Royal Arcade, Melbourne
{{Short description|Shopping arcade in Melbourne, Victoria}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2015}}
File:Block Arcade Melbourne.jpg
File:Royal Arcade Melbourne facade.jpg
The Royal Arcade is a historic shopping arcade in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.{{cite VHD|1569|Royal Arcade|hr=0023|ho=543|access-date=2011-04-06}} Opened in 1870,{{cite web|title=History|url=http://royalarcade.com.au/history/|website=Royal Arcade Melbourne|publisher=Royal Arcade|access-date=3 October 2016}} it connects Bourke Street Mall to Little Collins Street, with a side offshoot to Elizabeth Street. It is the oldest surviving arcade in Australia, known for its elegant light-filled interior, and the large carved mythic figures of Gog and Magog flanking the southern entry.
Along with Melbourne's other Victorian era arcade, the nearby Block Arcade, it is a tourist icon of the city, and forms part of the network of lanes and arcades in the CBD.
The arcade is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, as well as by the National Trust of Australia. It also forms part of Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk.{{cite web|title=Melbourne's Golden Mile Heritage Trail|url=http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Melbourne/Activities-and-attractions/Outdoor-activities/Walking-and-hiking/Melbourne-Heritage-Walk.aspx|publisher=Tourism Victoria|access-date=2011-07-25}}
History
File:Royal Arcade Melbourne Christmas Eve 1874.jpg
Designed by Charles Webb, who won a competition in 1868, the arcade features a high glass roof and rows of arched windows to the storerooms above each shop. It was formally opened by the City Lord Mayor on 2 May, 1870.{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5819422|title=The Royal Arcade|date=3 May 1870|work=Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)|access-date=26 March 2019|pages=7}}
The arcade's most famous features were added in 1893; at the south end, the carved mythical figures of Gog and Magog (based on those in London's Guildhall), flank the large 'Gaunt's clock', which triggers the arms of the figures to strike bells each hour,{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244639167|title=GOG and MAGOG|date=3 April 1937|work=Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)|access-date=26 March 2019|pages=36}} while the north end features a figure of Father Time.{{cite news|title=Melbourne Gossip|url=https://greatlakesgazette.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/sunday-snapshot-its-about-time/|access-date=3 October 2016|publisher=The Bendigo Independent|date=30 May 1893}}The figures are said to be based on the 1708 figures in the Guildhall in London, but their use as figures to strike the time may have been inspired by another carved pair of Gog and Magog erected on the outside of [http://viewfinder.historicengland.org.uk/search/reference.aspx?uid=76477&mainQuery=sir%20john%20bennett&searchType=all&form=home Bennett's Clock Shop] in Cheapside by 1891, which also struck the hour and included a figure of Father Time. The lower part of the shop complete with the figures are now part of the [https://greatlakesgazette.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/sunday-snapshot-its-about-time/ Henry Ford Museum], Dearborn, Michigan{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187340293|title=A Melbourne Landmark|date=7 January 1950|work=The Age|access-date=26 March 2019|pages=8}}{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244480461|title=Melbourne's Unique Clock|date=22 February 1930|work=Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)|access-date=26 March 2019|pages=19}} Gaunt was Melbourne's best known clock-maker at the time.
The arcade originally ended at the south end, with an entrance to a Turkish Bath, but this was opened up to Little Collins Street in 1902, along with the creation of the large arched niche, and in the same year an extension was added to the west side through to Elizabeth Street . The shopfronts were all changed into bow fronted windows in 1890-1894, later many altered again, various central kiosks were added, and the black and white chequered floor laid in 1934.{{cite web|title=Royal Arcade|url=http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1569|website=Victorian Heritage Database|publisher=Heritage Victoria|access-date=3 October 2016}} In the 1920s, the cast iron verandah was removed, but was recreated in the 1990s.
In 2002-04 a major refurbishment and restoration included the recreation the 1894 shopfronts, bringing a consistency to the shopfronts once more. In c2010, the facade was repainted in a yellow and white colour scheme, with gilded highlights.
Access
The arcade's main entry faces Bourke Street, and it connects south through to Little Collins Street, with an extension in the centre running west to Elizabeth Street. There is also a connection to the smaller Hub Arcade near the Little Collins Street end.
Gallery
File:Bourke street mall facade of royal arcade melbourne.jpg|The Bourke Street Mall facade in 2006
File:Royal arcade melbourne.jpeg|Southern end featuring Gog and Magog statues, and Gaunt's clock
File:Father Time Block Arcade.jpg|Sculpture of Father Time
File:Royal Arcade Melbourne shopfront.jpg|Bow fronted shopfronts
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.royalarcade.com.au Royal Arcade website]
- [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Royal+Arcade,+Bourke+Street+Mall,+Victoria,+Australia&hl=en&ll=-37.813702,144.963811&spn=0.001244,0.00284&sll=25.790978,-80.159314&sspn=0.011264,0.022724&oq=royal+arcade&hq=Royal+Arcade,+Bourke+Street+Mall,+Victoria,+Australia&radius=15000&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-37.813702,144.963811&panoid=dLJO4tYdKYL2B_1M54ZV6g&cbp=13,137.35,,0,0.64 Enter the Arcade with Google Street View]
{{Melbourne CBD Streets}}
{{Melbourne landmarks}}
{{coord|-37.8145|144.9641|type:landmark_region:AU|display=title}}
Category:Shopping arcades in Australia
Category:Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne
Category:Shopping malls established in 1869
Category:1869 establishments in Australia