Abbotsford Convent

The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river and parklands to its south and housing to its west. During the 19th and part of the 20th century, the 6.8-hectare (17-acre) site was occupied by one of the largest convents in Victoria. For more than 100 years, the Abbotsford Convent provided shelter, food, education and work for tens of thousands of women and children who experienced poverty, neglect and social disadvantage. Recognised as a place of outstanding historic value to Australia and the Commonwealth, because of the site's strong capacity to demonstrate the course and pattern of welfare provision in Australia, the convent was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 31 August 2017; and to the Victorian Heritage Register on 20 August 1982 in recognition of its historical, archaeological, architectural, and aesthetic significance to the State of Victoria. Today the site and its buildings are used as an arts, educational and cultural hub, the grounds, historic buildings and gardens are occupied by and host artisans; community and cultural events and cultural institutions, a community classical music radio station (3MBS), a Steiner School (Sophia Mundi), live music performances, a gallery, theatre, markets, bakery, bar, cafe and a pay-as-you-feel restaurant. There are 11 buildings on the site; the Convent, Convent Annexe, St Euphrasia, Providence, Rosina, St Mary's, Mercator, Magdalen Laundries, Sacred Heart, Industrial School and St Anne's.

The surrounding river valley was enjoyed for thousands of years by the traditional owners of the land, the Wurundjeri, for whom the nearby junction of the Yarra River and Merri Creek was an important meeting point. The precinct surrounding the convent is the most intact site associated with the first documented European inland contact in Victoria. In 1803 Charles Grimes, Surveyor General of New South Wales, explored the Yarra by boat as far as Dights Falls. This bend of the river has been subject to less change than any

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