Historical information

Date is approximate.
Two original post cards of this image - "Surrey Hills - looking East" - were donated by Stephen Wyatt on 10 March 2012. One is blank; the other has been sent to Mrs A Wyatt, C/O Mrs E Young, 'Grand View', Warburton from daughter Nellie from 'The Quantocks', Surrey Hills - postmarked 10 Dec 1906.
There is also a reproduction of this image in a framed collage of Surrey Hills photos.

Significance

This is the earliest known image of the Surrey Gardens. The layout was originally designed by William Guilfoyle, who also designed Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.

Physical description

Black and white photo taken from an early postcard. Taken from the roof of a house in Essex Road, it shows the development of housing between Essex and Union Roads and includes the section of land fenced off for the Surrey Gardens with paths roughly laid out, one existing tree but no tree planting. The houses depicted are largely Edwardian timber buildings with corrugated rooves. There are still some vacant blocks. Kirkland on Union Road can be seen in the distance, as can some of the shops along Canterbury Road.

Inscriptions & markings

Lower LHS within original image: " Surrey Hills - Looking East"; on the rear "No 17" in black pen in top LH corner.