In 1837, the first

Surveyor General of South Australia The Surveyor General of South Australia (also stylised Surveyor-General) is a position originally created for the Surveyor General for the colony of South Australia. The post is held by an official responsible for government surveying Surveyi ...

, Colonel William Light, mapped a plan for the City of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The design incorporated a central square to function as Adelaide's focal point and provide open space for recreational activities. On his first map, Light called the precinct "The Great Square". It was eventually named in honour of Princess Victoria, then heir to the British throne. The square was a dusty, treeless paddock until 1854, when the Adelaide City Council embarked on a planting program, constructed four broad diagonal pedestrian paths and erected a wooden fence. The landscaping work was designed by

George William Francis George William Francis (1800–9 August 1865) was an English horticulturalist and science writer. He migrated to the colony of South Australia in 1849 and became the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden in 1860. Life Born in London, Fr ...

, later the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Other work on the square included construction of an east–west roadway that created two garden areas. A fountain was also considered, but it took a further 100 years for this idea to come to fruition. By 1883, plans were under way to extend King William Street directly through Victoria Square, dividing it into four garden areas. The original wooden fence was replaced by ornate iron railings. A statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

– who had ascended to the throne in June 1837 – was erected in the centre of the square in 1894.

20th century

The statue of Colonel Light, now known as Light's Vision and since 1938 situated on

Montefiore Hill Montefiore Hill is a small hill in North Adelaide, South Australia, which affords a view over the Adelaide city centre. Location and description The hill lies within the northern Adelaide Parklands, within the area known as Park 26: Adelaide O ...

, was unveiled on 27 November 1906 in its original location at the northern end of Victoria Square. The original tram terminus was located outside the Charles Moore & Company department store with services operating via a loop in an anti-clockwise direction in the south-western corner. As part of the rebuilding of the square, in December 1966 the tram terminus was relocated near the centre of the square with Grote and

s to the north and Gouger and

Angas Street Angas Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

John Dowie was built to commemorate the visit of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and Prince Philip, in 1968. The three South Australian rivers, the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

, Onkaparinga and Torrens, are represented by an Aboriginal male with an

Ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...

, a female with a

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

, and a female with a

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon ...

. On 12 July 1971, the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag designed by Harold Thomas was flown for the first time – in Victoria Square. It now flies permanently alongside the Australian flag on one of the two tall flagpoles in the centre of the square.

21st century

In 2002, the Adelaide City Council formally recognised the areas heritage by bestowing the dual name Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga. The old tram depot at the square was also demolished, so was the old SAPOL Headquarters. An SA Water office building was built in its place. In 2012 the Adelaide City Council endorsed $24 million in funding to begin rejuvenating Victoria Square. Construction commenced in March 2013 and the first of two planned stages (the northern half) was completed in February 2014. The planned redevelopment of the southern half has been held up due to lack of funding. The full development included:

Features

Statue of Queen Victoria

Located in the centre of the square is a statue honouring

from a model by C. B. Birch, unveiled in 1894. The statue was presented to the city by Sir Edwin Smith, based on a design viewed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in 1893. It was cast by Moore & Co. of

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

using bronze specifically made from Wallaroo and Moonta copper. Inscribed simply with "Victoria R.I.", the statue was originally unveiled by Lady Smith on 11 August 1894. The statue was symbolically draped in black as a sign of mourning following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. For many years a wreath laying ceremony was held at the foot of the statue each 24 May (or 23rd when the 24th was a Saturday), the anniversary of her birth in 1819. It was removed, cleaned and polished in May 2013 as part of the upgrade of Victoria Square and returned in December 2013 in a modified location.

Three Rivers Fountain

The Three Rivers Fountain was erected to commemorate the visit of

to Adelaide in February 1963. Located at the northern end of the square, it was unveiled and first set in operation by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not prod ...

on 28 May 1968. It was later relocated to the southern end, and was officially reopened by then Lord Mayor, Stephen Yarwood, in July 2014. Sculptured by John Dowie, the centrepiece in the shape of a crown represents the royal visit, and the fountain represents the three rivers that Adelaide draws water from: * The Murray, depicted by an Aboriginal man and an

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word ...

(probably representing

ancestor creator Tjilbruke) * The Torrens, depicted by a woman and a

* The Onkaparinga, depicted by a woman and a

The fountain was

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

as a state heritage place in 2012.

