The Swamp Vanishes

(View from Flagstaff Hill, West Melbourne, in 1841- image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria)

Currently on display at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, a captivating new exhibition – The Swamp Vanishes.

Curated by Lenore Frost with support from Richard Barnden and David Thompson, the exhibition traces how a significant wetland in inner Melbourne, into which our own Moonee Ponds Creek once flowed, vanished from sight.

"Before European settlers arrived in the Port Phillip district, a large wetland that lay between the Yarra River and the Moonee Ponds Creek sustained the indigenous people and the cultural traditions of the Kulin nation. It was known by the new settlers as Batman’s Swamp, later West Melbourne Swamp.  In less than 20 years that important wetland had been despoiled by European settlers, who turned it into a receptacle for sewage and rubbish." (The Swamp Vanishes, 2020)

To discover more about the events leading to the drastic decline of the wetland, head to the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and explore the free exhibition- on display until July.

Royal Historical Society of Victoria
Drill Hall
239 A'Beckett St
Melbourne 3000

For further information and to listen to the launch speech from the exhibition’s opening night, visit 

https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/the-swamp-vanishes/



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