Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Hoddle Grid
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==History== {{See|History of Melbourne}} [[File:Map shewing the site of Melbourne and the position of the Huts & Building previous to the foundation of the Township by Sir Richard Bourke in 1837.jpg|thumb|The first survey of the city of Melbourne by Robert Russell in late 1836 - early 1837.]] [[File:HOD1.png|thumb|Schematic plan of Hoddle's allotments for the village of Melbourne, March 1837]] [[File:Hoddle Map 1 1837.JPG|thumb|Robert Hoddle's survey of the town of Melbourne in 1837]] [[File:Hoddle's allotment block illustration 3.png|thumb|Each "block" was further subdivided into twenty allotments, each 1920 m<sup>2</sup> (76 perches) in area.]] In 1835 [[John Batman]] and [[John Pascoe Fawkner]] organised rival groups of free [[settlers]] from [[Van Diemen's Land]] (now called Tasmania) to cross [[Bass Strait]] and illegally settle on the site of what would become Melbourne. In response, the Imperial authority in London authorised [[William Lonsdale (colonist)|William Lonsdale]] to lead a party to establish an official settlement the following year. As part of this [[Robert Russell (architect)|Robert Russell]] was appointed as Surveyor and assigned Frederick Robert D'Arcy and [[William Wedge Darke]] as assistants. The grid of streets that is now central Melbourne was established by [[Robert Russell (architect)|Robert Russell]] and his assistants while conducting the first survey of Melbourne in 1836, before Russell returned to Sydney in early 1837. This grid layout was later adopted by surveyor Robert Hoddle when he arrived in early 1837 with New South Wales [[Richard Bourke|Governor Bourke]] in order to continue survey of the area and regularise the fledgling unauthorised settlement.<ref>{{cite web|title=Grid Plan|url=http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00677b.htm|website=eMelbourne|publisher=School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne|access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref> As [[Robert Hoddle]] was the colony's surveyor when his plan of Melbourne was officially published this led to the city design being dubbed the Hoddle Grid. The unusual dimensions of the allotments and the incorporation of narrow 'little' streets were the result of compromise between Hoddle's desire to employ the regulations established in 1829 by previous NSW Governor Ralph Darling, requiring square blocks and wide streets, and Bourke's desire for rear access ways (now the 'little' streets).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Miles|title=Melbourne: The City's History and Development|date=1995|publisher=City of Melbourne|location=Melbourne|pages=25–29}}</ref> The placement of the grid was determined firstly by the fact that the fledgling settlement was already established at that point on the [[Yarra River]], next to a natural shipping basin, just below a rocky outcrop known as 'the falls', above which the water was usually fresh. It was placed to run roughly parallel to the course of the river, with its western half closest to the basin, and spanned the mostly gently undulating area between the small hills of [[Batman's Hill]] to the west, and [[Eastern Hill, Melbourne|Eastern Hill]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Miles|title=Melbourne: The City's History and Development|date=1995|publisher=City of Melbourne|location=Melbourne|pages=25–29}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Street, Melbourne]] in the centre of the grid coincided with the lowest point and roughly paralleled an existing [[gully]]. The streets were surveyed 1 1/2 chains (a chain being 66ft, so they were 99ft; 30m), the blocks at {{convert|10|chain|ft m}} square, with allotments {{convert|1|chain|ft m}} wide, as per Darling's Regulations<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freestone|first1=Robert|title=Urban Nation: Australia's Planning Heritage|date=2010|publisher=Csiro Publishing|page=103|isbn=9780643096981|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7PQxIjS1BQC&dq=darlings+regulations+of+1829&pg=PA49|access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref>). However, at Governor Bourke's insistence, 'little streets' were inserted east west through the middle of the blocks to allow for rear access to the long, narrow allotments. These were to be {{convert|1|chain|ft m}}, but Bourke's suggestion of keeping the allotments the standard size by making the main streets narrower was resisted by Hoddle, leaving them as surveyed, so they became 1/2 chain (33ft; 10m), taken out of the depth of the blocks either side, the end result making the allotments smaller than usual. As per the Darling regulations, the area around the grid was reserved for future expansion and government purposes, and some blocks and allotments were held back from sale and were allocated for government use, a market and a church.