Victoria Square, Adelaide

Ceremony to mark the unveiling of the statue of Queen Victoria in Victoria Square on 11 August 1894.

In 1837, the first Surveyor General of South Australia, Colonel William Light, mapped a plan for the City of Adelaide. The design incorporated a central square to function as Adelaide's focal point and provide open space for recreational activities. On his first map, Light called the precinct "The Great Square". It was eventually named in honour of Princess Victoria, then heir to the British throne.

The square was a dusty, treeless paddock until 1854, when the Adelaide City Council embarked on a planting program, constructed four broad diagonal pedestrian paths and erected a wooden fence. The landscaping work was designed by George William Francis, later the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden.[19]

Other work on the square included construction of an east–west roadway that created two garden areas. A fountain was also considered, but it took a further 100 years for this idea to come to fruition. By 1883, plans were under way to extend King William Street directly through Victoria Square, dividing it into four garden areas. The original wooden fence was replaced by ornate iron railings. A statue of Queen Victoria – who had ascended to the throne in June 1837 – was erected in the centre of the square in 1894.[20]

Victoria Square, 1960

The statue of Colonel Light, now known as Light's Vision and since 1938 situated on Montefiore Hill, was unveiled on 27 November 1906 in its original location at the northern end of Victoria Square.[21]

The original tram terminus was located outside the Charles Moore & Company department store with services operating via a loop in an anti-clockwise direction in the south-western corner. As part of the rebuilding of the square, in December 1966 the tram terminus was relocated near the centre of the square with Grote and Wakefield Streets to the north and Gouger and Angas Streets to the south.[22][23]

The layout remained unchanged until 1967 when the square assumed its present diamond form.[24] The Three Rivers Fountain by John Dowie was built to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, in 1968. The three South Australian rivers, the Murray, Onkaparinga and Torrens, are represented by an Aboriginal male with an Ibis, a female with a heron, and a female with a black swan. On 12 July 1971, the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag designed by Harold Thomas was flown for the first time – in Victoria Square.[25] It now flies permanently alongside the Australian flag on one of the two tall flagpoles in the centre of the square.

In 2002, the Adelaide City Council formally recognised the areas heritage by bestowing the dual name Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga. The old tram depot at the square was also demolished,[26] so was the old SAPOL Headquarters. An SA Water office building was built in its place. In 2012 the Adelaide City Council endorsed $24 million in funding to begin rejuvenating Victoria Square. Construction commenced in March 2013 and the first of two planned stages (the northern half) was completed in February 2014.[27] The planned redevelopment of the southern half has been held up due to lack of funding.[28] The full development included:[29]

Located in the centre of the square is a statue honouring Queen Victoria from a model by C. B. Birch, unveiled in 1894.[30] The statue was presented to the city by Sir Edwin Smith, based on a design viewed in England in 1893.[31][32] It was cast by Moore & Co. of Thames Ditton using bronze specifically made from Wallaroo and Moonta copper.[33] Inscribed simply with "Victoria R.I.", the statue was originally unveiled by Lady Smith on 11 August 1894.[20] The statue was symbolically draped in black as a sign of mourning following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.[31] For many years a wreath laying ceremony was held at the foot of the statue each 24 May (or 23rd when the 24th was a Saturday), the anniversary of her birth in 1819.[34] It was removed, cleaned and polished in May 2013 as part of the upgrade of Victoria Square and returned in December 2013 in a modified location.[35]

The Three Rivers Fountain was erected to commemorate the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Adelaide in February 1963. Located at the northern end of the square, it was unveiled and first set in operation by the Duke of Edinburgh on 28 May 1968.[36] It was later relocated to the southern end, and was officially reopened by then Lord Mayor, Stephen Yarwood, in July 2014.[37]

Sculptured by John Dowie, the centrepiece in the shape of a crown represents the royal visit, and the fountain represents the three rivers that Adelaide draws water from:[36]

• The Murray, depicted by an Aboriginal man and an ibis (probably representing Kaurna ancestor creator Tjilbruke[38])
• The Torrens, depicted by a woman and a black swan
• The Onkaparinga, depicted by a woman and a heron

The fountain was heritage-listed as a state heritage place in 2012.[39]

Located at the northern end of the square, the State Survey Mark commemorates the placing of the first peg for the survey of the City of Adelaide by Colonel Light on 11 January 1837. This survey mark is the reference point for all other survey marks in South Australia.[40] The mark was unveiled, along with a commemorative plaque by then Minister of Lands, Susan Lenehan on 21 April 1989.

The east–west road connecting Grote and Wakefield Streets was named Reconciliation Plaza in 2013. The plaza hosts two flagpoles flying the Australian National Flag and the Aboriginal Flag, which has flown permanently in the square since 2002. In 1971, the square was the first place the Aboriginal Flag was flown, at a land rights rally (see Dual naming, above).[41]

Reconciliation Plaza was officially opened on 26 May 2014 by Mayor Yarwood, Reconciliation Committee Chairperson Yvonne Agius and Journey of Healing SA Chairperson John Browne.[42]

John McDouall Stuart monument

A monument to John McDouall Stuart, one of Australia's premier explorers, is situated in Victoria Square. It was erected on 4 June 1904 and heritage listed on 8 March 2013. Stuart led the first expedition to successfully cross the continent from north to south and back. This opened Central Australia for pastoral use and led to the South Australian government's successful case for control over the Northern Territory. The route of his expedition also paved the way for the Overland Telegraph, which permitted virtually immediate communication between Australia and Europe.[43]

A statue of explorer Charles Sturt stands in Victoria Square. Sturt is depicted in the working clothes of an outback explorer, leaning forward, shielding his eyes from the sun with his right hand and peering into the distance. He carries a compass, telescope, map and water bottle.[44]

A statue of Charles Kingston, son of George Strickland Kingston and SA premier from 1893 to 1899, stands in the square with a plaque reading "patriot and statesman".[45] British sculptor Alfred Drury was commissioned to create the statue, and it was placed in a central location on the northwestern side, facing down Grote Street towards his West Adelaide electorate. It was unveiled on 26 May 1916, during World War I. It was later criticised as capturing "little of his fire".[46] While Kingston was instrumental in bringing about several progressive social policies, such as electoral reform (including the first law to give votes to women in Australia), a legitimation Act, the first conciliation and arbitration act in Australia, and a progressive system of taxation,[47] he was also one of the main architects of the White Australia policy. After the Black Lives Matter gained pace in June 2020, with various statues representing slave traders and various perpetrators of racism being removed or defaced both in the US and in the UK during the George Floyd protests, archaeologist and historian Jacinta Koolmatrie argued it is ironic that the statue is placed so close to the Aboriginal flag in the square, which was also the site of the Adelaide Black Lives Matter protest.[45]