The Cremorne Pleasure Gardens was a grand entertainment phenomenon for Melbournians from 1853 to 1863. Having established London’s Cremorne Gardens, James Ellis came out to Melbourne to set up a similar attraction down by the Yarra around a natural billabong. It was shortly after greatly elaborated by the theatrical entrepreneur George Coppin. The Gardens attracted…

Part 1. -Sir Henry Barkly Hotel Once upon a time there was no freeway that blocked access to the river and there was no Hoddle bridge that connected Punt Rd to Sth Yarra. The Sir Henry Barkly Hotel sat at the end of Punt Rd where the punt would take you across the river. It…

The flats of what we now call Cremorne is the result of volcanic flows that made their way around Richmond Hill to meet the higher ground of South Yarra. Creeks and rivers converging from the north and east, forming the Yarra River, followed the boundary of the new volcanic rock and the older, softer sedimentary.This…