Carlton, Victoria

Carlton is an inner city suburb to the north-east of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1851, at the beginning of the Victorian Gold Rush.

Its boundaries are roughly Elizabeth Street to the West, Princes Street to the North, Victoria Street to the south, and Nicholson Street to the East.

The suburb is probably best known for its "Little Italy", Lygon Street, for its Victorian architecture and its parks and gardens, including World Heritage site of the Royal Exhibition Building.

Demographics

The area is noted for its diverse population of Italians, in earlier days Jewish immigrants, and more recently, a growing Muslim population, especially those from the Horn of Africa countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Carlton is home to several of Melbourne's high rise public housing towers which house a mix of low income earners.

Carlton also has a sizeable student population, local and international, due to its proximity to the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. The student population has indirectly transformed the skyline of the stretch of Swanston Street and southern part of Carlton. Many multi-storey student apartments have been built in recent years.

Table of Carlton's ethnic makeup in 2001

Local Landmarks

Lygon Street, which runs through the heart of Carlton is a centre of Italian culture and cuisine. It is popular among Melburnians and foreigners alike for its numerous restaurants, especially Italian restaurants. Lygon Street also boasts no fewer than six specialist gelaterias, and several continental cake cafes.

Carlton is home to some of Melbourne's most historically significant buildings such as Melbourne Trades Hall and the World Heritage Site of the Carlton Gardens, the Royal Exhibition Building and the ruins of the old Carlton brewery, a collection of buildings constructed between 1864 and 1927, all listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Carlton Gardens are also home to the Melbourne Museum.

Carlton has many 19th century public buildings. The Carlton Club, built in 1889 by Inskip & Robertson, the building is notable for its decorative Australian native kangaroo gargoyles and polychrome Florentine arches. The Carlton Post Office and Police Station are both fine Renaissance Revival styled buildings. The Carlton Court House on Drummond Street was designed in the Gothic style by G.B.H Austin and constructed between 1888 and 1889. The Lygon Buildings on Lygon Street were built in 1888 in the Mannerist style.

Modern apartment buildings mingle with colonial-era storehouses on Pelham Street	Melbourne Trades Hall. Lygon Street.	Lygon Buildings, Lygon Street	Carlton Post Office
Carlton Police Station	Carlton Club, Drummond Street	Court House, Drummond Street	St Nicholas Hospital buildings, Drummond Street
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. A giant dome was planned but never completed.	State school 2605

Residential Architecture

Many heritage registered Victorian terrace houses can be found on Drummond Street, a long wide boulevard flanked by grand homes, including Rosaville (no46 built 1883), Medley Hall (no48 built 1892-93), Drummond Terrace (no 93-105 built 1890-91), Lothian Terrace (no175-179 built 1865-69), Terraces at 313&315 (1889), Police Station (no330 built 1878) and Court House (no345-355 built 1887-88).

Elaborate three storey Victorian terraces in Drummond Street	Holcombe Terrace. Drummond Street	Denver Terrace. Drummond Street	Lothian Terrace. Drummond Street
Melbournia Terrace. Drummond Street	Rosaville. Drummond Street	Medley Hall. Drummond Street

Public Spaces

The Bali Memorial, which commemorates the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings, is situated in Lincoln Square. It was officially opened on 12 October 2005, the third anniversary of the disaster that killed 202 innocent people, including 99 Australians.

The northern part of Argyle Square, adjacent to Lygon Street, has been redeveloped into an Italian piazza, known as Piazza Italia, in a joint project between the City of Melbourne and its twin city, Milan. A giant sundial is the main feature of the piazza.

Education

Due to Carlton's close proximity to the Parkville campus of The University of Melbourne, many university-owned buildings can be found around Carlton as a result of the university's expansion through the years. This includes the University Square redevelopment, where the state-of-the-art Law and ICT buildings and a new underground carpark is located. However, the university's continued expansion into Carlton are opposed by some residents. Two of the university's residential colleges are situated in Carlton. Medley Hall is located on Drummond Street, while Graduate House is on Leicester Street. Graduate House is a residential college for graduate students only and does not admit any undergraduate students.

Melbourne Business School and part of RMIT University's City Campus is also situated in Carlton.

Primary education is provided by two schools; Carlton Gardens Primary School and Carlton Primary School.

Transport

Carlton is served by many of Melbourne's tram routes, running along Swanston street and terminating at Melbourne University. The no. 8 and no. 1 trams continues through Carlton North and beyond via Lygon Street.

Buses serve Carlton via Lygon, Elgin, and Rathdowne Streets. There are currently no trains to Carlton, with the closest station being Melbourne Central Station. There were talks and proposals of extending the city train loop to service Carlton, but no concrete plans have been proposed.

Health

Carlton is also very well serviced by the health sector. The Royal Women's Hospital and the new Royal Dental Hospital provide high quality health care. It is also a centre of biomedical research. The Cancer Council Victoria, Cancer Research Institute and Victorian College of Optometry all have their premises in Carlton. Carlton is the home of NETS (Victoria) which provides emergency transport of sick newborns between hospitals throughout Victoria and from Tasmania.

Culture

The famous La Mama Theatre is located in Carlton. It is noted for its energy, which is typical of the early Australian theatre scene in the 1970s. Besides that, Cinema Nova on Lygon Street shows many international arthouse films, while Readings bookstore has been a hub for literary and musical connoisseurs since the 1970's. Carlton is also home to the famous Dracula Nightclub, which is on the corner of Cardigan Street and Victoria Street. it is famous for its cabaret shows.

Religion

There are a number of churches in Carlton, which serve the spiritual needs of Carlton residents. St Jude's Anglican Church, on Lygon Street, is one of the most active and well attended Anglican churches in the Greater Melbourne area. Other churches in the area include a Romanian Orthodox Church on Queensberry Street, a Salvation Army Church, the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and a Church of Christ. There is also a Catholic seminary, the Corpus Christi College, on Drummond Street which trains Catholic priests.

Sport

Carlton is the home of the Australian rules football club, the Carlton Blues, who are based at their former home ground is at the Princes Park Football Ground in nearby North Carlton. The club plays home games at the Docklands Stadium.

Lygon Street, Grattan Street and Queensberry Street were part of the route of the marathon in the 2006 Commonwealth Games which was hosted by Melbourne. Lygon and Cardigan streets are part of the seventh course of the annual cycling tour, Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Miscellaneous

• The Melbourne University Regiment (MUR) is based at Grattan Street, Carlton. MUR serves to train potential Officers in the Australian Army Reserve. MUR was founded in 1884 as D company, 4th Battalion of the Victorian Rifles, and changed to its current name and role in 1948. Famous alumni include Sir John Monash, Sir Robert Menzies, Sir Ninian Stephen, Barry Humphries, and Andrew Peacock. ^[3]

References

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