The State Survey Mark

Located at the northern end of the square, the State Survey Mark commemorates the placing of the first peg for the survey of the City of Adelaide by Colonel Light on 11 January 1837. This

survey mark Survey markers, also called survey marks, survey monuments, or geodetic marks, are objects placed to mark key survey points on the Earth's surface. They are used in geodetic and land surveying. A ''benchmark'' is a type of survey marker that i ...

is the reference point for all other survey marks in

. The mark was unveiled, along with a commemorative plaque by then Minister of Lands,

Susan Lenehan Susan Mary Lenehan (born 2 November 1943) is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the South Australian House of Assembly between 1982 and 1993, representing the electorate of Mawson. In 1993 she contested the seat ...

on 21 April 1989.

Reconciliation Plaza

The east–west road connecting Grote and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Streets was named Reconciliation Plaza in 2013. The plaza hosts two flagpoles flying the Australian National Flag and the Aboriginal Flag, which has flown permanently in the square since 2002. In 1971, the square was the first place the Aboriginal Flag was flown, at a land rights rally (see Dual naming, above). Reconciliation Plaza was officially opened on 26 May 2014 by Mayor Yarwood, Reconciliation Committee Chairperson Yvonne Agius and Journey of Healing SA Chairperson John Browne.

Statue of John McDouall Stuart

A monument to

John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...

, one of Australia's premier explorers, is situated in Victoria Square. It was erected on 4 June 1904 and heritage listed on 8 March 2013. Stuart led the first expedition to successfully cross the continent from north to south and back. This opened

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

for pastoral use and led to the South Australian government's successful case for control over the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. The route of his expedition also paved the way for the Overland Telegraph, which permitted virtually immediate communication between Australia and Europe.

Statue of Charles Sturt

A statue of explorer Charles Sturt stands in Victoria Square. Sturt is depicted in the working clothes of an outback explorer, leaning forward, shielding his eyes from the sun with his right hand and peering into the distance. He carries a compass, telescope, map and water bottle.

Statue of Charles Kingston

A statue of Charles Kingston, son of

George Strickland Kingston Sir George Strickland Kingston (23 August 1807 – 26 November 1880) was the Deputy Surveyor to William Light, engaged to survey the new colony of South Australia. He arrived in South Australia on the in 1836. Kingston was also the first Spe ...

and SA premier from 1893 to 1899, stands in the square with a plaque reading "patriot and statesman". British sculptor Alfred Drury was commissioned to create the statue, and it was placed in a central location on the northwestern side, facing down Grote Street towards his West Adelaide electorate. It was unveiled on 26 May 1916, during World War I. It was later criticised as capturing "little of his fire". While Kingston was instrumental in bringing about several progressive social policies, such as

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant ...

(including the first law to give votes to women in Australia), a legitimation Act, the first

conciliation Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering te ...

and

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ...

act in Australia, and a progressive system of taxation, he was also one of the main architects of the White Australia policy. After the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

gained pace in June 2020, with various statues representing slave traders and various perpetrators of racism being removed or defaced both in the US and in the UK during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

, archaeologist and historian Jacinta Koolmatrie argued it is ironic that the statue is placed so close to the Aboriginal flag in the square, which was also the site of the Adelaide Black Lives Matter protest.

Gallery

File:Victoria square, around 1869.jpg, Victoria Square, looking north, 1869 File:Statue of Queen Victoria at Victoria Square, Adelaide.jpg, Unveiling the Victoria statue, 1894 File:Victoria Square Adelaide 1895.jpg, Victoria Square, looking south, 1895 File:Transformers - Victoria Square Adelaide SA - panoramio.jpg, Panoramic view, 2014 File:Victoria square5.jpg, North-western corner of the square, 2006 File:OIC victoria square tram stop.jpg, Tram stop, 2012 File:Adelaide City Christmas.jpg, Fountain and Christmas tree, 2015 File:Tram and bus at Victoria Square, Adelaide.jpg, Night view of the square, 2017 File:Victoria Square Flags.jpg, The Aboriginal and National flag's in the square, 2017 File:Victoria Square Aboriginal Flag.jpg, The Aboriginal flag flying in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga, Adelaide, near where the flag was first flown, 2013