skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Governor Phillip Fountain is located in the Royal Botanic Gardens, close to Macquarie Street. It was created by the Italian sculptor Achille Simonetti and unveiled in 1897 to honour Captain Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales. This magnificent 15.24 metre high fountain features a marble pedestal for the 4.5 metre bronze statue of Captain Phillip. The pedestal features three reliefs of Justice, Patriotism and Education. Below the pedestal are the reclining bronze figures of Neptune (Navigation), Agriculture, Cyclops (Mining) and Commerce. The four marble consoles are embellished with bronze plaques of Aboriginal people. Between the figures are four giant marble clam shells each surmounted by bronze prows of ships and twin giant sea serpents which feed water into the white marble basins. A view from the front can be seen here.
This median strip separates opposing lanes of traffic of the Grand Avenue, in the western suburb of Camellia. It is landscaped, planted with trees and features these decorative rocks which recreate Aboriginal rock engravings. This group of rocks features emus and emu eggs.
This memorial in 1980 in Pioneers’ Memorial Park in the south western suburb of Liverpool, was erected by Rotary International. It is dedicated to the men, women and children who through their pioneering spirit and determination established Macquarie Town, now known as Liverpool. This piece of old farming equipment on the plinth, reflects on the past.
Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove is located on the site of a former oil refinery. Artefacts from the demolished buildings and those discovered during redevelopmen of the site are displayed in the centre of the park in these marble and glass display cases. Click here to view all participants of Weekend Reflections
The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial is a sandstone wall in the Royal Botanic Gardens which was built to commemorate the location where Queen Elizabeth II first set foot on Australian soil in 1954. It was erected by the governments of the Commonwealth of Australia and the state of New South Wales. I suppose it shows how much the queen and the royal family were held in high regard in those days. It stands beside the Fleet Steps which were constructed in 1908 to welcome the Great White Fleet, American Navy's cruise around the world as a diplomatic mission of peace.
This cannon barrel stands as a monument in Cook Park on the shore of the Georges River. It is located near the mouth of the river at Botany Bay, in the southern suburb of Sans Souci. The barrel came from the HMS Wolverine, flagship of the Australian Squadron 1876-1881. HMS Wolverine was built at Woolwich dock, England in 1863 as a three masted steam corvette with 21 guns and a flush deck. When it arrived in Sydney it served as a training ship for the naval brigade. It was sold off in 1895 and when it became unseaworthy ended up in Auckland, New Zealand. It was dismantled at Brick Bay, later renamed Stanley Bay.
Explorers Park is located on the corner of Parramatta Road and Liverpool Road in the inner west suburb of Ashfield. These roads are part of The Great Western Highway and the Hume Highway and are significant in Australia's history, where many European explorers began their journeys west and south. This garden features a folly with artwork depicting a map of Australia, early explorers on camels and Aboriginal trackers. The monument was created as part of Australia's Bicentennial celebrations in 1988, commemorating European settlement of Australia as we do today on Australia Day.
The Hyde Park Obelisk is an obelisk located on the western edge of Hyde Park. This monument, which was unveiled in 1857 by the Lord Mayor, George Thornton. It was originally used as a sewerage vent, so was jokingly referred to as Thorton's Scent Bottle. It was built at the junction of Elizabeth Street and Bathurst Street because the sewage system was at its highest point here, although it is no longer used as a vent to avoid the risks of contamination. The monument is 22 metres high, including the 6.5 metre high square sandstone base and a filigreed bronze pyramid vent at the top. This obelisk was modelled on Cleopatra's Needle, on the banks of London's Thames River.
This signal mast is located at Darling Harbour, beside the Australian National Maritime Museum. It was originally erected at the Royal Australian Navy's Garden Island Dockyard in 1912, with pennants or signal flags flown from it displaying messages to naval vessels in Sydney Harbour. It stood at 72 metres but in World War II had the middle section removed because it was a hazard to sea planes taking off from Rose Bay. It was reconstructed here in 1991 and now stands at 20.7 metres. The Australian national flag, the museum flag, the principal sponsor’s flag, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are flown from it every day. On special days, signal flags are flown from the mast to display messages.
These monuments are located in a small reserve in the inner city suburb of Waterloo, beside a new residential development called Mondrian Apartments. Waterloo was developed by small businesses in light industry such as tanning and wool scouring in the late nineteenth century. It remained an industrial suburb throughout the twentieth century. Luke Muras and Company, a blacksmithing and engineering firm, built a factory on this site on Powell Street in 1915. The elements of a truss roof from this building, which was demolished in 2001, are displayed here to commemorate the association of light industry with the suburb.
The eastern suburb of La Perouse, on the northern headland of Botany Bay, was named after the French navigator Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (1741-88). His expedition landed in the bay in January 1788, a few days after the First Fleet of convicts arrived from Britain to establish a colony in Australia. King Louis XVI of France had commissioned Lapérouse to explore the Pacific on a scientific voyage, inspired by the voyages of Captain James Cook. The Laperouse Monument is an obelisk built by the French in 1825 in what is now the Botany Bay National Park, overlooking Frenchmans Bay.
This Vernon Mooring Anchors stand as a monument outside the Australian National Maritime Museum, near the Pyrmont Bridge. They are a memorial to seafarers lost at sea in wartime and in peace. These Admiralty-pattern anchors were originally from the 1839 wooden sailing ship, NSS Vernon. After 1867, the Vernon was converted into a nautical school ship and permanently moored off Cockatoo Island. The anchors were installed here in 1992.
The Welcome Wall, a memorial which honours immigrants to Australia, is located outside the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour. The Welcome Wall is a 100 metre long bronze wall, inscribed with names of immigrants, their arrival dates and the place they came from. It is located near Pyrmont docks, where millions of new settlers first stepped ashore in Australia. Over the years, more than six million people have crossed the world to settle in Australia.
blogger templates | Blogger
