Batman's Hill
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Batman's Hill in Melbourne, Australia was named for the Tasmanian adventurer and grazier John Batman. Now removed, the 18 metre high[1] hill was located to the south of today's Collins Street and Southern Cross railway station, and is the site of a steel marker the same height as the original hill.[2]
The hill was settled by Batman and his family, who built a house at the base in April 1836, where he lived until his death in 1839.[3] His widow and family then moved from the house and the government requisitioned the house for government offices.[4]
The hill had many other uses, in February 1839 it acted as a grandstand for Melbourne's first horse race, with the site later the site of navigation beacons, and a hospital.[4] The western slope of Batman's Hill was sold to the government in 1847 and a powder magazine was built. At the foot of the slopes were tanning pits and melting works.
In 1853 the Victorian Government offered a concession to the Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company to built a railway from Melbourne to Echuca, including land to the east of Batman's Hill for the terminus.[4] In 1856 the company failed,[5] and was taken over by the government who formed the Victorian Railways to complete the works, the railway station being erected at Spencer Street in 1858. Growing traffic lead to an expansion of the freight sheds in 1963, with a contract being signed in November that year for the removal of the hill. Demolition was completed by the middle of 1866.[4]
The site now forms the eastern border of the Melbourne Docklands and a precinct of the Docklands development is also named Batman's Hill. It site is dominated by Southern Cross Station, and the Collins Street bridge built in 2002 to replicate the original curve and shape of the hill.[6] The new headquarters of The Age' newspaper are now being built on the southern side of the bridge.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Noè Harsel, Masters by research: The Shepherd Kings
- ^ Society for Environmental Graphic Design - Merit Award: Melbourne Docklands
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Batman, John (1801 - 1839)
- ^ a b c d Sid Brown (November 2002). "Batman's Hill to Southern Cross - via Spencer Street". Newsrail 30 (11): 335-347.
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Zeal, Sir William Austin (1830 - 1912)
- ^ Melbourne Docklands: Bridges (via Archive.org)
