Brunswick, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Brunswick is a suburb in Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district
. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland
. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick had a population of 20,780.
Approximately four kilometres north of Melbourne CBD, it has a southern border with the suburbs of Princes Hill
and Parkville
, the boundary being Park Street.
To the east Brunswick is bordered by Brunswick East
, the boundary being behind Lygon Street
and Holmes Street; to the north it is bordered by Coburg
, along the boundary of Moreland Road, while the western border with Brunswick West
follows Grantham, Pearson and Shamrock Streets.
Brunswick's main thoroughfare is Sydney Road
, which runs north-south as the continuation of Royal Parade and which several kilometres north of Brunswick becomes the Hume Freeway.
Brunswick is designated one of 82 Major Activity Centres
in the Melbourne 2030
Metropolitan Strategy.
Brunswick takes its name from Caroline of Brunswick
, the estranged wife of King George IV
.
people who spoke the Woiwurrung dialect, white settlement began in the 1830s, with Assistant Surveyor Darke surveying the area - under the instruction of Robert Hoddle
. North and south boundaries were drawn up, running in an east-west direction between Moonee Ponds Creek
and Merri Creek
. These boundaries would become Moreland Road and Park Street, respectively. A narrow road was surveyed down the centre to service what were intended to be agricultural properties, which would eventually become the major thoroughfare of Sydney Road. Ten allotments were drawn up on each side of this road, with each block of land running all the way to either Moonee Ponds Creek or Merri Creek. These wide strips of land are still reflected in the current street layout.
The land was sold at auction in Sydney
and attracted speculators, many of whom would never see the land they purchased. Only one original buyer, James Simpson, settled on his land. Simpson subdivided his land and marked out two streets, Carmarthon Street (later Albert Street) and Landillo Street (later Victoria Street). Because the land was too marshy he left the area in 1859 with much of the land unsold.
In 1841 two friends, Thomas Wilkinson and Edward Stone Parker
, bought land from one of the original buyers. Stone soon left but Wilkinson stayed on and subdivided his land for sale or rent. He marked two roads which would eventually become extensions of the roads marked out by Simpson. Wilkinson named the streets Victoria Street (after Queen Victoria
) and Albert Street (after her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha).
Wilkinson had been an active campaigner for the rights of Caroline of Brunswick
, the estranged wife of King George IV
, and thus named his estate Brunswick in her honour. When the area's first post office opened in 1846 it took on the name of Wilkinson's estate thus establishing the name of the whole area.
In October 1842 Miss Amelia Shaw became the licensee of the first hotel in the area, the Retreat Inn. The hotel also had a weighbridge so bullock drivers could refresh themselves whilst their wagons were weighed. The establishment was rebuilt in 1892 and renamed the Retreat Hotel; it still stands today.
Also in 1842 work began on a new road along the central surveyors division. The road was originally known as Pentridge Road for it led to the bluestone quarries of Pentridge (now Coburg
). In 1843 William Lobb established a cattle farm on his allotment and the area became known as Lobb's Hill. A laneway down the side of his property, originally called Lobb's Lane, would later be named Stewart Street.
In 1849 Michael Dawson, one of the original land purchasers, completed work on an ivy-covered mansion on his property called Phoenix Park. The property was named after Phoenix Park
near Dublin, Ireland
. Dawson cited his address not as Brunswick, but Philiptown, after a town in Ireland which has since reverted to its original name Daingean
. Philiptown eventually grew into a village along the track which led from Phoenix Park to Sydney Road. This track was later named Union Street.
Henry Search opened a butcher's shop in 1850, on the south-west corner of Albert Street and Sydney Road. This was the first retail establishment in Brunswick. By 1851, gold diggers began making their way through the area, on their journey from the populous suburbs of Fitzroy
and Collingwood
. Brunswick provided a convenient place for lunch, before the diggers reached the beginnings of the roads to the goldfields, near present day Essendon
. A small village sprung up to meet the needs of the travellers, near the present day Cumberland Arms Hotel. The village included a tent market, described as being like a bazaar, where miners could buy goods needed for the goldfields. Brunswick Post Office opened on 1 January 1854.
In 1859 Wilkinson established The Brunswick Record, the area's first newspaper. This changed its name in 1858 to The Brunswick & Pentridge Press.
By 1857 the local population was estimated at 5000. The Brunswick municipal council was established in that year at the Cornish Arms Hotel, which still stands. The first municipal chambers were established in 1859 on Sydney Road at Lobb's Hill, between Stewart and Albion Streets. The present Brunswick Town Hall is an imposing Victorian edifice built in 1876 near the centre of Brunswick on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road.
In the 1850s quarries, and a large brickworks were established in Brunswick using the local clay and bluestone. This quickly became the largest industry in the area. In 1884 the first Brunswick railway line opened running from North Melbourne to Brunswick and Coburg. The line ran directly into the Hoffmans Brickworks, reflecting the importance of the brickworks industry to the local community. Prior to World War I
, Brunswick was the "brickyard capital of Victoria". Remnants of the brickyards are still visible in some parts of Brunswick but most of the yards have long been converted to residential housing or parks. A few years later - in 1887 - a cable tram line was laid along Sydney Road.
era, Brunswick became the home of a large number of migrants from southern Europe - particularly from Italy
, Greece
and Malta
. More recently, migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina
, Turkey
and other Islamic countries have arrived. The brickworks and much of the textile industry has also begun to close, as gentrification
began in the 1990s
, and considerable amounts of renovation and new residential development is occurring.
