Kings Domain
 The Domain Parklands form a patchwork of different parks, gardens and reserves, including The Domain, King's Domain, the Shrine Reserve, Alexandra Park, Queen Victoria Gardens and Alexandra Gardens.
The Domain, which includes King's Domain, encircles the Government House Reserve, and the Royal Botanic Gardens and extends to the Yarra River. The strong visual relationship with the spine of the City grid has been instrumental in the Domain's development as the setting for Government House, the Shrine of Remembrance and other formal memorials.
The parklands offer an array of art installations, monuments and sculptures, making them well worth a visit. The more energetic can take a run around ‘The ‘Tan’ or just enjoy the grassy open spaces, shady trees and gardens.
Full-screen picture of King's Domain
Maps - King's Domain - including Alexandra Gardens Queen and Victoria Gardens
Toilet - Yes
Playground - No
Sports field - No
Barbecue - Yes (Alexandra Park)
Melway Ref - 2F K10
Size - 36.13ha
Dog off-leash - No
Running/bike track - Yes
Special features
- the Grotto in King's Domain (originally a quarry, now a fern gully);
- the imposing Observatory Gate complex of the Royal Botanic Gardens;
- an imposing statue of King George V after whom the parkland is named;
- the massive Shrine of Remembrance which honours Australia's war dead;
- a re-burial stone, marking the site of Aboriginal remains;
- the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden created in1935 to recognise the contribution of Victoria's women pioneers;
- the award-winning Sidney Myer Music Bowl which was opened in 1959 hosts popular and classical musical events;
- The Tan walking and jogging track - a magnet for city workers exercising in their lunch breaks and whole families on weekends;
- Governor La Trobe's Cottage (guided tours of the cottage and Government House can be booked with the National Trust on 9656 9800);
- the Stapley Pavilion (also known as the Gazebo), is set in the open King's Domain lawn, taking advantage of views of Government House, and is popular with picnicking parties and weddings; and
- many other monuments and memorials (see more information below).
King's Domain and Alexandra Park feature mature trees set in extensive lawns, a fern gully, and flower borders along the Government House boundary. The intriguing fern gully is nearly hidden from view and was planted in the 1930s. The spot was originally an old quarry and is now a steeply sloping, landscaped rockery featuring a waterfall and a winding ‘crazy paved’ path around a picturesque pond.
Near Government House, the long shrub and flower border has plants in bloom most of the year. It provides an impressive contrast with much of King's Domain, which is characterised by sweeping lawns planted with trees both Australian and exotic, evergreen and deciduous. A number of these were planted by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller and William Guilfoyle in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Domain was managed by the Director of the Botanic Gardens.
Access and mobility
Queen Victoria Gardens
Access points are from St Kilda Rd (flat), Alexandra Avenue and Linlithgow Avenue. The crossing at Alexandra Avenue is controlled by traffic lights but this is a major thoroughfare and carries a significant amount of traffic. There are crossovers: on the Alexandra Gardens side the crossover is flat, however to access the triangular safety island there are substantial lips to negotiate. Access on to the lawns is difficult for wheelchairs due to steeper paths, although these are bitumen. Parking: Two, two-hour disabled persons parking spaces are provided in Linlithgow Ave and four four-hour spaces are across the road. There is no footpath and small brick edging along the nearest pathway into the Queen Victoria Gardens, so you must approach the pathways from the road to enter the gardens.Toilets: There are no accessible toilets in the Queen Victoria Gardens. The nearest toilets are in Kings Domain next to the Myer Music Bowl (unisex toilet up the steep hill), Alexandra Gardens (male and female), across St Kilda Rd at the Victorian Arts Centre, or at the Southbank precinct.Alexandra Gardens.
Access into the gardens:
From St Kilda Road, down a short steep grade, which levels out as you get into the park. Alternatively a longer (100m) path runs above Alexandra Avenue cutting from St Kilda Road. This path is of medium steepness. From the Southbank precinct under Princes Bridge to Boathouse Drive and a small step up into the park. Boathouse Drive is closed to through traffic but there are no dedicated disabled parking spaces.
