Ballarat - Historic Statues Walking Tour
Find a wealth of stories set in stone along Sturt Street's grand boulevard.
Here stands an open-air gallery of priceless sculptures and monuments, honouring heroes and icons, royalty, poets and goldfields pioneers.
As you wander Sturt Street, consider that for over 80 years it pulsed with the rumble of trams. A crowd of 5000, a brass band and local radio station staff turned up to farewell tramcar 40's last journey in 1971, fully loaded with 200 passengers as it rolled up Sturt Street. Although the trams are now long-gone there are still many icons to be discovered as you tour this great street.
Historic Statues Walking Tour Map
STURT STREET
1. The elegant Petersen Fountain, 1922, is named for its benefactor, C Petersen, a Dane who called Ballarat home in the early 1900s. Look out for its bronze bird and frogs, and its marble drinking fountains.
2. Mother Earth, 1952, is a moving tribute to nature's gifts of mining and agriculture. Local resident Frank Pinkerton commissioned sculptor George Allan to make the work from Hawkesbury freestone and granite.
3. The Gordon Memorial's steadfast bronze horse, 1969, is a fitting tribute to celebrated Australian poet Adam Gordon Lindsay. He was also a legendary horseman and record-holding steeplechaser at Flemington. His memorial recognises the 958,600 horses and mules killed in World War I.
4. Ballarat families dug deep to honour their own with the city's Cenotaph, 1949. It was made possible through donations, bolstered by an ANZAC Day radio plea. The sandstone and granite monument recognises the ultimate sacrifices with the words "Our Glorious Dead".
5. Eternal Flame, 1995, commemorates World War II's 50th anniversary. Its single gold side faces the setting sun, bringing to mind those poignant words, "At the going down of the sun ... we will remember them". The Ballarat Returned Serviceman's League commissioned local sculptor Peter Blizzard to create this moving work.
6. The bronze statue of Eureka hero Peter Lalor, 1892, depicts the famous stockade and features the names of those who lost their lives on December 3,1854. Lalor's friend James Oddie paid for the work, however many of the men's contemporaries avoided its unveiling. It's believed they preferred to remember Lalor as a rabble rouser, and not the robed parliamentarian he became.
7. Rosemary, the plant of remembrance, frames the Korean, Borneo, Malayan & Vietnam Memorial, 2000. The sawn bluestone cross powerfully commemorates the South East Asian wars.
8. Leading surgeon and academic Sir Albert Coates (1895 - 1977) is one of Ballarat's most celebrated sons. A medical orderly during WWI, he returned home to become a pioneering neurosurgeon. He enlisted again during WWII and saved hundreds of lives in a Burma-Siam Railway POW camp. As unpretentious as he was honourable, the contemporary statue beautifully captures his character.
9. Look closely at the heritage-listed Queen Alexandra Bandstand, 1908, to find music motifs throughout its fine wrought iron.
10. Once a student of Ballarat College, now known as Ballarat & Clarendon College, Harold Pompey Elliot is best known as Commander of the 15th Brigade in Gallipoli, then later a Victorian Senator. Louise Laumen's remarkable 2011 statue captures his full military authority.
11. Read the story of William Dunstan, Ballarat resident and Victoria Cross winner, awarded after the battle of Lone Pine at Gallipoli. His tale is told here within pink marble and Greystone, 1995. Following the war Dunstan made more history as manager and director of the Herald and Weekly Times.
12. The bronze King George V Monument, 1938, commemorated the King's 25th year on the throne. Sculptor Victor Greenhalgh's work is set on bluestone, with a granite backdrop.
13 & 14. Hebe, Greek Goddess of Youth and the biblical figure Ruth, 1899, were the gift of wealthy local benefactor John Permewan, who owned carrier firm Permewan & Wright. He commissioned Charles Summers to sculpt the iconic women figures.
15. Irish poet and balladeer Thomas Moore was found worthy of memorial by Ballarat sculptor George Grant in 1889. Moore is best-known for penning The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer.
16. Ballarat's Women's Christian Temperance Union paid tribute with the Queen Victoria Fountain, 1902. This much-loved fountain, with its marble children on a polished granite, was restored in 1976.
17. Queen Victoria continues to reign over Sturt Street through the work of Sir Bertram MacKennal. The statue features four bronze scenes from her remarkable life; accession to the throne, her coronation, diamond jubilee and signing the Australian constitution.
18. Bravery and mateship are beautifully captured in the bronze Boer War Memorial, 1906. Sculptor James White's work is taken straight from the battlegrounds and is today a much-photographed homage.
19. Ballarat son Robert O'Hara Burke and his good mate William John Wills are commemorated in the Burke & Wills Fountain, 1867. This memorial to the famous explorers also features the names of those who assisted their ill-fated crossing of Australia. The fountain was once lit with gas and stocked with goldfish and tortoises.
20. Australia's first monument to poetry is a beauty. This statue of Scottish poet Robert Burns and his dog, 1897, was carved from marble in Italy by sculptor John Undy. It is inscribed with quotes from the writer himself and features beautiful patterned tiles at its base.
21. A year after the Titanic sunk, Ballarat sought to honour the bandsmen who lost their lives in the shipwreck. The Titanic Memorial Bandstand, 1913, commemorates the men who, legend states, continued to play for terrified guests as the ship went down. Look for the unusual weathervane on the terracotta roof.
22. Point to the Sky, 2002, is a fine example of old meets new. This modern statue by Akio Makigawa links Ballarat's gold history with its future plans and dreams.
23. The Pioneer Miners' Monument marks the first glint of gold found at Poverty Point in 1851. The quartz structure features a replica of the 62.8kg Welcome Nugget - the world's largest at the time, found in Ballarat in 1858. The original was once displayed, and local mothers would sit their babies on top for luck.
24. The quartz and bluestone James Galloway Monument, 1880, pays tribute to the eight-hour day system that the trade union official founded for Victoria. The system was widely celebrated as a world first and Australia became known as a 'workingman's paradise'.
Location
Cnr Sturt Street and Drummond Street South, Ballarat 3350 Map
