Cat and Fiddle Arcade
 The Cat and Fiddle clock. A cow jumps over the moon | |
 | |
| Location | Hobart City Centre, Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°52′55″S 147°19′37″E / 42.88194°S 147.32694°E |
| Opening date | 31 July 1962[1] |
| Developer | Charles Davis Limited (from 1959, designed by Philp Lighton, Floyd and Beattie[2][3] with planning by Hartley Wilson and Dirk Bolt[4]). Gerard O'Brien (since 2010)[5] |
| Management | Silverleaf Investments Pty Ltd |
| No. of stores and services | 70 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Parking | 1700 (Centrepoint and Hobart Central)[6] |
| Website | www |
The Cat and Fiddle Arcade is a shopping mall and hub located in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and covers a city block made up of about 17 buildings[7] at 49-51 Murray Street. It is famous for its musical clock, which plays the Hey Diddle Diddle nursery rhyme hourly[8][9] with glockenspiel and vibraphone,[better source needed] and is a local tourist attraction.[10] Cat and Fiddle Square (the location of a food court, and formerly a fountain) also holds other music events and occasionally art installations.[11] Along with at least 70 specialty stores, the mall is Hobart's major clothing and fashion retail centre containing a Myer and Target which each cover two levels, as well as an H&M.[12]
It is accessible via the Icon Complex on Liverpool Street and Murray Street, and the Elizabeth Street Mall (close to the Hobart Bus Mall), and bounded by Collins Street where there is a skybridge to Trafalgar Place. It is also located directly between other malls in the shopping precinct, including the Wellington Centre (via Wellington Court or the Bank Arcade, anchored by a Woolworths) and Centrepoint Shopping Centre.
History[edit]
The arcade's name is the legacy of the 1817 alley (now called Elizabeth Lane), where at Wellington Bridge over the Hobart Rivulet an inn flagged by a painting of a yellow cat and fiddle (The Cat and Fiddle) was situated until the 1830s (between Charles Davis' ironmongery and John Watt Beattie's photography studio).[13] Into the 1860s the Cat and Fiddle Alley retained a notoriety as a characterfully rough and unsanitary, but central locale.[14] The arrangement of the arcade still follows the path of the underground Rivulet.
The 1962 opening was attended by Alderman Basil Osborne and the ABC Orchestra.[1] The hardware department store Charles Davis Limited operated from 1847 to 1984 (and later acquired nearby FitzGerald's Department Stores in 1981, both now Harris Scarfe) at the site, and the business pursued its redevelopment inspired by other modern malls such as Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne which opened two years prior.[better source needed] After 1973 the name is used by Cat & Fiddle Press,[15] a reference to WE Fuller's Bookshop and J Walch & Sons which had at various times been based nearby.
Major floods have affected the mall, including in 1929, 1947 and most recently in 2018.[citation needed] It received upgrades during 2010 to 2015,[16][17] but during reconstruction works for the ICON Centre in 2016 (following the 2007 Myer fire), part of the Rivulet retaining wall collapsed beneath some arcade tenancies.[18]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Film - Opening of Cat and Fiddle Arcade. Shows the opening ceremony, including crowds, business leaders, Davis family and members of the ABC Orchestra (which played the music arrangement written by Jessie Wakefield)". Tasmanian Archives. Libraries Tasmania. 31 July 1962. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Charles Davis Limited retail store development, shopping arcade and Cat and Fiddle Square. Hobart: Mercury. 1959. p. 3. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Notes and News". Royal Australian Planning Institute Journal. 2 (4): 133–36. 1963. doi:10.1080/00049999.1963.11509724. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Calder, Norma (13 September 2002). "Feature Article - Significant Tasmanian architecture of the 20th century". 1301.6 - Tasmanian Year Book, 2000. ABS. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Martin, Hannah (17 February 2014). "Revamped Cat and Fiddle Arcade exceeds retailers' expectations". The Mercury. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Car parks". City of Hobart. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "Cat & Fiddle Arcade". Meyer Shircore Architects. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ Mather, Anne (5 October 2013). "Cat and Fiddle Arcade time in his hands with reset for daylight saving". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Rico, Charley (8 March 2019). "What's your first memory of Hobart? We asked, you answered". ABC News. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "THE OFFICIAL SIGHTSEEING GUIDE TO HOBART" (PDF). Red Decker. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
Don't miss the clock tower at the Cat & Fiddle Arcade, where a playful cow figurine jumps over the moon every hour on the hour.
- ^ Silva, Paul. "Expand/Contract: A Case Study (2009)". The Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools. UTAS. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Store Directory". Cat and Fiddle Arcade. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "OUR HOBART LETTER". Trove. Daily Telegraph (Launceston). 21 April 1906. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ ""CAT AND FIDDLE ALLEY"". Trove. The Tasmanian Times (Hobart Town). 13 February 1868. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Publishing". Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies. UTAS. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Heyward, Philip (1 November 2013). "Old memories linger in new-look, upmarket Cat and Fiddle Arcade". The Mercury. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "Cat and Fiddle Digiglass". BYA Architects. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Hobart Rivulet/Cat and Fiddle Arcade collapse 27 July 2016" (PDF). Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS). Tasmanian Government. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
