Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Park, sculpture

The Sir Joseph Banks Park is located in the eastern suburb of Botany. The Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens, which are part of the park, were the main attraction of the old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 19th Century. In the 1840s and 1850s the Sir Joseph Banks Zoological and Botanical Gardens at this site featured the colony's first zoo with such animals such as kangaroos, elephabts, tigers, bears camels and gorillas. It is commemorated by these large contemporary sculptures of elephants and sculptured life-sized, life-like cement zoo animals in a children's playground.

Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Park, sculpture

Sir Joseph Banks Park is a 28 hectare park in the eastern suburb of Botany. It is made up of Foreshore Reserve and the Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens. The gardens were the main attraction of the old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 19th Century. This lifesize bronze statue of Sir Joseph Banks in the park, depicts him examining botanical specimens. Joseph Banks was a naturalist on the expedition of the Endeavour led by James Cook that explored the eastern coast of Australia in 1770 and landed at nearby Botany Bay.

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Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens

The Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Gardens are located in the eastern suburb of Botany. They were the main attraction of the old Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 19th Century. From 1845 through to the 1910, the hotel and its famed pleasure gardens were Australia's equivalent of a European spa resort. It was bought by entrepreneur Frank Smith in 1884 by who set up famous running races from 1884-92. When the hotel was sold in the 1920s and much of the land subdivided, the remnant gardens became a public park. In 1988, an interpretative recreation of the former gardens was created featuring a sports oval, thematic gardens, a maze and pergolas. Structures in the park include this arbour and formal terrace.

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Botany, Sir Joseph Banks Hotel

The Sir Joseph Banks Hotel is located in Anniversary Street,  in the eastern suburb of Botany, beside the Sir Joseph Banks Pleasure Grounds. The original two storey building, known as the Banks Inn, was begun in 1840 by Thomas Kellet and J Drew, in the Georgian architectural style. By the 1850s it had developed gardens, a private zoo and provision for outdoor sports. It became a popular weekend and holiday pleasure ground. About 1860, a further single storey wing was added to the east and around 1870, the north wing was added in the Victorian Italianate style, heavily ornamented with slab, parapets and two storey cast iron verandas. In 1920, the license was transferred to a new hotel with the same name, built on Botany Road. In 1926 the complex was sold and the hotel was converted into apartments.

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