St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located within the Cities of

Glen Eira The City of Glen Eira is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and has an estimated population of 153,858 (51.6% female and 48.4% male). It was formed in 1994 ...

and Port Phillip

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

s. St Kilda East recorded a population of 12,571 at the 2021 census. St Kilda East is one of the more diverse and densely populated suburbs of Melbourne. It has a prominent Hasidic Jewish community, descended from

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and Russian

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s. Quiet and residential, it is quite different from the adjacent suburb of St Kilda. However, the area around Carlisle Street is very diverse with a strong arts, alternative and indie community.

History

The St Kilda East area was part of the lands of the

Boon wurrung The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

tribe of Indigenous Australians before being first settled by Anglo-British settlers in the 1850s. Smaller timber shacks were common during the early 1860s to 1870s, with larger houses on the bigger subdivisions. During the late 1870s, terraced housing began around the railway line. Alma Park was laid out and areas surrounding the park were set aside for religious purposes, resulting in a large number of convents and chapels along Chapel Street and either side of Dandenong Road. In the 1950s, speculative development resulted in the alteration of many of the suburb's streetscapes. Centred on Chapel Street and to the east of the railway line, flats became common in the area. Recent development of the suburbs, rising land values and excellent access to public transport has seen recent gentrification in the area. Modern infill medium density apartments are being built on many blocks, with the Carlisle Street area designated an activity centre under the Melbourne 2030 planning scheme.

Education institutions

The main schools in St Kilda East are the Edmund Rice Campus of St Mary’s College, the Caulfield Campus of

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

, Malvern Community School, Ripponlea Primary School, the St Kilda East campus of Mount Scopus Memorial College, Yeshivah College, Cheder Levi Yitchak, Beth Rivkah Ladies College and part of St Michael's Grammar School. The Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand (Yeshivah Gedolah Zal), a tertiary institution for the training of

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbis and religious functionaries in the

Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

denomination, is located on Alexandra Street. Ripponlea Primary School (No. 4087) was opened on 3 July 1922 with 400 pupils in grades prep to eight. John Edward Woodruff (1867-1944) was the school's first headmaster, and he served as such until his retirement in 1932. In 2011 enrolment at the school was 272 students across prep to grade 6. Image:Christian brothers college st kilda dandenong road.jpg, Dandenong Road buildings of Christian Brothers College now known as St Marys College, St Kilda

Culture

St Kilda East is home to the Red Stitch Actors Theatre, a professional theatre, located on the corner of Dandenong Road and Chapel Street.

Transport

St Kilda East is served by several forms of public transport. Major tram routes operate on Carlisle Street/Balaclava Road, Chapel Street, Dandenong Road and

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...

Buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

operate along Orrong Road and Hotham Street. Balaclava and

Ripponlea Ripponlea is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. Ripponlea recorded a population of 1,532 at the 202 ...

railway stations, on the

Sandringham line The Sandringham railway line is a suburban railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It branches from other southeastern suburban rail lines (inferred as the " Caulfield group") at South Yarra station. It serves the City of Bayside, and small sect ...

, also service the suburb.

Landmarks

Residential architecture

The suburb is dominated by 1960s flats. There are, however, some pockets of preserved heritage streetscapes. Godfrey Avenue has well-preserved rows of Edwardian cottages on either side of the street and is protected by council heritage controls. Camden Street has several rows of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

semi-detached timber workers cottages. Some large Victorian buildings remain along Inkerman Street and Alma Road, but have been since subdivided into flats. The streets in between have a mix of housing from different periods. Image:Clement_house.jpg, Clement House, Inkerman Street (built 1888). One of the suburb's grander surviving polychrome Victorian era terraces Image:Glenfern east st kilda.jpg, Built in 1857, Glenfern Mansion on the corner of Inkerman and Hotham Streets was home to the Boyd family and is now a writers' colony

Non-residential architecture

Image:Top_shop_east_st_kilsa.jpg, The Top Shop on the corner of Glen Eira Road and Hotham Street is an unusual Edwardian

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

design

Places of worship

There are several churches in St Kilda East, and multiple

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

s, reflecting the area's extensive history of both

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and Jewish migration. Many of these buildings have historic significance with heritage registration, and often form various religious precincts.

