Central Park Dog Off Leash Area

11 Kingston Street, Malvern East VIC, 3145


A large unfenced oval with a cricket pitch and a gravel track around the outside. The oval is the only off leash area of the park.

There are bins and seats located around the outside of the oval. On the side along Wattletree Road there is a time capsule tap without a bowl, toilets on the east side of the oval and a water tap with bowl on the south side bordering the on-lead area. There are trees for shade in the on-leash part of the park to the south and a playground south west of the oval amongst the trees.



The rest of Central Park is a dog on-leash area but is very interesting to walk through. Central Park, with its original landscape features largely intact, is a fine example of an Edwardian public garden. Covering almost 8 hectares the park has substantial shrubbery, large areas of bedding annuals, a fine and varied collection of trees and an open oval for team sports. The park is based around a simple, attractive and functional 19th century town square design with diagonal paths for through access and the Conservatory and fountain as its central focus.

The Wurundjeri people used this land and its surrounds prior to European settlement. The land was subdivided for housing around 1885 however the land boom ended and most of the land remained unsold. The area was used by the (Royal) Melbourne Golf Club and later the Caulfield (Metropolitan) Golf Club between 1891 and 1907.

Malvern City Council purchased the site for Central Park in 1906. In 1908, Malvern Council commenced tree planting, installed fences to keep out straying stock and curator Thomas Pockett selected a plan with gardens at the south end and a sports oval at the north end of the park.

In the 1920's curator F.L. Reeves redesigned the park to include curving paths, the Conservatory (1927) and the Wilmot Fountain (1928) and by 1930 the park had the form it has today. At one time the park featured a Kiosk and a Band Rotunda.

The oval is named after Olympian John Landy and was officially named in 1997 when the restored Conservatory was reopened.

War Memorial - This Gothic style First World War memorial was donated by Malvern resident, Englishman Charles Wood. The granite obelisk was unveiled in 1922 at its original location at the Malvern Cricket Ground, and in 1992 was moved to Central Park, from its former location outside the Malvern Town Hall.

The Gilpin Fountain was erected in 1929. This marble drinking fountain was donated by Mr O. Gilpin.