HomeFrom Abbatoirs to Zoning: Melbourne 1925Horse Troughs

Horse Troughs

Petrol bowsers for vehicles have been a ubiquitous feature of Melbourne for over a century. But for an earlier period, in the nineteenth century, fuel for another form of mass transportation was distributed along the streets and highways – water for horses.

In the 1870s, citizens concerned with the welfare and inhumane treatment of working horses advocated for the provision of horse troughs.1 Frequently placed near hotels and wherever horses needed to congregate, they were originally made from wood but later concrete, and would be used by horses, cattle and presumably dogs on a hot day.

Like many aspects of the horse-powered society, think blacksmiths and whip makers, water troughs survived into the twentieth century during a period of transition; horse-drawn vehicles were gradually pushed off the roads by the growth of cable trams and internal combustion-powered traffic.

However in the Town Clerk’s files for 1925, a particular horse trough is mentioned a number of times. Variously under memorials and monuments as a ‘drinking trough St Kilda Road’, it is visited by many Melburnians, especially on Anzac Day. Originally sited on St.Kilda Road, it was a yearly assembly point and wreath-laying moment for the 1st Division Artillery, 1st AIF before attending the Shrine service.2

Interestingly, the horse trough was unveiled eighteen months before the Shrine’s foundation stone was laid and over eight years before the Shrine was opened.

Perhaps the grandest horse trough in Melbourne, it was unveiled as a memorial by Lieutenant General Sir John Monash GCMG KCB VD during Animal Week on 10 May 1926. The trough was erected by the Purple Cross Society of Victoria. The Purple Cross Society had similar sentiments to the Red Cross Society but with its focus being animals. It was erected as a memorial to the horses that died serving the AIF troops during World War I.

It is a handsome granite structure, bearing the badge of the society, and the following inscription on a bronze tablet:

He gains no crosses as a soldier may,
No medals for the many risks he runs,
He only in his puzzled, patient way
Sticks to his guns.

Sir John Monash spoke of the work of the Purple Cross Society whose members sent aid to the horses during the conflict and closed by noting that ‘he trusted that it would be many years before they were able to get along without the help of the noble horse’.3

‘A Tribute To Our War Horses’ in its original location on St Kilda Road. Australian War Memorial collection, Accession Number H13881.

The chairman of the parks and gardens committee of the Melbourne City Council (Councillor Kent Hughes) who represented the Lord Mayor, said that ‘the City Council would do all in its power to preserve the beauty of the drinking trough and to keep it in order.’4

In 1987, the horse trough was relocated to be used for a memorial commemoration by the 4th/19th Prince of Wales Light Horse Regiment in recognition of the Battle of Beersheba in October 1917. The trough sits adjacent to the Lone Pine on Birdwood Avenue.

‘A Tribute To Our War Horses’ in its later location on Birdwood Avenue. Ashkuru Afshar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Horse troughs had a renaissance in the 1920s to 1940s despite the influx of motor vehicles on Melbourne’s roads. The Estate of George Bills created a trust in 1927 from which funds were to be provided for the erection of water troughs - not just in Victoria but around Australia and overseas. Hundreds of troughs were located in suburbs and country towns ‘for the relief of horses and other dumb animals either in Australasia, in the British Islands or in any other part of the world subject to the consent of the proper authorities being obtained.’5 The manufacturing of these concrete troughs continued until the 1940s when production ceased after World War II. The days of the horse drawn carriage were over except for the fortunate tourists who might find a carriage ride still operating. But once a year, the crowds at the Anzac Day Dawn Service have an opportunity to read the lines on the Purple Cross memorial and reflect on another time when one of man’s best friends needed a drink.

References

  1. Andrew May, "Horses," eMelbourne, accessed 10 June 2025.
  2. Bruce Scates, A Place to Remember: A History of the Shrine of Remembrance (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 230.
  3. "Stuck to Their Guns," The Age, 11 May 1926, 9.
  4. "Animal Week," Argus, 11 May 1926, 13.
  5. Heritage Victoria, Victorian Water Supply Heritage Study (State of Victoria, 2007), 74, accessed 10 June 2025.

Acknowledgements