Johnstone Park is a

landscaped Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

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 ...

. It is bounded by Railway Terrace, Gheringhap Street, Little Malop Street, Fenwick Street, and Mercer Street. The park is surrounded by civic buildings including the

Geelong Town Hall Geelong Town Hall is a civic building located on Gheringhap Street in central Geelong, Victoria. It was originally built for the City of Geelong, which became the City of Greater Geelong in 1993. Construction The land for the Town Hall was fir ...

Geelong Art Gallery The Geelong Art Gallery, currently known as Geelong Gallery, is a major regional art gallery, gallery in the city of Geelong, Victoria, Geelong in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The gallery has over 6,000 works of art in its collectio ...

, Geelong

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, Geelong Law Courts, and the Geelong Railway Station. A war memorial and bandstand feature in the centre of the park.

History

The area occupied by Johnstone Park was originally known as ''Western Gully'', a

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

that drained towards

Corio Bay Corio Bay is one of numerous internal bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay. Etymology When Hamilton Hume and Willi ...

. In 1849 a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

was built at the downstream end of the gully, near the intersection of Gheringhap, Malop and Mercer streets. The dam was fenced off in 1851 after at least one person and several horses had drowned. The area was made into a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in March 1872, and named after former Geelong

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Robert De Bruce Johnstone The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. The park stretched from Gheringhap Street to Latrobe Terrace. In December that year the first band

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

was held by the Geelong Artillery Corps band. An

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

al wooden bandstand was erected in the park during November 1873. The ''Belcher Fountain'' was installed adjacent to the park in 1874, in the middle of the intersection of Gheringhap, Malop and Mercer streets. The fountain was a gift to the City of Geelong from former Mayor

George Frederick Belcher George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

. The park was divided in 1872 when construction began on the extension of the Geelong railway south to Winchelsea. A

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

was provided across the railway line. Johnstone Park was further reduced in size in 1887, when the

Gordon Technical College The Gordon Institute of TAFE is the Technical and Further Education institute predominantly servicing the wider Geelong area. The Gordon opened in 1887 and celebrated 130 years of providing education in 2017. The Gordon provides education ...

was built on western section of the park. 1915 saw the

built on the Little Malop Street boundary of the park. In 1926 it was complemented by a war memorial to commemorate the lives of local men lost in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which comprised a Peace Memorial beside the gallery and an ornamental gateway at the Railway Terrace entrance to the park. A 1919 bandstand in the centre of the park is located on the axis of the Peace Memorial building and the gateway. The bandstand is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

. The Belcher Fountain was relocated to Johnstone Park in 1912 because it was in the way of the tracks being installed for the introduction of electric

trams in Geelong The city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia, operated an extensive tramway system from 1912 until 1956, when the service was replaced by buses. Unlike Victoria's other major regional cities, Ballarat and Bendigo, which have kept some track and tram ...

. The fountain was moved back to its original position in 1956 when the tram system closed. It was removed in 2006 to be restored and was re-installed close to its original location in 2008.

Gallery

Image:Belcher-fountain-geelong.jpg, Plaque detailing history of Belcher Fountain Image:La-trobe-dam-geelong.jpg, Plaque detailing history of Johnstone Park and LaTrobe Dam. Image:The-spirit-of-anzac-geelong.jpg, 'The Spirit of Anzac' sculpture at Johnstone Park Image:War-memorial-geelong.jpg, War memorial Image:SunkenGarden Geelong.jpg, Sunken garden Image:Apex-Club-sculpture-Geelong.jpg, Sculpture marking the formation of

Apex Clubs of Australia The Association of Apex Clubs of Australia is an Australia-wide association of autonomous clubs dedicated to fellowship, self-improvement, and community service, similar to other service clubs such as Lions International but with a younger mem ...

in Geelong in 1931

References

*Peter Begg (1990). ''Geelong - The First 150 Years''. Globe Press. ISBN 0-9592863-5-7

External links

Johnstone park - Geelong Australia
{{coord, 38.147, S, 144.357, E, display=title Buildings and structures in Geelong Gardens in Victoria (Australia) Monuments and memorials in Victoria (Australia) Parks in Geelong World War I memorials in Australia