City of Sydney spotlights civic spaces bearing witness to First World War

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City of Sydney spotlights civic spaces bearing witness to First World War

April 25, 2022

Culture / Parks /

To mark ANZAC Day, City of Sydney has spotlighted a number of civic spaces bearing witness to the First World War which include its Moore Park Cricket Association Memorial Drinking Fountain.

Drinking fountains offered a utilitarian memorial to those who served. The Moore Park Cricket Association Memorial Drinking Fountain, at the intersection of Cleveland and South Dowling streets, names 33 members of the Moore Park Cricket Association who fell in the First World War. Fittingly, cricket continues to be played on the ovals just a boundary throw away.

Other interesting examples of memorial fountains can be seen in Sydney. A granite and sandstone obelisk in Hyde Park north, on the corner of Elizabeth and Park streets, was erected by the Grand United Order of Oddfellows. A sandstone monument and water bubbler at Woolloomooloo was placed opposite the gates through which the soldiers passed on their way to war. It was commissioned by the Centre for Soldiers’ Wives and Mothers on behalf of ‘the women of New South Wales’.

City of Sydney also spotlights ‘Sacrifice’ - a striking bronze sculpture by Rayner Hoff situated inside the Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park.

The city’s main war memorial was funded by public subscription and completed in 1934.

The exterior features 20 monumental stone figures sculpted by Hoff in his studio at East Sydney Technical College. Look for the airman and matron on the southwest and northwest corners. Hoff served with the British Army on the western front, and these figures offer, in contrast to the allegorical Sacrifice, a true-to-life portrayal of Australian World War I servicemen and women. Hoff’s proposals for the east and west pedestals proved too controversial and were never realised.

The state government recently restored and extended the memorial. The City of Sydney contributed to the work, officially opened by Prince Harry in October 2018.

Images: Credit: BdB/City of Sydney

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