Statues in Sturt Street

1. Arch of Victory - 1920 - Brick, cement rendered - Public subscription
On the Western Highway is a 22 kilometre stretch of 3728 trees, each one a memorial to men and women in order of enlistment for the First World War. The final planting was completed on 9 June 1919 and the employees of the Lucas Factory then began to collect money to build the Arch of Victory to form an entrance. They pledged twopence in every pound of their wages, sold souvenirs and held fund raising drives.

On 2 June 1920, the Prince of Wales opened the Arch and was presented with a pair of silk pyjamas embroidered with Australian emblems. Each of the 500 'Lucas Girls' had put in a stitch.

A new memorial in the form of a rotunda has been constructed adjacent to the Arch of Victory and in 1997 a management plan was devised for the maintenance of the Avenue of Honour. The trees are now in a state of decline but the Avenue is to be retained as a most significant cultural asset of national importance. On 6 November 1997, a Restoration Fund was launched to raise $600,000 for the annual replacement of 100 trees for the next 40 years.

2. Petersen Fountain - 1923 - Marble, granite, bronze
In the median strip opposite the Ballarat Base Hospital on the corner of Sturt and Drummond Streets is an ornamental fountain presented by C.H. Petersen, who was born in Denmark on 2 March 1838, and died in Ballarat on 9 February 1922.

The fountain features four bronze frog water spouts beneath four marble stork spouts. On the top is another stork in bronze with its wings spread. The Petersen Fountain was restored by the Rotary Club of Ballarat South in 1977 and in 1993. The inscription '25th year' on the plaque presumably refers to the club's anniversary.

3. Earth Statue - 1952 - Sculptor: George H Allen - Hawkesbury freestone, granite
Frank Pinkerton Bequest Statue: In the western median strip at the intersection of Sturt and Raglan Streets a large grey stone sculpture on a granite base was erected in 1952. The symbolism is described on the plaque: 'Central Figure Earth Emerging from Relief Figures Representing the Industries of Mining and Agriculture'.

4. The Horse Statue - Adam Lindsay Gordon Memorial 1969 Sculptor: Raymond B Ewery - Cast bronze, granite
At the western side of the Sturt and Lyons Street crossroads there is a magnificent bronze statue by Ewery of a horse mounted on a stone plinth. In front, by the gutter, is a hitching post with a plaque inscribed 'A.L. GORDON, AUSTRALIAN POET, 1833 - 1870'. Gordon was a celebrated poet and horseman who lived in Ballarat between 1867 and 1869, when he ran Craig's Livery Stables. He set a record at Flemington when he won three steeplechases in an afternoon. At Mount Gambier in South Australia he performed an amazing feat on his horse at a place immortalised as Gordon's Leap'.

5. First World War Cenotaph - 1949 - Architect: John P Shimmin - Hawkesbury freestone
This is a solemn sandstone pillar mounted on the west with a bronze wreath and the simple wording: OUR GLORIOUS DEAD. This is where dawn services are held every ANZAC Day.

6. Eternal Flame - Second World War Memorial - 1995 - Sculptor: Peter Blizzard - Bronze
This human-size metal sculpture, in the shape of a flame is green on three sides and gold on the face to the setting sun.

The lettering is set in stone on the ground. It reads: 'This memorial, erected in the year of the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II honours the sons and daughters of Australia who served our country during those years of hostilities on the ground, in the air and at sea. Many rest forever in foreign lands. They fought in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, South East Asia and the Pacific in the brave and selfless tradition established by the Anzacs during World War I. We acknowledge our debt to them and recognise those who as civilians, worked tirelessly in the factories, on the land or from home to support them.'

7. Statue of Peter Lalor - 1893 - Sculptor: T Nelson McLean - Aberdeen granite
In Sturt Street, between St Andrew's Kirk and St Patrick's Cathedral, stands an impressive monument, fashioned in pink granite and bronze. The figure of Peter Lalor is mounted high in the air looking to the east to the diggings where the Eureka Stockade was located. If he could open his eyes today, he would see the huge mast and flag above the Eureka Centre. He is dressed in his Speaker's wig and parliamentary robes which cover the stump of his missing arm.

The bronze relief tablets mounted around the base tell the Eureka story. The south and north panels depict tableaux of Peter Lalor's life including a battle scene in the Eureka Stockade with the Eureka flag flying above and his role as a member of Parliament. The western tablet is a memorial to the men (named) who were killed while fighting at The Eureka Stockade on 3 December 1854.

8. Korean, Borneo, Malayan, Vietnam Memorial - 2000 - Granite

9. Sir Albert Coates - 2000 - Bronze
Sir Albert Coates was a Ballarat boy who left school at 12 years of age and achieved against all the odds.

Dr James (Jim) Pryor was President of the Albert Coates Memorial Trust and gave the address at the Albert Coates Dinner on Saturday, 14 May 2000, prior to unveiling the statue on 15 May. Pryor remembered Sir Albert Coates in 1948-49 as a lecturer in surgery at the University of Melbourne and described him as a brilliant lecturer. Coates was also the Senior Surgeon at Royal Melbourne Hospital. Albert Coates was a medical orderly in the First World War and at the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered for the Australian Army and was posted to Singapore, where he was in charge of a hospital. After the fall of Singapore he was captured in Sumatra and spent three years as a Japanese prisoner of war, ministering to the sick prisoners, as did Sir 'Weary' Dunlop.

10. Queen Alexandra Bandstand - 1907 - Architect: R Ludbrook - Wrought iron
This ornate hexagonal bandstand stands in Alexandra Square and was named by the Duke of York in 1901, after his mother Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII.

The wrought iron panels were made at the Eagle Foundry in Dana Street.

11. William Dunstan - Victoria Cross Memorial - 1995 - Polished granite, greystone
The memorial to William Dunstan, Ballarat's Victoria Cross winner, was erected in 1995 in the Sturt Street median strip between Dawson and Drummond Streets. It was part of the federally funded 'Australia Remembers' project, which marked the 50th anniversary of the end of Second World War. It is a pink marble and greystone pillar with the Australian Imperial Force crest on the east and a metal plaque on the western side which tells Dunstan's story.

12. King George V Monument - 1938 - Sculptor: Victor E Greenhalgh - Bronze, granite
This monument was made in 1937 by Victor E. Greenhalgh, a Ballarat born man, who also made busts of six of the prime ministers in the gardens. The statue of King George V is his largest sculpture and shows the royal crest of the lion and the unicorn with inscriptions in Latin, 'DIEU ET MON DROIT' ('God and my right').

The King is shown holding the orb and sceptre and is dressed in the ceremonial robes of the Order of the Garter, signified by the garter worn on his left leg below the knee.

The bronze statue, which faces east, is surrounded by extensive granite seating.