In 2004, Brunswick and nearby Carlton
were the location of several murders in what has been widely reported in Melbourne's media as an "underworld war
"; the violence occurring between a group of organised criminals, leaving the majority of residents unaffected.
northern Lygon Street has a substantial number of restaurants. Barkly Square is Brunswick's major covered shopping centre, located on the east side of Sydney Road, close to Jewell railway station, though there are a wide variety of supermarkets to be found all along the Sydney Road strip.
) at home in Brunswick have declined since 1991 from over 50% to 40%, though this is considerably higher than for Melbourne as a whole. The top ten LOTEs spoken by residents (in order) are: Italian, Greek, Arabic, Chinese languages, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Hindi and Croatian. In terms of ancestry, the top ten sources in Brunswick are: England, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Greece, China, Lebanon, Germany, Scotland, and Turkey.
Contrary to other suburbs in Moreland, which has a higher proportion of religious affiliation than Melbourne overall, religious affiliation in Brunswick is declining, particularly Christianity. The top ten religions in Brunswick (in order) are: Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Islam, Buddhism, Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformationism, Hinduism, Christian 'other' and Baptism.
Some of these trends can be explained due to the growing proportion of younger people moving into Brunswick. There is a substantial group of tertiary students partly due to a combination of affordable rents and the relative proximity and ease of access to the University of Melbourne
and to RMIT University
, which also has a small campus in Brunswick. There is also a growing population of young professionals as well and increasing signs of gentrification
. These diverse groups live together with little discord and Brunswick is well-known as a successful example of multiculturalism
.
in 1933 Brunswick was the site of free speech meetings by the Unemployed Workers Movement which were harassed and suppressed by the police. Young Australian artist Noel Counihan
played a significant part in this campaign. A Free Speech memorial was built in 1994 outside the Mechanics' Institute on the corner of Sydney and Glenlyon Roads to commemorate the free speech fights. Counihan's work as an artist and local resident is also commemorated by the Counihan Gallery run by the City of Moreland
Council.
Brunswick has long been a stronghold of left-wing politics in Melbourne
, with the federal and state parliamentary seats held by the Australian Labor Party
with very comfortable margins over free enterprise parties. Greens
candidates are gaining an increasing proportion of the vote, and in 2002 elected a Greens Councillor to Moreland Council, with a second Greens Councillor being elected in 2004. As well as the "mainstream" left, however, Brunswick and nearby suburbs have for many years been a holdout of other left-wing parties, radical socialists and anarchists.
The Brunswick Progress Association
has had an active role in representing residents particularly on local issues to Council, but also at the State and Federal levels. It was formed in 1905. At the 2010 Australian federal election, The Greens polled over 30% in most of the Brunswick booths including 41.20% in Brunswick north east.
Brunswick's major nightspot was the Bombay Rock, a notoriously dangerous venue that saw considerable violence between ethnic groups; it was featured in the 1991 movie Death In Brunswick
and destroyed by a fire in the mid-1990s
. Despite recent demographic shifts Brunswick still has a number of nightclub venues that cater to specific ethnic groups such as Italians, Greeks and Lebanese.
The Sarah Sands Hotel has hosted tours from a number of local and international acts, mostly punk, skinhead, goth or alternative in nature. It ceased operating as a venue for original bands in 1993 when the owner leased management of the venue to the Bridie O'Reilly's group.
Pubs in Brunswick include: Bridie O'Reilly's, The Brunswick Hotel, The Cornish Arms, The Spot, The Retreat Hotel, The Sporting Club Hotel, The Grandview, Zagame's (The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel), the Noise Bar (The Railway Hotel), The Moreland Hotel, The Union Hotel, The Quarry Hotel, The Lyndhurst Club; seven are located on Sydney Road, and one on Lygon Street.
Brunswick was the location of the "Brunswick Massive" art collective, that was run by local youths involved in Australian Hip Hop and Electronic Music events.
The Sydney Road Street Party, held annually in late February, is a major event in the suburb, during which a large proportion of Sydney road is closed to all traffic, and is a prelude to the Brunswick Music Festival, held in March, featuring blues
, roots
, and world music
.
and Brunswick City Brunswick City
, but as well, Moreland United, Moreland City and Essendon Royals have strong links to the suburb. There are three cricket clubs(Brunswick Cricket Club, Brunswick Park Womens and Royal Park). The Brunswick Cricket Club, located at Gillon Oval has a long history dating back to the 1860s and for the last 80 years has been part of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association. There is a tennis club (West Brunswick, which is actually located at Raeburn Reserve) and three Australian Rules football clubs. The main sites for sporting activity in Brunswick are focused around Clifton and Gilpin Park and the Gillon Oval, though there are many other ovals and pitches around the suburb. A hockey ground is located at Brunswick Secondary College
. The Brunswick Velodrome is in Brunswick East
. Brunswick Athletic Club has been operating since 1953, competes in the North West Region of Athletics Victoria and has produced athletes who have represented Victoria and Australia. West Brunswick Football Club, North Old Boys Football Club and North Brunswick compete in the VAFA. Brunswick Netball Club is for all ages.