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis|first1=Miles|title=Melbourne:The City's History and Development|date=1995|publisher=City of Melbourne|pages=25–31}}</ref> The first land sale, of allotments around a block reserved as the site for the Customs House, took place in the settlement on 1 June 1837. The lack of a public square or formal open space within the grid was criticised as early as 1850, and it has been claimed that Governor Bourke specifically discouraged the inclusion of such spaces “to deter a ‘spirit of democracy’ from breaking out”.<ref>{{cite book|title=A City Lost and Found - Whelan the Wrecker's Melbourne|last1=Annear|first1=Robyn|date=2005|publisher=Black Inc|isbn=9781863956505|page=214}}</ref> However there is little evidence that Bourke had a view on the matter, and the Darling regulations made no mention of including a central square (as either desirable or not). Instead, simple grid plans, with lots or blocks set aside for public buildings and sometimes a park, were standard practice across Australia in government settlements, to facilitate the creation of regular allotments for sale. Notable exceptions include the five central squares of the privately developed plan of [[Adelaide]] (also 1839), and the axially placed, though not central, church square set aside in the 1829 plan for Perth. Most of today's well known public squares, such as [[King George Square]] in [[Brisbane]], [[Martin Place]] in [[Sydney]], and Melbourne's [[City Square, Melbourne|City Square]], were created in the 20th century, by widening streets and demolishing buildings. Robert Hoddle remained the surveyor for the district until 1853, and laid out all the surrounding subdivisions in a north south, east west grid, excepting the area between La Trobe Street and Victoria Street, which is sometimes included in the 'Hoddle Grid', and is usually officially included in the CBD. This has meant that the original grid sits at a marked angle to the rest of the city, and is easily recognised on any map. Most inhabitants of Melbourne know all the streets of the Hoddle Grid by name, and the order they occur. The whole town was at first accommodated within the Hoddle Grid, but the huge surge in immigration brought about by the [[Victorian gold rush]] in the 1850s quickly outgrew the grid, spreading into the first suburbs in [[Fitzroy, Victoria|Fitzroy]], [[South Melbourne]] (Emerald Hill), and beyond. The Hoddle Grid and its fringes remained the centre and most active part of the city into the mid 20th century, with retail in the centre, fine hotels, banking and prime office space on Collins Street, medical professionals on the Collins Street hill, legal professions around [[William Street, Melbourne|William Street]], and warehousing along Flinders Lane and in the western end. Government buildings like GPO, State Library, Supreme Court, and Customs House occupied various blocks, while [[Parliament House, Melbourne|Parliament House]] and a government precinct developed on the east side of Spring Street. The swampy area to the south soon hosted rail lines, with many suburban trains converging on [[Flinders Street railway station]] near [[Princes Bridge]], the gateway to the city from the south, and [[Southern Cross railway station|Spencer Street station]] on the western edge was the terminus for country trains, as well as more suburban lines. Up until 1930s, the river bank west of Queen Street River was lined with wharfs for cargo and passenger ships. Residential uses, most notably the slums of [[Little Lonsdale Street]], were largely replaced by commercial uses by the 1950s, with residential not making a return until the 1990s with the conversion of older buildings. Since the 2000s this has accelerated with numerous high rise apartment buildings and student housing projects. The CBD still retains a central role for retail, with flagship department stores, specialist shops, and luxury brands, and the upper floors of older buildings and down the city's famous [[Lanes and arcades of Melbourne|laneways]] host a busy nightlife of numerous bars and restaurants, and a [[Street art in Melbourne|street art]] culture. {{Wide image|Melbourne 1880 by Samuel Calvert.jpg|500px|''Melbourne 1880'', Samuel Calvert}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)