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The White Hat Guide to Melbourne architecture, buildings, icons and landmarks
 | Flinders Street Station | |
Melbourne is one of the best preserved neo-gothic cities in the world. The rectangular grid of the CBD together with the wide streets, the trams and mainly European trees create a dignified formal streetscape that the locals take for granted. Melbourne's first years as a European settlement were not salubrious. It was a remote township, a long way from England and even from established towns in Australia. We had the good fortune to have the government surveyor, Robert Hoddle, lay out a generous grid for the town - one mile by half a mile with streets 99 feet wide. Much of that land was unused in the first 15 years of Melbourne's existence. Various small functional buildings grew up, but few had architectural pretension. Then came gold in 1851! The colony was transformed, and over the next 30 years nearly all pre-Gold Rush buildings were replaced with more ostentatious ones. Today there are few pre-Gold Rush buildings remaining in the centre of Melbourne. They include St. James Old Cathedral and Mayor John Smith's residence. With the Gold Rush came wealth and a building boom, and as always, having great wealth does not always mean having great taste. Some of the buildings of that period were the kitsch of the time and the over-ornamented ostentatious style is often referred to as the 'boom style' (referring to the land boom). The most concentrated collection of major buildings from this period can be found in Collins Street.
Other architecture links on this site:
'Mac' Robertson
Architecture
Buildings & Landmarks
Federation Square
Nonda Katsalidis
Robin Boyd
Sean Godsell
William Wardell
White Hat works hard
to make information on these pages current and correct. However with
many thousands of entries, much of it changing daily, errors may occur.
Always verify the information by using the phone numbers supplied with
each event or venue before making a special trip or using this
information for any other purpose. If you believe some information is
incorrect, please contact us at
corrections@whitehat.com.au
and we will attempt to verify or change the information
DISCLAIMER: White Hat makes no claim as
to the accuracy of this information and takes no responsibility for
incorrect or incomplete information
or for actions based on the information in these pages, and accepts no
liability to any person or organisation for the information contained in
these pages.
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| Page last updated: | 26 July, 2008 | | URL:
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TOURISM NEWS
Qantas In Flight Magazine chooses
White Hat
Cemetery Tour as its featured Australian tour for May
There are many fine historical tours
throughout Australia including cemetery tours. From these, the
prestigious Qantas In Flight Magazine has chosen the White Hat Tour
of Melbourne Cemetery as its featured Australian tour for the May
2007 edition. This tour was also featured by ABC radio on 24 May and
will feature in a documentary series on Burke and Wills to be shown
on European television in 2008. The tour has been operating for many years and has won
praise from a wide range of sources. This is not a dry and stuffy
tour but in keeping with all White Hat offerings it is Informed,
Intelligent, Independent (and occasionally) Irreverent. You can find
details of the tour at White
Hat Tour of Melbourne Cemetery and view the article at
Qantas In Flight Magazine. |
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