.
The Brunswick Town Hall building houses the Brunswick Library, part of Moreland City Libraries, and the Counihan Gallery, while the former council offices are now used by a variety of community organisations.
While several of Brunswick's schools were sold-off by the Kennett Government
in the 1990s for private housing, the former Brunswick Secondary College
building on Victoria Street was saved from privatisation and has found a new use as the Brunswick Business Incubator, run by the economic development unit of Moreland council.
Brunswick has a large number of social service agencies, from large Commonwealth corporate providers such as Centrelink
, local government services and community-based organisations. Among the most notable are the two services for asylum seekers and refugees, the Asylum Seeker Welcome Centre and Foundation House.
, Brunswick East PS (in Brunswick East
), Brunswick South West PS and Brunswick North West PS, as well as two Catholic primary schools. There are two government secondary schools (Brunswick Secondary College
and the Sydney Road Community School
), a Catholic secondary school and a Maronite Christian college. There is a campus of RMIT University
focusing on Textiles and Printing in Dawson Street.
and Princes Park
, which are large areas of regionally-significant open space in the suburbs of Parkville
and Carlton North
. Though not actually within Brunswick, there is good access to the Merri
and Moonee Ponds creeks
, which are linear open spaces with bike paths along them, in Brunswick East
and Brunswick West
respectively.
and Anstey stations on the Upfield railway line. In addition, there is the number 19
tram service to Melbourne University and the city on Sydney Road, and the number 1
and 8
trams along Lygon Street
, and the number 55
tram also heads through Royal Park and to the city from nearby West Brunswick. The number 96
tram travels down Nicholson St to the City in nearby Brunswick East.
Brunswick itself is relatively flat and is ideal for cycling. Brunswick East
is bounded by the Merri Creek Trail
; and Brunswick West
by the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail
, though neither of these can be described as flat. The Upfield Bike Path
follows the Upfield railway line from Fawkner, through Coburg
and Brunswick joining the Capital City Trail
at Park Street. Streets in Brunswick vary, from too narrow for two cars to pass to reasonably wide. Many of the wider streets have cycle lanes, though riding on these lanes, like the narrower streets, often means riding close to parked cars, presenting a significant hazard to cyclists from opening car doors.
-listed chimneys of Hoffmann's brickworks on Dawson St. At their base, one of the brick kilns has been preserved, though the remainder of this site has been redeveloped as medium-density attached housing and low-rise apartment blocks. Other landmark buildings are the many churches along Sydney Road, the Brunswick Tram Depot, and the large bluestone warehouses in Colebrook Street.
Of the newer structures, the four new buildings at the RMIT University
campus on Dawson Street are of notable contemporary character, each having its own unique architectural style, with two buildings by noted Melbourne architect, John Wardle
. The Brunswick Community Health Centre on Glenlyon Road, completed in the late 1980s, presents a collection of eclectic, differently coloured forms juxtaposed on a small site. It was designed by Melbourne architecture firm, Ashton Raggatt McDougall
, who have since become internationally prominent.
Being one of Melbourne's oldest suburbs, Brunswick has a large number of places of heritage
significance, in the form of individual buildings as well as urban conservation precincts covering entire streets or substantial parts of them.
, Italy
. Sparta
, Greece
.
Brunswick has more Greeks of Lakonian
origin than anywhere else in Australia. The president of the Greek Community first suggested a sister city connection between Sparta
and Brunswick in 1970. The sistership protocols were signed in 1987. A party comprising the Mayor of Sparta and eight dignitaries came to Brunswick for the official function in 1988, at which Talbot Street, (off Sydney Road, one block
north of Victoria Street) was pedestrianised and renamed Sparta Place in recognition of the political and cultural link between the two places. In 2005, Sparta Place was significantly remodelled.
- An account of a women's hydrotherapy group at the Brunswick Baths.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...
. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland
City of Moreland
The City of Moreland is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 10 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....
. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick had a population of 20,780.
Approximately four kilometres north of Melbourne CBD, it has a southern border with the suburbs of Princes Hill
Princes Hill, Victoria
Princes Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
and Parkville
Parkville, Victoria
Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980....
, the boundary being Park Street.
To the east Brunswick is bordered by Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
, the boundary being behind Lygon Street
Lygon Street, Melbourne
Lygon Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, Australia running through the suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street's name has become synonymous with Italian restaurants and cafés located in the Carlton part of the street...
and Holmes Street; to the north it is bordered by Coburg
Coburg, Victoria
Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg's Eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin...
, along the boundary of Moreland Road, while the western border with Brunswick West
Brunswick West, Victoria
Brunswick West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...
follows Grantham, Pearson and Shamrock Streets.
Brunswick's main thoroughfare is Sydney Road
Sydney Road, Melbourne
Sydney Road is a major urban arterial in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Geography:...
, which runs north-south as the continuation of Royal Parade and which several kilometres north of Brunswick becomes the Hume Freeway.
