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Cremorne Gardens, Melbourne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cremorne Gardens was an amusement park established in 1853 on the banks of the Yarra River at Richmond in Melbourne, Australia. The gardens were established by James Ellis who had earlier established similar gardens of the same name on the banks of the River Thames at Chelsea in London.
The gardens were later acquired by theatrical entrepreneur and local identity George Coppin who expanded the gardens significantly. Entertainment provided included a Cyclorama, bowling alley, menagerie, dancers and nightly fireworks. Patrons arrived by riverboat or by train at the purpose built railway station. The gardens were notable as being the location of the first balloon flight in Australia when in 1858 Englishman William Dean floated seven miles north to Brunswick.
George Coppin went bankrupt in 1863 and the gardens were closed. The land was sold and became an asylum which itself closed in the 1880s. The land was then subdivided for housing much of which remains today. A small park is at the southern end of the area previously occupied by the gardens and a small plaque marks their location. It no longer fronts the river due to the construction of the Monash Freeway in the 1961. The area of Richmond in which the gardens were located was formally renamed Cremorne in 1999.