500px, Taylor Square, Darlinghurst
Taylor Square is a public square in
Sydney,
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia. Taylor Square is located beside a major road junction, where
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
meets
Flinders Street. Taylor Square is also on the border of the
suburbs of
Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Syd ...
and
Surry Hills
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is sur ...
.
Description
Taylor Square sits above the
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
section of the
Eastern Distributor
The Eastern Distributor is a motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of the M1, the motorway links the Sydney central business district with Sydney Airport. The centre-piece is a tunnel running from Woolloomooloo to Surry Hi ...
, part of
M1. The square is named after
Sir Allen Taylor (1864-1940), a timber merchant,
ship builder and
Lord Mayor of Sydney
The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...
who was responsible for the widening of Oxford Street during his tenure.
The area formerly bound by the traffic of the three streets is popularly known as "Gilligan's Island" because of three large palm trees that once occupied the strip, but have since been subsequently removed. Construction of the
Eastern Distributor
The Eastern Distributor is a motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of the M1, the motorway links the Sydney central business district with Sydney Airport. The centre-piece is a tunnel running from Woolloomooloo to Surry Hi ...
also entailed the realignment of traffic flow in the area. Direct vehicle access across Oxford Street via Bourke Street is no longer possible.
The locality is a centre of the city's nightlife, especially for its
LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and soci ...
. Two permanent tributes are the large rainbow flag and
rainbow crossing
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ...
, built in 2014 and 2019 respectively.
Darlinghurst Courthouse is an imposing sandstone building on Taylor Square. It was designed by architect
Mortimer Lewis (1796 - 1879) in 1844, and has a Greek Revival style facade. The central block is adapted from an 1823 design in Peter Nicholson's The New Practical Builder.
The square also features a large water fountain built into the pavement. This was part of a $5.25 million upgrade, in 2003, including lighting and grass terrace. The fountain is currently being reviewed for upgrade and repair by
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842 ...
Council.
See also
*
Taylor Square Substation No. 6 and Underground Conveniences
Taylor Square Substation No.6 and Underground Conveniences is a heritage-listed electrical substation and underground public toilets at the intersection of Taylor Square, Sydney, Taylor Square, Oxford Street, Sydney, Oxford, Forbes and Bourke S ...
References
Sydney localities
Streets in Sydney
Gay villages in Australia
LGBT culture in Sydney
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Squares in Sydney
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