Brunswick is designated one of 82 Major Activity Centres
Activity centre
Activity centre is a term used in urban planning and design for a mixed-use urban area where there is a concentration of commercial and other land uses...
in the Melbourne 2030
Melbourne 2030
The Metropolitan Strategy Melbourne 2030 is a Victorian Government strategic planning policy framework for the metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne, intended to cover the period 2001-2030. During this period the population of the metropolitan area is expected to grow by a million people to over 5...
Metropolitan Strategy.
Brunswick takes its name from Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
, the estranged wife of King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
.
Early History
Brunswick is located in the area known as Iramoo by the Aboriginal people who inhabited and hunted in it. Occupied by the WurundjeriWurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
people who spoke the Woiwurrung dialect, white settlement began in the 1830s, with Assistant Surveyor Darke surveying the area - under the instruction of Robert Hoddle
Robert Hoddle
Robert Hoddle was a surveyor of Port Phillip in the 1830s, and the creator of the Hoddle Grid, the street grid system upon which inner city Melbourne is based. He was also an accomplished artist and depicted scenes of the Port Philip region as well as New South Wales...
. North and south boundaries were drawn up, running in an east-west direction between Moonee Ponds Creek
Moonee Ponds Creek
The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek and major tributary of the Yarra River running through urban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from northern to inner suburbs...
and Merri Creek
Merri Creek
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls...
. These boundaries would become Moreland Road and Park Street, respectively. A narrow road was surveyed down the centre to service what were intended to be agricultural properties, which would eventually become the major thoroughfare of Sydney Road. Ten allotments were drawn up on each side of this road, with each block of land running all the way to either Moonee Ponds Creek or Merri Creek. These wide strips of land are still reflected in the current street layout.
The land was sold at auction in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and attracted speculators, many of whom would never see the land they purchased. Only one original buyer, James Simpson, settled on his land. Simpson subdivided his land and marked out two streets, Carmarthon Street (later Albert Street) and Landillo Street (later Victoria Street). Because the land was too marshy he left the area in 1859 with much of the land unsold.
In 1841 two friends, Thomas Wilkinson and Edward Stone Parker
Edward Stone Parker
Edward Stone Parker was a Methodist preacher and assistant Protector of Aborigines in the Aboriginal Protectorate established in the Port Philip District of colonial New South Wales under George Augustus Robinson in 1838...
, bought land from one of the original buyers. Stone soon left but Wilkinson stayed on and subdivided his land for sale or rent. He marked two roads which would eventually become extensions of the roads marked out by Simpson. Wilkinson named the streets Victoria Street (after Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
) and Albert Street (after her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha).
Wilkinson had been an active campaigner for the rights of Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick
Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the Queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 29 January 1820 until her death...
, the estranged wife of King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, and thus named his estate Brunswick in her honour. When the area's first post office opened in 1846 it took on the name of Wilkinson's estate thus establishing the name of the whole area.
In October 1842 Miss Amelia Shaw became the licensee of the first hotel in the area, the Retreat Inn. The hotel also had a weighbridge so bullock drivers could refresh themselves whilst their wagons were weighed. The establishment was rebuilt in 1892 and renamed the Retreat Hotel; it still stands today.
Also in 1842 work began on a new road along the central surveyors division. The road was originally known as Pentridge Road for it led to the bluestone quarries of Pentridge (now Coburg
Coburg, Victoria
Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg's Eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin...
). In 1843 William Lobb established a cattle farm on his allotment and the area became known as Lobb's Hill. A laneway down the side of his property, originally called Lobb's Lane, would later be named Stewart Street.
In 1849 Michael Dawson, one of the original land purchasers, completed work on an ivy-covered mansion on his property called Phoenix Park. The property was named after Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
near Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Dawson cited his address not as Brunswick, but Philiptown, after a town in Ireland which has since reverted to its original name Daingean
Daingean
Daingean , formerly Philipstown, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town or townland of Daingean has a population of 777 while the District Electoral Division has a total population of...
. Philiptown eventually grew into a village along the track which led from Phoenix Park to Sydney Road. This track was later named Union Street.
Goldrush era
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
and Collingwood
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
. Brunswick provided a convenient place for lunch, before the diggers reached the beginnings of the roads to the goldfields, near present day Essendon
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
. A small village sprung up to meet the needs of the travellers, near the present day Cumberland Arms Hotel. The village included a tent market, described as being like a bazaar, where miners could buy goods needed for the goldfields. Brunswick Post Office opened on 1 January 1854.
In 1859 Wilkinson established The Brunswick Record, the area's first newspaper. This changed its name in 1858 to The Brunswick & Pentridge Press.
By 1857 the local population was estimated at 5000. The Brunswick municipal council was established in that year at the Cornish Arms Hotel, which still stands. The first municipal chambers were established in 1859 on Sydney Road at Lobb's Hill, between Stewart and Albion Streets. The present Brunswick Town Hall is an imposing Victorian edifice built in 1876 near the centre of Brunswick on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road.
In the 1850s quarries, and a large brickworks were established in Brunswick using the local clay and bluestone. This quickly became the largest industry in the area. In 1884 the first Brunswick railway line opened running from North Melbourne to Brunswick and Coburg. The line ran directly into the Hoffmans Brickworks, reflecting the importance of the brickworks industry to the local community. Prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Brunswick was the "brickyard capital of Victoria". Remnants of the brickyards are still visible in some parts of Brunswick but most of the yards have long been converted to residential housing or parks. A few years later - in 1887 - a cable tram line was laid along Sydney Road.
