Grey Street Fountain 1863

Summary

Location: Fitzroy Gardens, opposite Grey St, East Melbourne Known simply as the Grey Street Fountain, this is one of the oldest fountains in Melbourne’s public gardens. Manufactured by Garnkirk, the fountain is of a simple design comprising three tazza bowls of diminishing sizes, with each bowl raised on a socle and pedestal. The rim of each bowl is decorated with an egg-and-dart moulding. The fountain is set on a volcanic rock outcrop within a pool. It is a well preserved example of an imported English design, indicative of the taste in garden ornamentation in the mid-late 19th Century. Its construction commenced in 1863 under the direction of Clement Hodgkinson, the assistant commissioner of the Survey Office. The original concept incorporated a pool 30.5 metres long, with a central cluster of rocks from which water was to be ejected to nearly 15.25 metres, although this appears not to have been realised. The pond was filled with small islands of aquatic plantings and Sydney Couch Grass. In 1968, Melbourne City Council wanted to replace the fountain with an elaborate sundial to commemorate the recently deceased prime minister, Harold Holt. When the council’s intention became known, some 800 people petitioned against the fountain’s removal. In the face of such opposition, plans for the sundial were scrapped and the Grey Street Fountain retained. The fountain is the only surviving ornament from that period in its original position in Fitzroy Gardens.