Judaism

Yeshiva Centre is the headquarters and main synagogue of Chabad in Melbourne. Chabad House of Caulfield is a replica of the New York headquarters of the Chabad movement at 770 Eastern Parkway. Image:439 inkerman street east st kilda.jpg, 439 Inkerman Street, the "770" Synagogue

Anglican

The bluestone All Saints Anglican Church on Chapel Street was built in 1861, and is reputed to have the largest seating capacity of any Anglican parish church in the Southern hemisphere, with a capacity of 1500 in the pews. The neighbouring Parish Hall was built as an extension to the church in 1909 and was restored in 2005 during a conversion into a boutique gymnasium. Image:All saints anglican church east st kilda.jpg, All Saints Anglican Church Image:All saints parish hall east st kilda.jpg, All Saints Parish Hall Another Anglican Parish Church is St James the Great, established in 1914 and located at 435 Inkerman Street. St James was founded in close association with the former Church of England St John's Theological College, which was located in nearby Alma Road, on the lot now bisected by Wilgah Street. The Diocese closed the seminary in 1919 amid some controversy directed towards the then perceived Anglo-Catholicity of the seminary (which was at odds with the prevailing sentiment of the diocese at the time). The land was sold and subdivided. Image:St James the Great St Kilda East Street Frontage.jpg, St James the Great Anglican Church

Roman Catholic

The St Mary's Catholic Church (208-214 Dandenong Road), designed by

William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...

and built in 1858, was one of the earliest bluestone churches. The East St Kilda Uniting Church, on the corner of Hotham and Inkerman Streets, was built in 1887, to the design of architect Hillson Beasley. Originally a church of the Congregational Union of Australia prior to the formation of the Uniting Church, it was sold by the Uniting Church to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Melbourne in 2011 for the establishment of an Eastern Orthodox use church, according to the provisions of an Ordinariate. Image:Uniting church st kilda east.jpg, Former East St Kilda Congregational Church (now Byzantine Russian Catholic use) Image:St marys catholic church st kilda east.jpg, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church

Uniting Church

The St George's Uniting Church, on Chapel Street, was built in 1877, to the design of

Albert Purchas Albert Purchas (1825 – 1909) was a prominent 19th century architect and surveyor in Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Early life Albert Purchas was born in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales in 1825, the son of Robert Whittlesey Purcha ...

and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. It has been leased by St Michael's Grammar School since 1990. Image:St georges presbyterian church east st kilda.jpg, St George's Uniting Church

Orthodox

The former Balaclava Corps Hall, built in 1929 on Camden Street, is an unusual design, featuring castellated motifs. It was sold to the Autocephalous Orthodox Ukrainian Church in 1976, now being the parish of The Sacred Assumption of the Holy Virgin.

Public spaces

The suburb's main park is Alma Park, a large park designed by Clement Hodgkinson in 1867, which was split into two linear parks by the Sandringham railway line in 1858. The park has recreational facilities, including a heritage rotunda, a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and football (soccer) oval and bike paths, as well as large stands of elm trees,

Moreton Bay Fig ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...

s and native vegetation areas. Image:Rotunda_alma_park.jpg, Hexagonal rotunda in Alma Park, probably built between 1910 and 1915

St Kilda General Cemetery

St Kilda Cemetery covers a large block bordered by Dandenong Road, Hotham Street, Alma Road and Alexandra Street. It is bounded by a historic wall and contains many Victorian era graves. The cemetery is the resting place of

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

, the second

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

, and Albert Jacka VC, MC, barrister and Mayor of St Kilda (1930).