Post-Goldrush era
In 1908, Brunswick officially became a city. Textiles became a large industry in the area in the early parts of the 20th century. Quarrying declined with the depletion of reserves. By 1910, the population of Brunswick had grown to 10,000 people.Post-World War I era
In the post-World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era, Brunswick became the home of a large number of migrants from southern Europe - particularly from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. More recently, migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and other Islamic countries have arrived. The brickworks and much of the textile industry has also begun to close, as gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
began in the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, and considerable amounts of renovation and new residential development is occurring.
In 2004, Brunswick and nearby Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
were the location of several murders in what has been widely reported in Melbourne's media as an "underworld war
Melbourne gangland killings
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of 36 criminal figures or partners between 16 January 1998 and 13 August 2010. The murders were in a series of retributional murders involving various underworld groups. The deaths caused a sustained power vacuum...
"; the violence occurring between a group of organised criminals, leaving the majority of residents unaffected.
Commerce
Commercial activity is mainly centred on Sydney Road and Lygon Street in neighbouring Brunswick East. While separated from the tourist strip in CarltonCarlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
northern Lygon Street has a substantial number of restaurants. Barkly Square is Brunswick's major covered shopping centre, located on the east side of Sydney Road, close to Jewell railway station, though there are a wide variety of supermarkets to be found all along the Sydney Road strip.
Demographics
Brunswick is a multicultural suburb in demographic flux, having a high proportion (23%) of newly arrived residents from overseas compared to the Moreland LGA and the Melbourne metropolitan area overall. Its population is highly culturally and linguistically diverse with many different population groups making their presence felt. However, while residents of Moreland speak over a hundred different languages, people speaking a Language other than English (LOTELote
Lote is a village in the municipality of Eid in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The population of Lote was 132. The village is located about southeast of Nordfjordeid and about northwest of Sandane in Gloppen municipality...
) at home in Brunswick have declined since 1991 from over 50% to 40%, though this is considerably higher than for Melbourne as a whole. The top ten LOTEs spoken by residents (in order) are: Italian, Greek, Arabic, Chinese languages, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, Hindi and Croatian. In terms of ancestry, the top ten sources in Brunswick are: England, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Greece, China, Lebanon, Germany, Scotland, and Turkey.
Contrary to other suburbs in Moreland, which has a higher proportion of religious affiliation than Melbourne overall, religious affiliation in Brunswick is declining, particularly Christianity. The top ten religions in Brunswick (in order) are: Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Islam, Buddhism, Uniting Church, Presbyterian and Reformationism, Hinduism, Christian 'other' and Baptism.
Some of these trends can be explained due to the growing proportion of younger people moving into Brunswick. There is a substantial group of tertiary students partly due to a combination of affordable rents and the relative proximity and ease of access to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and to RMIT University
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
, which also has a small campus in Brunswick. There is also a growing population of young professionals as well and increasing signs of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. These diverse groups live together with little discord and Brunswick is well-known as a successful example of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
.
Politics
During the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in 1933 Brunswick was the site of free speech meetings by the Unemployed Workers Movement which were harassed and suppressed by the police. Young Australian artist Noel Counihan
Noel Counihan
Noel Counihan was an Australian social realist painter.Counihan was born in Albert Park, then a working-class suburb of Melbourne. He attended Caulfield Grammar School in 1928...
played a significant part in this campaign. A Free Speech memorial was built in 1994 outside the Mechanics' Institute on the corner of Sydney and Glenlyon Roads to commemorate the free speech fights. Counihan's work as an artist and local resident is also commemorated by the Counihan Gallery run by the City of Moreland
City of Moreland
The City of Moreland is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 10 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....
Council.
Brunswick has long been a stronghold of left-wing politics in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, with the federal and state parliamentary seats held by the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
with very comfortable margins over free enterprise parties. Greens
Victorian Greens
Australian Greens Victoria, also called the Victorian Greens, is a Green Party located in Victoria, a member of the federation of the Australian Greens party.- Early Years :...
candidates are gaining an increasing proportion of the vote, and in 2002 elected a Greens Councillor to Moreland Council, with a second Greens Councillor being elected in 2004. As well as the "mainstream" left, however, Brunswick and nearby suburbs have for many years been a holdout of other left-wing parties, radical socialists and anarchists.
The Brunswick Progress Association
Brunswick Progress Association
The Brunswick Progress Association is a community organisation active in the City of Moreland Council area, and in particular the suburbs of Brunswick and Coburg, inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
has had an active role in representing residents particularly on local issues to Council, but also at the State and Federal levels. It was formed in 1905. At the 2010 Australian federal election, The Greens polled over 30% in most of the Brunswick booths including 41.20% in Brunswick north east.
