De Grave Place Melbourne Signs for Sign2

 

The signage around this quarter marks some of my favourite locales—there is something distinctly Melburnian about their character, at least as captured through the lens. Nowhere is this more evident than in Degraves Place, nestled in the very heart of Melbourne’s central business district.

Degraves Place, and its adjoining laneway Degraves Street, take their name from the Degraves family, early settlers and entrepreneurs in colonial Victoria. William and Charles Degraves arrived from Hobart in the 1850s and quickly established themselves as prominent figures in Melbourne’s flour milling industry. Their enterprise, the Degraves Mill, once stood near the banks of the Yarra, a symbol of industrious ambition in the young colony.

Today, Degraves Place is emblematic of Melbourne’s famed laneway culture—an elegant mingling of past and present. Beneath its heritage façades and weathered brickwork lie cafés, galleries, and small boutiques, alive with the hum of conversation and the aroma of espresso. The signs that adorn these narrow passages are not mere markers—they are storytellers of a city that thrives on character, contrast, and continuity.

Sony A7RV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Linking Sign2