Alteration of a Place in the National Heritage List – Melbourne’s Domain Parkland and Memorial Precinct

Criterion

Values

 (a)

the place has significant heritage value to the nation because of the place's importance in the course, or pattern, of Australia's natural or cultural history.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the return of their ancestral remains back ‘to country’ is the first step towards recognising their dignity. The King’s Domain Resting Place represents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights to assert control over their heritage, in particular their ancestors' remains.

Increased campaigning for the repatriation of these ancestral remains was initiated by Indigenous community members from the early 1970s.  National and state policy changes and legislation was enacted which enabled collecting institutions in each state that housed Aboriginal human remains to de-accession and repatriate them, along with sacred objects. Repatriation involved researching the provenance of the collections to return them to the appropriate community or family. For some of the collections, little or no information was available and these were termed ‘unprovenanced' ancestral remains.

In the 1970s and 1980s Indigenous people’s actions to recover and repatriate Aboriginal ancestral remains gained momentum. This helped shape legislation and influenced universities, museums and other institutions in possession of collections, to update their policies on the return of ancestral remains.  As a result many notable repatriation events took, and continue to take, place throughout the nation.

The Kings Domain Resting Place has outstanding National Heritage value to the nation for its association with Australia’s national repatriation story. The resting place represents Indigenous communities asserting control to ensure the return and (re)burial of their ancestors is in accordance with their community’s cultural protocols. The features which represent this value are the King’s Domain Resting Place, including the burial place of 38 Indigenous people's remains from Victoria, the commemorative granite stone and plaque honouring Aboriginal people.

(b)

The place has outstanding heritage value to the nation because of the place's possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Australia's natural or cultural history.

Melbourne’s Government Domain, Domain Parklands, Government House and Grounds, Melbourne Observatory and Shrine of Remembrance form a rich cultural landscape located immediately south of the city of Melbourne between St Kilda Road and the Yarra River. As a parkland area it has its origins as a government domain. These domain areas are rare in Australia and are significant demonstrations of British town planning ideas and emergent public park innovation. 

As a cultural landscape the place has a strong Victorian era component. The Victorian period in Australia's history has significance because of its formative influence on the shaping of modern Australia. The place also reflects some of the most significant turning points in Australia's history. The Shrine of Remembrance in particular demonstrates and reflects the devastating impact of World War I on the community.

The place as a whole has another capacity to activate visual images which can be read from and to the city. This symbolic use of the area is mainly deployed through the visibility of buildings or features within the place. These features include but are not limited to the visibility of the Government House tower (with Flag) and the visibility and projection of the Shrine of Remembrance into the city. The presence of the park on its southern edge also contributes to the city's prestige as a garden city and lends its prestige to St Kilda Road and surrounding arts precinct.

The principal components of this cultural landscape are as follows:

An Indigenous landscape

The place is located within an older and ancient Kulin Aboriginal landscape. The Indigenous community maintains important traditional and contemporary stories and associations with this place.

A Victorian landscape

The confidence and interests of the Victorian period are particularly evident in the place's landscape. The early establishment of a Government Domain (a setting for the vice regal residence) which included reservation of land for a Botanic Garden and wider parkland for recreation and adornment of the city are emblematic of the Victorian period.

The continued planting of trees and construction of other garden works to create a large city park is a further sign of the community’s ambition for a town modelled on examples from Britain. The development of an Observatory is typical of the age and reflects an emergent world of science. These aspects of the place were further enhanced by the wealth generated from Victoria’s gold fields. This gold wealth enabled Melbourne to develop rapidly into a city that at the time rivalled New York, Chicago and many European capitals. Its parks were a valued part of the development of the city and its image as a sophisticated, modern city.

Science

The Melbourne Observatory was one of only four nineteenth century observatories in the Southern Hemisphere, and provided critical infrastructure for the functioning of the colony and the wider scientific world. The Photoheliograph and South Equatorial House were constructed to allow observations to be made of the Transit of Venus in 1874, part of a concerted, world-wide project that yielded information new to science.

In 1875, the Astronomer Royal praised the Melbourne Observatory for its production of “the best catalogue of stars of the Southern Hemisphere ever published". The Observatory also played a vital role in the exploration of Antarctica in the early twentieth century by providing the basis for magnetic surveys.

During the nineteenth century the Great Melbourne Telescope at the Melbourne Observatory generated great community pride and was then a symbol of the city’s sophistication and achievement. In its time it was recognised internationally as one of the best telescopes employed in pursuit of new discoveries in the sky.

Symbolic elements within the landscape

An important aspect of the place is its symbolic engagement with the city.  Its location on the edge of the city, on a high point, enables the place to be used symbolically. Important components fulfilling this symbolic function include the following features.

Government House, located on a high point, overlooks the city and its elegant tower is recognised from many places throughout Melbourne's central district. Symbolically this registers the power of Government House and by extension the authority of the Government or in the past the British Monarchy itself. The city borrows status from this projected image.

The Shrine of Remembrance has a similar visual interaction with the city. The Shrine was purposely sited on a high point which can be seen from the city, particularly from Swanston Street, the Town Hall, the steps of the State Library and along sections of St Kilda Road. These visual relationships register the importance of the Shrine and enhances its commemorative function as a place of reflection and memory. The Shrine's location on St Kilda Road also reflects the community's esteem of the place as a valued memorial.

This symbolic engagement of the place contributes to the place’s significance under this criterion. It is this aspect of place which highlights its function as a 'companion' cultural landscape engaged in 'conversation' with the city. This capacity is outstanding in comparison to other government domains.

Community commemoration

Over a long period the place has been recognised as a home for memorials to important events and people. In this way the park is a significant holder of the city's memory. The many memorials located within the place indicate the high esteem held for the area by the community. St Kilda Road borrows prestige from the area and in return lends its status as one of Melbourne's key city approach roads and boulevards. 

Features which express this value include the garden design works of William Guilfoyle within the Government House grounds, the collection of Observatory buildings and equipment making up the Melbourne Observatory complex, the Queen Victoria Monument, the parkland landscape of the Domain Parklands with its Victorian era features of statuary, garden planting and memorials, St Kilda Road boulevard (section within place only), the Domain Resting Place, Government House and Grounds, the Shrine of Remembrance and associated commemorative grounds.

Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance, located within a special commemorative reserve, is important for its ability to demonstrate the devastating impact of World War I on the Victorian and wider Australian community. Its on-going function as a site of commemoration is also significant. 

Since its establishment it has continued to evolve to commemorate the on-going service and sacrifice by Australia's defence force in war and peacekeeping operations. Over time the Shrine has extended its commemorative works in response to major world events and changing community values.

The Shrine's establishment on a hill, along St Kilda Road and within view (from the city) was purposeful and reflects the 'weight' of impact of the First World War on Victorians, their families and wider Australian communities.

Specific features which express this value include the Shrine building with its associated ceremonial landscape and commemorative memorials including but not limited to commemorative statues, plantings and other commemorative works which have been developed in response to on-going major world events and changing community attitudes.

The borrowed landscape of St Kilda Road to the north and south of the Shrine is important. The vista along St Kilda Road into the city and from the city to the Shrine along St Kilda Road and Swanston Street is particularly important as a purposefully designed axial design feature.

The aesthetic characteristics of the building are also important. They convey the community’s respect for those who have served in combat and in supporting roles. The aesthetic characteristics include the architectural features of the exterior and interior of the Shrine, including but not limited to the stylistic classical references, the use of superior materials, incorporation of sculptural elements (internal and external) and other features which reinforce the commemorative function of the space. It does not include items of moveable cultural heritage.