Culture
In the 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
Brunswick's major nightspot was the Bombay Rock, a notoriously dangerous venue that saw considerable violence between ethnic groups; it was featured in the 1991 movie Death In Brunswick
Death in Brunswick
Death in Brunswick is a 1991 Australian film starring Sam Neill, Zoe Carides and John Clarke.-Plot:Set and filmed in Brunswick, a Melbourne suburb, it deals with a humble chef, Carl who gets a job at a sleazy nightclub owned by Yanni Voulgaris...
and destroyed by a fire in the mid-1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
. Despite recent demographic shifts Brunswick still has a number of nightclub venues that cater to specific ethnic groups such as Italians, Greeks and Lebanese.
The Sarah Sands Hotel has hosted tours from a number of local and international acts, mostly punk, skinhead, goth or alternative in nature. It ceased operating as a venue for original bands in 1993 when the owner leased management of the venue to the Bridie O'Reilly's group.
Pubs in Brunswick include: Bridie O'Reilly's, The Brunswick Hotel, The Cornish Arms, The Spot, The Retreat Hotel, The Sporting Club Hotel, The Grandview, Zagame's (The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel), the Noise Bar (The Railway Hotel), The Moreland Hotel, The Union Hotel, The Quarry Hotel, The Lyndhurst Club; seven are located on Sydney Road, and one on Lygon Street.
Brunswick was the location of the "Brunswick Massive" art collective, that was run by local youths involved in Australian Hip Hop and Electronic Music events.
The Sydney Road Street Party, held annually in late February, is a major event in the suburb, during which a large proportion of Sydney road is closed to all traffic, and is a prelude to the Brunswick Music Festival, held in March, featuring blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, roots
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
.
Sport
Brunswick has two soccer clubs, Brunswick JuventusBrunswick Juventus
Brunswick Juventus is an Australian association football club from Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was a participant in the National Soccer League, where they were champions in 1985, and Victorian Premier League, in which they won eight titles...
and Brunswick City Brunswick City
Brunswick City
Brunswick City Soccer Club is an association football club from West Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was formerly known as Brunswick City Sports Club Leonidas. The club was formed in 1970 by local Greek Australians as Thornbury, but changed their name to Brunswick City in...
, but as well, Moreland United, Moreland City and Essendon Royals have strong links to the suburb. There are three cricket clubs(Brunswick Cricket Club, Brunswick Park Womens and Royal Park). The Brunswick Cricket Club, located at Gillon Oval has a long history dating back to the 1860s and for the last 80 years has been part of the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association. There is a tennis club (West Brunswick, which is actually located at Raeburn Reserve) and three Australian Rules football clubs. The main sites for sporting activity in Brunswick are focused around Clifton and Gilpin Park and the Gillon Oval, though there are many other ovals and pitches around the suburb. A hockey ground is located at Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College is located at 47 Dawson Street, Brunswick 3056 Victoria, Australia. It is one of two government secondary schools in Brunswick, the other one being Sydney Road Community School. BSC was created during the 1990s via an amalgamation of Brunswick Technical School,...
. The Brunswick Velodrome is in Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
. Brunswick Athletic Club has been operating since 1953, competes in the North West Region of Athletics Victoria and has produced athletes who have represented Victoria and Australia. West Brunswick Football Club, North Old Boys Football Club and North Brunswick compete in the VAFA. Brunswick Netball Club is for all ages.
Facilities and Services
Among the most notable, popular and long-standing of Brunswick's community facilities is the Brunswick City Baths - initially opened in 1914 and added to since. Today it comprises an indoor and outdoor heated pool, a spa and a gymnasium. It is owned by Moreland Council and managed by the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
.
The Brunswick Town Hall building houses the Brunswick Library, part of Moreland City Libraries, and the Counihan Gallery, while the former council offices are now used by a variety of community organisations.
While several of Brunswick's schools were sold-off by the Kennett Government
Jeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
in the 1990s for private housing, the former Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College is located at 47 Dawson Street, Brunswick 3056 Victoria, Australia. It is one of two government secondary schools in Brunswick, the other one being Sydney Road Community School. BSC was created during the 1990s via an amalgamation of Brunswick Technical School,...
building on Victoria Street was saved from privatisation and has found a new use as the Brunswick Business Incubator, run by the economic development unit of Moreland council.
Brunswick has a large number of social service agencies, from large Commonwealth corporate providers such as Centrelink
Centrelink
Centrelink is the trading name of the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency , a statutory authority responsible for delivering human services on behalf of agencies of the Commonwealth Government of Australia. The majority of Centrelink's services are the disbursement of social security payments...
, local government services and community-based organisations. Among the most notable are the two services for asylum seekers and refugees, the Asylum Seeker Welcome Centre and Foundation House.
Education
Brunswick has a variety of educational facilities. While Brunswick North PS in Albion Street, is the only government primary within the boundaries of Brunswick, residents of the suburb have access to four additional primary schools in the vicinity: Brunswick South PSBrunswick South Primary School
Brunswick South Primary School ' is a government primary school located in Brunswick East, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, Brunswick East PS (in Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
), Brunswick South West PS and Brunswick North West PS, as well as two Catholic primary schools. There are two government secondary schools (Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College
Brunswick Secondary College is located at 47 Dawson Street, Brunswick 3056 Victoria, Australia. It is one of two government secondary schools in Brunswick, the other one being Sydney Road Community School. BSC was created during the 1990s via an amalgamation of Brunswick Technical School,...
and the Sydney Road Community School
Sydney Road Community School
The Sydney Road Community School is a small government school located in Sydney Road in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. It has approximately 100 students from Year 7 to Year 12. Established in 1972 at the height of the alternative education movement, the school has no fees, no uniform and no...
