Queens Square is a
public square
A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...
in central Sydney, Australia. The square is located at the junction of
King Street with
Phillip Street and
Macquarie Street. It is bounded on the south by St James Road and Prince Albert Road.
Description
Arranged around Queens Square, clockwise from the north, are the
Law Courts Building, the
Sydney Mint
The Sydney Mint in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is the oldest surviving public building in the Sydney central business district. Built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, it was then known as the ''Rum Hospi ...
, the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
ed
Hyde Park Barracks, the
Land Titles Office,
Hyde Park,
St James' Church,
and
Sydney Law School
Sydney Law School (informally Sydney Law or SLS) is the law school at the University of Sydney, Australia, Australia's oldest university. Sydney Law School began a full program of legal instruction in 1890 following the appointment of its first d ...
. These buildings, other than the Law Courts Building and Sydney Law School, are all
heritage-listed
This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
constructions, mostly dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Named in honour of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, a statue erected in her honour stands on the south-western corner of the square, and faces northward towards the Law Courts building. Another statue, of
Prince Albert
Prince Albert most commonly refers to:
*Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Alb ...
, stands on the south-eastern corner, and faces across Macquarie Street towards the statue of the Queen. Another memorial located on the square is that to
Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway (20 November 1777 - September 1837) was an English-Australian convict and colonial architect. After being convicted of forgery in England and subsequently transported to New South Wales, Australia (known then as New Holland) ...
,
NSW Colonial Architect responsible for some of the surrounding buildings, which is a mosaic and relief set into the ground in front of the Law Courts Building.
Being a public square adjacent to the
state's Supreme Court, and also close to
Parliament House
Parliament House may refer to:
Meeting places of parliament
Australia
* Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia
* Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia
* Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland
* P ...
, the square is often the scene of political and individual protests.
St James Station is located underground to the south of the square, accessible by a pedestrian underpass below St James Road.
[
]
History
Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Gove ...
planned a public square on the location in the early nineteenth century. The square was originally named Kings Square, but was renamed Queens Square when Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837.Governor of New South Wales
The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...
in 1888, for Australia's centenary. It was in the middle of a circle of roads, which soon became a loop of tramways.[ In the late 1970s when the Law Courts Building was constructed, King Street was terminated at its junction with Phillip Street, and the former thoroughfare between Phillip Street and Macquarie Street became part of the square.]
See also
* List of places named after Queen Victoria in Australia
* Architecture of Sydney
References
External links
Sydney localities
Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria
1977 establishments in Australia
King Street, Sydney
Squares in Sydney
{{Sydney-geo-stub