Melbourne Adventure | Fitzroy Gardens (The Tudor Village and The Fairies' Tree)

Hey Everyone,

Today I shall be showing and telling you all about the Model Tudor Village and The Fairies' Tree.  To make sure all of the info is accurate I have copied the info from the Fitzroy Garden's Website.

Sorry about the poorly angled and positioned photos, I was trying to see as much of the gardens in a short space of time and had to rush through everything.

"The Village which is situated in the centre of the Fitzroy Gardens, was modelled in cement by Mr. Edgar Wilson, a 77 year old pensioner who lived in Hamilton Road, Norwood, London, England, who carried out the task as a hobby. He built three such villages.

One of them which he presented to the City of Melbourne through the City of Lambeth, England, in appreciation of Melbourne’s generosity in sending food to Britain, during the Second World War. It was officially opened by the Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor Sir Raymond Connelly, on 21st May, 1948. The model buildings represent a typical Kentish village built during the "Tudor" period of English history. The village is composed of various thatched cottages, a village church, school, hotel, barns, stocks, pump, and all public buildings which make up one of the delightful villages. Also included is a scale model of Shakespeare’s home and Anne Hathaway’s cottage.

Six houses were presented to the Lambeth Council on 27th October 1948 for Vauxhall Park. They were subsequently located on the site laid out by the Borough Engineer. A set of houses was also given to Lambeth for Brockwell Park." (Fitzroy Gardens, n.d.)

"One of the greatest attractions for children is situated in the Fitzroy Gardens - Ola Cohn's Fairies Tree, comprising a series of lovely carvings on the stump of one of the original Red Gum trees in the Fitzroy Gardens, well over 300 years in age.

From 1931 to May 1934 - Victoria's Centenary Year - Miss Cohn worked on the delightful likenesses of fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, a marvelous jackass, koalas, flying foxes and a host of typical Australian animals and birds. She used all the natural irregularities and curves to transform the tree trunk into a thing of beauty.

Her intentions are best described in the foreword to her book, "The Fairies Tree", inscribed on the tree's plaque :

"I have carved in a tree in the Fitzroy Gardens for you, and the fairies, but mostly for the fairies and those who believe in them, for they will understand how necessary it is to have a fairy sanctuary - a place that is sacred and safe as a home should be to all living creatures."

The carvings were done years after the death of the tree and so the problem of the trunk's preservation presented a problem. In 1977, the trunk was extracted from the ground for chemical treatment and the removal of rotted wood, and during the process, a mummified brush tail possum over 40 years old was found perfectly preserved within the trunk. The tree was remounted on a concrete base to prolong its life."(Fitzroy Gardens, n.d.)

Now, I'm going to apologize for the oddity of the size of the images of The Fairies' Tree, they are larger than what I normally have my photos and they don't quite fit within the borders of the blog.  But for some reason I couldn't bare to have the images any smaller, the tree deserved to have the biggest photos, I don't know what is making me need to do this, perhaps it's fairy magic ;), but whatever it is, I must have the photos BIG! :)

Happy Gardens,
Michael

and tomorrow, it's onto Her Majesties' Rose Garden... yes, I did bow to her statue.