Item HT 21118 Presentation Trowel - Princes Bridge, Foundation Stone Lying Ceremony, Melbourne, Victoria, 7 Sep 1886

Summary

Presentation trowel created for the public ceremony marking the laying of the foundation stone for Princes Bridge in 1886. Presented to the wife of the Mayor of Melbourne, Mrs James Cooper Stewart on 7th September 1886, by the contractor for work David Munro.

The bridge itself, spanning the Yarra River between Swanston Street and St Kilda Road, is a significant piece of Melbourne's infrastructure, indeed a Melbourne icon. The trowel is considered a marvellous example of engraving and jewellery.

For over a centenary, Princes Bridge crossing the Yarra River between Swanston Street and St Kilda Road has been one of Melbourne's most recognisable and enduring landmarks and a key part of the city's transport infrastructure. Originally designed by architect and engineer, John Harry Grainger (1855-1917) - father of the composer George Percy Grainger - in 1879, as the winning entry for a design competition, Princes Bridge was built by David Munro & Co, for the Public Works Department in 1886-88. It replaced an earlier stone arch bridge completed in 1850, and is close to the site of the first timber bridge built across the Yarra River in 1844. By the 1880s a new bridge was required both to allow for the widening of the Yarra for flood mitigation and improved shipping access to the river wharves and to allow for the additional loading created by cable trams. The 400 feet (120 metres) long by 99 feet (30 metres) wide bridge is of a unique design for Victoria with three riveted iron girder arch spans on bluestone abutments and piers and has distinctive cast-iron spandrel panels and ornate lamp stands featuring the coat of arms of the State of Victoria and the Cities of Melbourne, South Melbourne, Prahran, St Kilda, Brighton, Caulfield and Moorabbin, who jointly funded the construction.

Physical Description

Decorative presentation metal trowel with wooden handle in custom leather case, lined with blue satin. Trowel blade is engraved with extensive text and includes a finely engraved image of the Prince's Bridge. Handle is embellished with gold and silver decorative bands and a golden shield.

Significance

Princes Bridge is of engineering and architectural significance for its substantial size and for the skilled stonemasonry demonstrated in the construction of the abutments and piers. It is also of historical significance because of the key transport link that it has provided for over 130 years between the city of Melbourne propoer, and its southern suburbs. The bridge also has asthestic significance as a key landmark symbolic of hte city of Melbourne and has appeared in countless images over the decades showing the view from the southern bank of the Yarra River showing the bridge spanning the foreground and the city skyline beyond.

This engraved trowel made for use in the public ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone for the bridge in 1886, provides a tangible reminder of the large public works projects undertaken to transform the City of Melbourne in the last two decades of the 19th century. As with all major infrastructure projects, bridge construction has typically been an area where other than the built form itself or images of the structure, it is difficult to find tangible artefacts that tell a story directly about the construction and commissioning of the infrastructure. This trowel provides links to both one of Melbourne's most famous bridges and one of the city key early engineers.