Alexandra Gardens topography is essentially flat except for the rise up to St Kilda Road. Paths are bitumen, the path on the northern or river side of the gardens joins the footpath at Boathouse Drive.Toilets: Accessible male and female toilets are provided with a ramp up at 9 per cent to the female toilet. There is a step down to get to the path leading to the toilets.Kings Domain
Best access to the Kings Domain (north and west of Government House) is via the King George V Monument from Birdwood Avenue, or coming from the Shrine by crossing Birdwood Ave and Government House Drive. Kings Domain encompasses a hill, rising steeply from the Yarra River, Alexandra Avenue and Linlithgow Avenue then falling gently to St Kilda Rd.
The grade up to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl is steep. The majority of paths in Kings Domain are surfaced with granitic gravel, which is stable but can be soft when wet.
Parking: There are four, four-hour disabled persons parking spaces in Linlithgow Avenue and two, two-hour spaces across the road with a crossover to ‘The Tan’, a sand and crushed rock running track which circumvents King's Domain and the Botanic Gardens. The parking spaces provide the closest access to the Myer Music Bowl when a concert is held, otherwise there is poor access to Kings Domain.Toilets: An accessible unisex toilet is available in the block adjacent to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl but cannot be accessed from other parts of Kings Domain. The nearest accessible unisex toilet is near the Shrine or in the Observatory Gate Visitors Centre.Domain
Access to the rest of the Domain is essentially flat from Birdwood Avenue and Dallas Brooks Drive. Generally access to the southern parts of the Domain from Domain Road are flat with a mix of asphalt and granitic gravel.
Shrine of Remembrance
Access to the Shrine is limited by a large flights of steps. A brass plaque on the east side informs visitors to telephone the Commissionaires to arrange access. Wheelchair visitors must ring 24 hours in advance. A stair-climber chair will be available but a transfer to this chair is required.
Access to the gardens and lawns is via a granitic gravel path off Anzac Ave. The parklands slope away steeply to the south.Toilets: An accessible unisex toilet is available, nearby in the Domain, however there is no accessible pathway to it. La Trobe’s Cottage access is limited by steps into the buildings and paths are of granitic gravel.
Royal Botanic Gardens
Access around the gardens is provided on often wide sweeping bitumen paths but there are significant gradients in some places. At the Observatory Gate Visitors’ Centre you can book a tour or hire a wheelchair ($20 deposit). In the Herb Garden, raised beds provide easy access for wheelchair users, and a large-print brochure for vision-impaired visitors is available at the entrance. Parking: Disabled persons parking spaces are provided at Gates F, D and A and adjacent to Observatory Gate.Toilets: Accessible toilets are located in the Visitors Centre, National Herbarium (access via ramp from the pathway leading from Gate F), and in the Botanic Gardens Cafe which overlooks the Ornamental Lake.
Settlement
The Domain was originally reserved from sale by the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District, Charles La Trobe, as a site for a future Government House, being known as ‘Government House and its domain’.
Twentieth century and the establishment of Kings Domain
Melbourne celebrated its centenary in 1935, and 17 hectares of the Government House grounds were transferred to the public parkland of the Domain to mark the occasion. This area is known as King's Domain. Hugh Linaker’s design for the new park was built by workers in a scheme that provided work for the unemployed during the Great Depression.
Charles La Trobe, the first Governor of Victoria, lived in nearby Jolimont. In 1964 what remained of his cottage was moved to The Domain, where it was reconstructed by the National Trust, and is now located backing on to Dallas Brooks Drive. Tours are available through this first ‘Government House’ and Victoria’s official Government House nearby. Phone the National Trust on 9654 5528 for more information.
Pioneer Women’s Memorial
A sunken landscaped garden area, designed by Hugh Linaker, was a special feature built in recognition of the part played by women in the foundation of the state. A crucifix shaped canal terminating in a blue-tiled grotto, which contains Charles Web-Gilbert’s small bronze figure of a woman, provides the focus for this formal garden. It was opened in 1935.
Burial site
A granite boulder and plaque marks the final burial place of 38 Aboriginal people. Their remains, once held within the Museum of Victoria, were interred here as a tribute to the people whose long relationship with the land was destroyed with European settlement.
