Surrey Gardens is a park in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, located in the suburb of Surrey Hills

Surrey Hills, Victoria

Surrey Hills is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area lies within the cities of Boroondara and Whitehorse...

. 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

City of Boroondara

The City of Boroondara is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation....

.

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 Guilfoyle

William Robert Guilfoyle was a 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 parks and gardens in Melbourne and regional Victoria.-Early life:Guilfoyle was born in Chelsea,...

, designer of Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...

 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

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

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

ANZAC Day

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...

. 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

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

.

The John Gray Memorial Rotunda was erected in 1921 and demolished in 1972.

Gallery

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

External links

• Surrey Gardens - City of Boroondara