Have you ever heard the story of the Tynong Shrine of Remembrance? It’s a story about a town, a quarry, and a monument to those who served. Right here in Tynong, you can still see the remnants of the quarry that provided the special granodiorite stone used to construct the Melbourne Shrine.
This is the story of how a small town contributed to a grand memorial. Tynong wasn’t always just another suburb of Melbourne. Back in the early 1880s, this small town was a growing community with a thriving quarry industry. The quarry at Tynong was special; it produced a unique, durable type of stone called granodiorite.
The stone’s strength and beauty caught the attention of Melbourne’s leading architects, and they decided to use it for the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine was a project of mammoth proportions, and the quarry here in Tynong was tasked with providing the perfect stone for the construction of the iconic monument.
There’s a certain feeling of connection you get when you stand here and think about what the quarry meant to the city’s past. While the quarry is no longer active, the story of Tynong’s role in the creation of the Shrine of Remembrance is something that we can still celebrate. Each time you visit the Shrine, remember that its strength comes from the very earth of this small town.