), a Catholic secondary school and a Maronite Christian college. There is a campus of RMIT University
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
focusing on Textiles and Printing in Dawson Street.
Public open space
The main areas of open space in Brunswick are on its western edge, comprising several recreational areas that almost combine into a single space: the Alex Gillon Oval, Raeburn Reserve, Brunswick Park, Clifton Park and Gilpin Park. These areas are separated by Victoria and Albert Street. The remaining open spaces within Brunswick are small to tiny-sized 'pocket parks' and reserves. The most notable are Temple Park, Warr Park and Randazzo Park, the latter having won awards for its contemporary landscape design. The southern edge of Brunswick faces directly onto Royal ParkRoyal Park, Melbourne
Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville....
and Princes Park
Princes Park, Carlton
Princes Park is a 38.6 hectare park in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria. It is located directly north of the University of Melbourne and bounded on its eastern and western sides by Melbourne General Cemetery and Royal Parade respectively...
, which are large areas of regionally-significant open space in the suburbs of Parkville
Parkville, Victoria
Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980....
and Carlton North
Carlton North, Victoria
Carlton North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne and Yarra...
. Though not actually within Brunswick, there is good access to the Merri
Merri Creek
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls...
and Moonee Ponds creeks
Moonee Ponds Creek
The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek and major tributary of the Yarra River running through urban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from northern to inner suburbs...
, which are linear open spaces with bike paths along them, in Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
and Brunswick West
Brunswick West, Victoria
Brunswick West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...
respectively.
Places of Worship
Brunswick's diverse religious communities have many places of worship. Various Christian denominations have prominent churches, including Maronite, Serbian Orthodox (Located in Brunswick East), Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Uniting Church. Other Christian groups with places of worship are the Church of the Latter Rain and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are also two mosques and a Buddhist centre. Most of these places of worship are located along Sydney Road or its immediate hinterland.Transport
The area is among the best-served by public transport in Melbourne, with the Jewell, BrunswickBrunswick railway station, Melbourne
Brunswick is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Brunswick, on the Upfield railway line. Brunswick is unmanned and is in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:...
and Anstey stations on the Upfield railway line. In addition, there is the number 19
Melbourne tram route 19
Tram route 19 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from Flinders Street in the city centre to North Coburg in the northern suburbs. It runs through the suburbs of Melbourne, Parkville, Brunswick, Coburg, and Coburg North...
tram service to Melbourne University and the city on Sydney Road, and the number 1
Melbourne tram route 1
Tram route 1 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the terminus at Nicholson Street and Bell Street in East Coburg to the corner of Victoria Avenue and Beaconsfield Parade in Albert Park....
and 8
Melbourne tram route 8
Tram route 8 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from Toorak to Moreland through the suburbs of Carlton and South Yarra...
trams along Lygon Street
Lygon Street, Melbourne
Lygon Street is a street in inner northern Melbourne, Australia running through the suburbs of Carlton, Carlton North, Princes Hill and Brunswick East. Lygon Street's name has become synonymous with Italian restaurants and cafés located in the Carlton part of the street...
, and the number 55
Melbourne tram route 55
Tram route 55 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the corner of Bell Street and Melville Road in West Coburg to the Domain Road Interchange - Domain Road and St Kilda Road east of the city....
tram also heads through Royal Park and to the city from nearby West Brunswick. The number 96
Melbourne tram route 96
Melbourne tram route 96 is a public transport tram and light rail route in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is one of Melbourne's busiest tram route carrying 39,700 passengers a day with a frequency of every 10 minutes or less during peak...
tram travels down Nicholson St to the City in nearby Brunswick East.
Brunswick itself is relatively flat and is ideal for cycling. Brunswick East
Brunswick East, Victoria
Brunswick East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland. At the 2006 Census, Brunswick East had a population of 7,410....
is bounded by the Merri Creek Trail
Merri Creek Trail
The Merri Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Merri Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Following the Path:...
; and Brunswick West
Brunswick West, Victoria
Brunswick West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...
by the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail
Moonee Ponds Creek Trail
The Moonee Ponds Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Moonee Ponds Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Following the path:...
, though neither of these can be described as flat. The Upfield Bike Path
Upfield bike path
The Upfield Bike Path is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Upfield railway line through the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
follows the Upfield railway line from Fawkner, through Coburg
Coburg, Victoria
Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, although a handful of properties on Coburg's Eastern boundary are located in the City of Darebin...
and Brunswick joining the Capital City Trail
Capital City Trail
The Capital City Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which circles the Melbourne city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
at Park Street. Streets in Brunswick vary, from too narrow for two cars to pass to reasonably wide. Many of the wider streets have cycle lanes, though riding on these lanes, like the narrower streets, often means riding close to parked cars, presenting a significant hazard to cyclists from opening car doors.
Landmarks and notable places
The most prominent structures in Brunswick are the heritageCultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
-listed chimneys of Hoffmann's brickworks on Dawson St. At their base, one of the brick kilns has been preserved, though the remainder of this site has been redeveloped as medium-density attached housing and low-rise apartment blocks. Other landmark buildings are the many churches along Sydney Road, the Brunswick Tram Depot, and the large bluestone warehouses in Colebrook Street.
