Surrey Gardens is a park in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, located in the suburb of Surrey Hills. The park is situated high in Surrey Hills on sloping land from Union Road in the east to Norfolk Road in the west and contains many mature trees. It is maintained by the

City of Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

History

The Gardens were formed on 1.4 hectares of land purchased by the Shire of Boroondara (Camberwell) in 1903 and designated as a municipal reserve. In 1904,

William Guilfoyle William Robert Guilfoyle (8 December 1840 – 25 June 1912) was an English landscape gardener and botanist in Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and was responsible for the design of many p ...

, designer of Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens suggested a plan that was later adopted. The garden was planted and opened in 1907. The stone cross and war memorial shrine (cenotaph) were erected after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The war memorial is reputed to be one of the first in Australia and was restored in 2007 for

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

. It contains a rare Art Nouveau wood carved historic honour roll which was carved by one of Melbourne's pioneering wood carvers, Mr J.K. Blogg. The previous restoration of the shrine building was commissioned in the 1970s by Camberwell City Council. Two cannons, humorously known as "Brook's Babies" are located at the highest part of the Gardens. These were purchased by Arthur "Empire" Brooks in 1901 to commemorate the end of the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. The John Gray Memorial Rotunda was erected in 1921 and demolished in 1972. The Rotunda was rebuilt by City of Boroondara in 2021. The stone-clad Dimmick Gateway to the park in Union Road was completed in 1950, named after Cr. William Dimmick who had died three years before.

Gallery

Image:Surrey Gardens Surrey Hills Australia 1.JPG, Surrey Gardens and Cenotaph, Surrey Hills, Australia

External links

Surrey Gardens - City of Boroondara
Parks in Melbourne Gardens in Victoria (state) City of Boroondara {{melbourne-geo-stub