Fitzroy Gardens walk

Nearby you’ll find Sinclair’s Cottage (stop 4). This Italian Romanesque-style home was designed by Francis Maloney White and built in 1866 for head gardener James Sinclair. There is a lot of character in this very well preserved cottage, its walls alternate between a dominant cream and red brickwork, and two chimneys that stand out on the ceiling.

Across a wooden bridge, at the back of the pond resides the 1850s bronze sculpture, The Boy on the Turtle (stop 5) by an unknown artist. The bronze statue was stolen from the gardens in 1977, a remarkable feat considering its weight. Two and a half years later, it was found by the police in an abandoned Richmond car park.

At the next stop channel your inner child by visiting the Model Tudor Village and the Fairies’ Tree (stop 6). The tiny, rambling village was gifted in 1947 from the people of Lambeth in England, in appreciation for food parcels from Australia sent during WWII. The artist, Edgar Wilson was a 77-year-old pensioner living in England when he built this model Tudor, one of three villages he built, and it represents a typical Kentish village during the Tudor period.

Across the path you’ll spot the Fairies’ Tree, sculpted in one of the original red gum trees in Fitzroy Gardens in 1934 by Ola Cohn. The Australian artist born in Bendigo, in her artistic work features fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, jackass and a variety of Australian animals and birds.

The Boy and Pelican, and Mermaid and Fish (stop 7) pyrmont sandstone sculptures guard Hotham St entrance, one of the main entrances to the garden. A special art sub-committee was established in the 1930s to assist the City Council Parks and Gardens Committee select statuary appropriate for the City's Gardens.

These sculptures won first prize in the Fitzroy Gardens Sculpture Competition, held in 1935. As an interesting fact, the head of the boy was replaced in 1973, after the statue having fallen victim to vandalism.

Make sure you check out the historic Rotunda (stop 8), built in 1873 by Thomas Julian & Co., and also known by the name ‘Temple of the Winds’, a circular masonry structure, with 10 columns supporting a domed roof; it rests on rough, dressed bluestone footings.

Another 19th century structure that graces the garden is the temple-like Bandstand (stop 9), constructed in 1864 to host musicians playing for the crowds who flocked to the gardens. You can book these two charming spaces for events on the council website.

Loop back downhill to find the charming Children’s Playground (stop 10), where little ones love to visit the towering giraffe swing and popular dragon slide. A sandpit also offers a spot for the kids to play in the shade.

Another must-visit sculpture, one of the Melbourne’s oldest surviving public artwork and notable work of Melbourne’s foremost early sculptor, Charles Summers. The enigmatic River God Fountain (stop 11), also known as Old Man Fountain, and Neptune, was created in 1862 to celebrate the development of a permanent water supply for Melbourne.

In 1962, it was replaced with Robin Boyd’s Fountain of the Birds. Some three decades later, in 1996, it was conserved and returned not to its original position, but to above a newly created rockery at the Eades Street entrance.

Next head towards Lansdowne Street to wander along the People’s Path (stop 12). It features 10,000 terracotta bricks set in the three concentric circles surrounding a raised garden bed, with plantings of palms and ivy. The exposed face of each brick features a hand-etched drawing. The associated plaque advises that the ‘tiles’ were made by the people of Victoria on the opening day of the Arts Victoria 78 Craft Festival.

In the middle of the garden, you will see the Dolphin Fountain (stop 13), created in 1982 by June Arnold. It comprises around 100 aquatic birds and animals, such as dolphins, crabs and seahorses, sculpted in bronze and fastened to a small pyramid of granite boulders over which water cascades.

June Arnold’s Dolphin Fountain caused quite a stir when it was proposed. Many of the fountain’s critics have found it at odds with the planned naturalism of the heritage-listed Fitzroy Gardens, but just as Arnold predicted it has been a favourite with children ever since its installation.