Of the newer structures, the four new buildings at the RMIT University
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
campus on Dawson Street are of notable contemporary character, each having its own unique architectural style, with two buildings by noted Melbourne architect, John Wardle
John Wardle (architect)
John Wardle is a Melbourne-based architect. His buildings are mainly one-off residential projects and educational facilities. He designed QV1 , part of Melbourne's QV Village complex. Many of his buildings have won national awards...
. The Brunswick Community Health Centre on Glenlyon Road, completed in the late 1980s, presents a collection of eclectic, differently coloured forms juxtaposed on a small site. It was designed by Melbourne architecture firm, Ashton Raggatt McDougall
Ashton Raggatt McDougall
Ashton Raggatt McDougall or ARM is a firm of architects based in Melbourne, Australia known for "architectural outspokenness". Founded in 1988, the firm has completed internationally renowned design work and the principals are Stephen Ashton, Howard Raggatt and Ian McDougall...
, who have since become internationally prominent.
Being one of Melbourne's oldest suburbs, Brunswick has a large number of places of heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
significance, in the form of individual buildings as well as urban conservation precincts covering entire streets or substantial parts of them.
Sister cities
SolarinoSolarino
Solarino is a comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily . It's located about 190 km southeast of Palermo and about 15 km west of Syracuse...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Sparta
Sparti (municipality)
Sparti is a municipality of Laconia, Greece. It lies at the site of ancient Sparta. The population in 2001 was 38,079, of whom 15,828 lived in the town itself.-History:...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
Brunswick has more Greeks of Lakonian
Laconia
Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...
origin than anywhere else in Australia. The president of the Greek Community first suggested a sister city connection between Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
and Brunswick in 1970. The sistership protocols were signed in 1987. A party comprising the Mayor of Sparta and eight dignitaries came to Brunswick for the official function in 1988, at which Talbot Street, (off Sydney Road, one block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
north of Victoria Street) was pedestrianised and renamed Sparta Place in recognition of the political and cultural link between the two places. In 2005, Sparta Place was significantly remodelled.
See also
- City of BrunswickCity of BrunswickThe City of Brunswick is the name of a former Local Government Area in the inner-northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprised the suburbs of Brunswick, Brunswick East and West Brunswick...
- The former local government area of which Brunswick was a part. - Death in BrunswickDeath in BrunswickDeath in Brunswick is a 1991 Australian film starring Sam Neill, Zoe Carides and John Clarke.-Plot:Set and filmed in Brunswick, a Melbourne suburb, it deals with a humble chef, Carl who gets a job at a sleazy nightclub owned by Yanni Voulgaris...
- A 1991 film set in Brunswick, starring Sam NeillSam NeillNigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
, Zoe CaridesZoe CaridesZoe Carides is an Australian film and television actress who is best known for her roles in the television series G. P. as Dr. Sonia Kapek and Grass Roots as Liz Murray. Carides was born in Sydney, Australia.-Family:...
and John ClarkeJohn Clarke-Canada:* John Clarke , Canadian political activist and founder of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty* John Clarke C.M., Canadian mountaineer, explorer and wilderness educator* John Clarke -Canada:* John Clarke (activist), Canadian political activist and founder of the Ontario Coalition...
. - 'Kick' a 2007 television sitcom set in Brunswick
Further reading
- Barnes, Les (Ed)(1987) It Happened in Brunswick: 1837-1987, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group (ISBN 0-9587742-0-X)
- Brunswick Community History Group (2005) Brunswick Green: Historic Parks in Moreland, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group with Moreland City Council
- Brunswick Community History Group (1993) A Walk Along The Upfield Line, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group (No ISBN)
- Cunningham, L. and Burchell, L. (4th ed, 1999) Brunswick's Hotels, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group (No ISBN)
- Eckersall, K. (2006) The Pillars of Our Land: Brunswick Citizen Pioneers, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group (ISBN 0-9587742-9-3)
- Folk-Scolaro, F. (Ed)(2002) Faith of Our Fathers: Churches of Sydney Road, Brunswick, Brunswick: Brunswick Community History Group (ISBN 0-9587742-6-9)
- Himbury, A (2000) "As long as you could see the Hoffman's Chimneys you wasn't lost": Saving Brunswick's Brickworks, Brunswick: Save the Brickworks (ISBN 0-646-39234-4)
- Penrose, H (Ed)(1994) Brunswick: One History - Many Voices, Melbourne: Victoria Press (ISBN 0-724184538)
- An account of a women's hydrotherapy group at the Brunswick Baths.
External links
- History and geography
- Festivals, shopping and restaurants
- Sydney Road Brunswick Association - Detailed information about festivals, shopping and restaurants in Brunswick and surrounding areas along Sydney Road.
- Brunswick Music Festival
- Planning
- Sport
- [(www.wbafc.com.au)] - West Brunswick Australian Rules Football Club
- http://www.sportingpulse.com/club_info.cgi?client=1-3232-36869-0-0 - Link to North Brunswick Football Club (Aussie Rules)
- http://www.brunswickcitysc.com.au/ Brunswick City Soccer Club