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Posts Tagged ‘great bed and room for the night’

In the Fitzroy Gardens of Melbourne, Australia, visitors will find an unusual site: the 255 year old cottage of Captain James Cook , originally built in England in the village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. His parents, James and Grace Cook, were the ones who actually lived in it; it’s possible one of the world’s most famous navigators never lived here, although certainly he must have visited it several times. If he were to arrive today, he’d certainly be confused that the family home changed locations.

The explanation of the hemisphere hopping cottage, though, is fairly simple. In 1933, the cottage owner wanted to sell it but with the provision that the home remain in England. Eventually, she was talked into broadening this provision from keeping it in England to keeping it within the British Empire, thus making it possible for her to accept a bid of 800 pounds, a bid that was five hundred pounds higher than any local offer.

The home, constructed in 1755, was taken apart, brick by brick, and packed into 40 barrels and 253 cases and shipped aboard the Port Dunedin from Hull. Cuttings were taken from the ivy that surrounded the house and re-planted when the home was re-erected in Melbourne. The new owner, Russell Grimwade was a businessman and philanthropist and he donated the cottage to the people of Victoria at the centenary anniversary of Melbourne’s settlement in October of 1934. The cottage quickly became a tourist attraction and landmark for the city.

To visit the cottage today gives visitors the opportunity to step back in time to the 18th Century. The home are now a part of the Fitzroy Gardens . The cottage contains a Discovery Center, where people can learn about the life of Captain James Cook — navigator, explorer, and cartographer, the first to map Newfoundland and the first to make European contact with the eastern coast of Australia.

While the 18th Century may be enticing to some, others will welcome stepping back into contemporary Melbourne and into a modern Melbourne hotel for the night.