King George V Memorial
At a public meeting on 6 February 1937, the citizens of Melbourne decided to erect a memorial to the late King. A public appeal raised 13,914 pounds. William Leslie Bowle's design was selected from 38 submissions.
The stage of the Memorial is of bronze, granite and sandstone, representing Britannia and her Dominions and Colonies, guarded by two lions. The full length statue shows King George V in full Garter Robes wearing the Imperial crown, framed by a tall fluted column of sandstone and granite and on the other side stands a statue of Britannia holding a cross and olive branch, with two children. Although construction began in 1937, completion was delayed until 1952 due to World War II.
Sir John Monash
Sir John Monash was Commander in Chief of the Australian Forces during World War I and was commemorated in this bronze equestrian statue in 1950.
Leslie William Bowles made the statue, which was started in 1938 but its casting in Italy was delayed due to the Second World War in Europe. It was unveiled by His Excellence the Governor General, William McKell, K.C., 12 November 1950.
Tilly Aston bell
An interactive sculpture consisting of three separated bells on a single supporting stem, cast in bronze. The sculpture features an embedded image of Tilly Aston, large embossed lettering and braille, it is designed to elicit use of the different senses of sight, sound and touch.
One of the bells is a ‘European’ style, one ‘Asian’ and the third is an intermediate style. Movement sensors trigger a series of tolls when the sculpture is approached.
Created by Anton Hasell in 1999, it commemorates the life of Tilly Aston (1873-1947) and the organisation she founded in 1895 - now known as Vision Australia (formerly Association for the Blind).
Sir Thomas Blamey Memorial
The Sir Thomas Blamey Memorial owes its existence to the efforts of officers who served under Australia’s first Field Marshall, renowned for standing up to Churchill and MacArthur during WWII and their attitudes towards the protection of Australia from Japanese invasion.
The memorial is located on the corner of Government House Drive and Linlithgow Avenue and was made from bronze and granite by Raymond B. Ewers.
The land was set aside by Council in 1952, the sculpture commenced in 1958 and was given to the City in February 1960.
South African War Memorial (Memorial to Fallen Soldiers)
This shrine-like monument is made from sandstone and bluestone, featuring a central obelisk with a lion on each of four corners, and honours the Australians who fell in the South African War of 1899-1902 (Boer War).
Made by architect G. de Lacy-Evans and sculptor J. Hamilton, the monument was erected in 1904 by members of the 5th Victorian Contingent Victorian Mounted Rifles in memory of their fallen comrades.
It has various motto inscriptions and honour lists for the dead and wounded.
The Walker Fountain
The Walker fountain on Linlithgow Avenue was donated to the people of Victoria in 1981 by former Lord Mayor of Melbourne Ron Walker.
The concrete fountain consists of a small lake with central streams, 46 underwater lights and 144 separate streams of water. It was made by Mobelt, Digregorio & Associates.
Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop
The Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop Statue, on St Kilda Road, is made from bronze, granite and metal spikes from the Burma-Thailand railway.
It was made in 1995 by Peter Corlett. Weary Dunlop was known for his humanitarian acts while a prisoner of war in Changi prison.
The names of other doctors who were also POWs at Changi are listed on the steps leading to the sculpture.
Nurse Edith Cavell
The marble bust of Nurse Edith Cavell sits on a granite pedestal with four inlaid bronze plaques.
The bust was erected by public subscription to commemorate Nurse Edith Cavell, an Englishwoman who was martyred by Germans on 17 Oct 1915.
Made by Margaret Baskerville, it was presented to the City of Melbourne and unveiled in 1926.
Marquis of Linlithgow
The Marquis of Linlithgow, or Lord Linlithgow, was Australia’s first Governor General, who arrived in Australia towards the end of the 1880s.
This bronze equestrian statue sits on the corner of Linlithgow Avenue and St Kilda Road. It was erected by public subscription and unveiled on 15 June, 1911, by his Excellency Sir John Fuller, accompanied by Prime Minister, Mr William Hughes.
Public transport
Starting point: Federation Square (Melbourne)
Take tram (3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72) from Swanston Street
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