Fitzroy Gardens

Fitzroy Gardens
Macleay Street
Kings Cross NSW 2011

The Conservatory in Melbourne's Fitzroy Gardens (built in 1929) , an excellent example of the Spanish-mission style of architecture, accomodates a wide range of plant species.



The Fitzroy Gardens is a popular tourist destination in Melbourne. The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The perfect place to sit and watch the world go by, Fitzroy Gardens is nestled in the heart of energetic Kings Cross. Highlights of the park include the El Alamein Fountain and a Sunday market.



The gardens are one of the major Victorian era landscaped gardens in Australia and add to Melbourne's claim to being the garden city of Australia. Set within the gardens are:

• an ornamental lake

• kiosk and cafe

• Conservatory

• Cook's Cottage - a house where James Cook reputedly spent some years of his childhood (the cottage was in England at that time).

• Sinclair’s Cottage (Visitor information)

• Model Tudor village

• Fountains and sculptures

• Band Pavilion

• the Rotunda

• the fairy tree

The Fitzroy Gardens are of historical, aesthetic, architectural, scientific (horticultural) and social significance to the State of Victoria.



The Fitzroy Gardens are of historical significance as one of a ring of public reserves around Melbourne established in the nineteenth century to provide respite and relaxation for the city's residents. The Fitzroy Gardens have been viewed as the flagship of this group of city gardens, which includes the Flagstaff, Treasury, Carlton and Alexandra Gardens and the Kings Domain. In a statewide context, while not as intact as the Royal Botanic Gardens or the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, the Fitzroy Gardens are an important remnant of the city's nineteenth century garden heritage. They are also a reminder of the city's relatively large investment in public gardens, a reflection of 19th century beliefs about the moral and health benefits of green spaces in often dirty, smelly and overcrowded cities.

The Fitzroy Gardens are of social significance because, from their establishment in the early 1860s, the Gardens have been a place of relaxation, passive recreation and entertainment; the Gardens have been the people's park in the city.