East St Kilda Heritage Study

In 2004 the City of Port Phillip commissioned a heritage study that recommended the following areas as heritage precincts and places. The Council adopted most of the recommendations in 2004 and the controls which apply to each of the areas so listed. Heritage Precincts * Chusan Street (from 1886 onwards) * Godfrey Avenue / Raglan Street (settled early 1910s) * Hammerdale Avenue (Former grounds of "''Hammerdale House''" from 1868, demolished and subdivided 1925) * Holroyd Court (former grounds of "Fernacre" from c. 1867, demolished and subdivided 1936) * Kalymna Grove / Inkerman Street (Market gardens until 1914, subdivided and housing erected between 1914 and 1924) * Mooltan Avenue (Former grounds of "''Mooltan Estate''" subdivided 1922) * Murchison Street /Alma Road (Former site of ''St John's College Anglican Seminary'' closed 1919, subdivision and building continuing until the late 1930s) * Orange Grove (from the 1890s) Individual Heritage Places * 31-35 Alexander Street (Houses c. 1887–88) * 5 -7 Balstan Street (Former ''Kynoch & Co. Factory'' c. 1922, 1940) * 16 Balstan Street (Cottage - oldest surviving dwelling Pre 1863, extended 1869) * 52 Balstan Street (Electrical Substation, c. 1929) * 316- 320 Inkerman Street (Houses c. 1888) * 20 Shirley Grove * 22 Shirley Grove (House - "''Pine Nook''" c. 1920) For some reason, the following properties, although included in the heritage study recommendations, were not included in the overlay. * 42 Hotham Street (House c. 1927) * 34 Young Street (House - "''Warby Cottage''" c. 1870)

Heritage sites

St Kilda East contains a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 10 Chapel Street:

St Kilda Artillery Orderly Room and Drill Hall St Kilda Artillery Orderly Room and Drill Hall is a heritage-listed military installation at 10 Chapel Street, St Kilda East, Victoria, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. Description As wi ...

* 417 Inkerman Road: Glenfern House * 216-238 Dandenong Road; 1-9 and 2-10 Ardoch Avenue; 2-8 Pilley Street: Ardoch Flats * 260-288 Dandenong Road: St Kilda Cemetery * 2 Chapel Street: All Saints Church, Hall and Former Vicarage * Dandenong Road: Ornamental Tramway Overhead Poles

Notable residents

* Ada Mary à Beckett (1872-1948), biologist; leader of the kindergarten movement in Australia, first woman appointed as lecturer at University of Melbourne (lived in Lansdowne Street). *

Ted à Beckett Edward Lambert à Beckett (11 August 1907 – 2 June 1989) was an Australian cricketer who played in four Test cricket, Test matches between 1928 and 1931. He played in 47 first-class cricket, first-class matches for Victoria, Australia, Victo ...

(1907-1989), Australian Test cricketer, son of Ada, born in St Kilda East. *

Hugh Gemmell Lamb-Smith Hugh Gemmell Lamb-Smith (31 March 1889 26 December 1951), known as Gemmell, was an innovative Australian educator who landed at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on Sunday, 25 April 1915 as a member of the Second Field Ambulance unit, and went on to serve ...

(1889-1951), Australian educator; landed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915; member of the staff of

from 1913 to 1951 (lived in Wavenhoe Avenue). * Lady Joan à Beckett Lindsay (1896-1984), Joan à Beckett Weigall, playwright, essayist, visual artist, and novelist (author of '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''), was born in East St Kilda, grew up there, and went to School at Carhue Ladies' College (lived in Alma Road). * Sir John Madden (1884-1918), member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly; Chief Justice of Victoria (built and lived at "Cloyne Mansion", 12 Chapel Street). * James Newbery (1843-1895), museum administrator; industrial chemist (lived in Hotham Street). * Arthur John "Doc" Pearce (1881-1902), St Kilda footballer; champion miler (lived in Grosvenor Street). *

Cezary Skubiszewski Cezary Skubiszewski is a Polish-born Australian film and television composer. Among others, he has composed film scores for '' Red Dog'', '' Two Hands'', '' The Sapphires'', and TV series '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Career Skubiszewski first m ...

(1948-), composer for film, television, and orchestra. * William Lanfranchi (a.k.a. "Bill Lang") (1882-1952), Richmond footballer; Australian champion heavyweight boxer; first Australian to fight for a world heavyweight title, losing to Tommy Burns by a knockout, in September 1908 (lived in Hotham Street).

References

External links

Australian Places - St Kilda East
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Kilda East Jews and Judaism in Victoria (Australia) Orthodox Jewish communities Polish-Australian culture Russian-Australian culture Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Glen Eira Suburbs of the City of Port Phillip 1850s establishments in Australia