Taylor Square, Sydney
Encyclopedia
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...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, 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...
. Taylor Square is located beside a major road junction, where Oxford Street
Oxford Street, Sydney
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in Sydney, Australia running from Whitlam Square on the south-east corner of Hyde Park in the central business district of Sydney to Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs. Close to the CBD in particular, the street is lined with numerous shops, bars and...
meets Flinders Street and Bourke Street. Taylor Square is also on the border of the suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s of Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
and Surry Hills
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is located immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
. The square sits above the tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
section of the Eastern Distributor
Eastern Distributor
The Eastern Distributor, also identified as the M1, is a long motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of Metroad 1, it links the Sydney central business district with the Airport...
part of Metroad 1
Metroad 1
Metroad 1 is a Metroad in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced National Route 1, from Metroad 7 at Pearces Corner in Wahroonga south-east to the CBD then from the CBD south-west to the F6 Southern Freeway at Waterfall in October 1993.-Route:...
. The square is named after Robert Taylor (1792 - 1850), a convict transported in 1820, and freed in 1826. Taylor subsequently became a businessman and owned approximately two acres of land and buildings which included the area now occupied by the square.
The area formerly bound by the traffic of the three streets is popularly known as "Gilligan's Island" because of three large palm trees that once occupied the strip, but have since been subsequently removed. Construction of the Eastern Distributor
Eastern Distributor
The Eastern Distributor, also identified as the M1, is a long motorway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Part of Metroad 1, it links the Sydney central business district with the Airport...
also entailed the realignment of traffic flow in the area. Direct vehicle access across Oxford Street via Bourke Street is no longer possible.
The locality is a centre of the city's nightlife, especially for its gay community. It features many pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cafes and shops.
Darlinghurst Courthouse is an imposing sandstone building on Taylor Square. It was designed by architect Mortimer Lewis (1796 - 1879) in 1844, and has a Greek Revival style facade. The central block is adapted from an 1823 design in Peter Nicholson's 'The New Practical Builder' (Apperly, Irving & Reynolds, 1989).
Who was Robert Taylor