Caulfield is a residential and commercial suburb approximately 10 km south-east of Melbourne’s CBD, sitting within the City of Glen Eira local government area. The broader Caulfield precinct encompasses four distinct but closely related suburbs — Caulfield, Caulfield North, Caulfield East and Caulfield South — which together form a cohesive neighbourhood defined by wide tree-lined streets, strong multicultural communities, a celebrated racecourse and some of Melbourne’s finest Victorian and Edwardian heritage architecture.
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History
The origin of the name is not settled. The most commonly cited explanation links it to John Caulfield, a colonial builder who arrived in Melbourne in 1837 and helped found the Melbourne Athenaeum — though no direct connection between him and the Caulfield district has been established. An association with the Irish peerage title Baron Caulfield has also been suggested. What is known is that the name was in use on maps by 1857, centred around the area now occupied by the racecourse. In the mid-19th century the land was characterised by natural swamps and scrubby vegetation serving as a watering and resting point for drovers pushing livestock from Gippsland to Melbourne along the old stock routes. Several distinct early communities formed in the 1840s — Owensville near the western end of Glen Eira Road, Alma Road Village to the north and the working-class Camden Town at the junction of Glen Huntly and Hawthorn Roads — before the whole area was proclaimed the Caulfield Road District in 1857.
Horse racing began on a rough bush track in 1859 under the Melbourne Hunt Club, and the Victorian Amateur Turf Club was formed in 1876 to take over and develop the site as a formal metropolitan racecourse. The first Caulfield Cup was run in 1879. The arrival of the railway at Caulfield station in 1879 accelerated residential development dramatically, and by the end of the 1880s the directory described Caulfield as a leading suburb of fine residences built with great rapidity. In the 20th century, Caulfield attracted a significant and enduring Jewish population, drawn initially from neighbouring St Kilda, and later augmented by immigrant arrivals from Poland, Germany, Israel and the former Soviet Union. By the 1980s around a third of Victoria’s Jewish population lived within the Caulfield municipality, leaving a lasting imprint on the area’s food culture, religious institutions and community life that remains highly visible today.
Inner South-East Melbourne · City of Glen Eira
Caulfield
Points of Interest
Things To Do
Caulfield Racecourse
Racing at Caulfield dates to 1859, making the racecourse one of Melbourne’s oldest and most storied turf venues. The course operates around 25 race days each season and hosts some of Australia’s most prestigious fixtures: the Caulfield Cup, the Caulfield Guineas, the Blue Diamond Stakes, the C.F. Orr Stakes and the Oakleigh Plate among them. On non-race days the Racecourse Reserve at the centre of the track is accessible to the public via the Guineas Tunnel beneath the track from Station Street, offering a pleasant park with a lake, walking paths, a picnic ground, playground and BBQ facilities. The grandstands and grounds also host popular community events including antique fairs, car shows and seasonal markets throughout the year.
Labassa Mansion
Labassa is one of the most extraordinary Victorian-era houses in Australia — a flamboyant boom-era mansion at 2 Manor Grove, Caulfield North, built in 1890 for merchant J.A.B. Koch and subsequently subdivided into flats before being acquired by the National Trust in 1980. The building’s survival is improbable and all the more remarkable for it. The interiors are among the most opulently decorated of any surviving Melbourne residence: ornate plasterwork ceilings, a sweeping timber staircase, elaborate marble fireplaces, original mosaic tiling and richly patterned wallpapers fill room after room in extravagant Victorian excess. Guided tours are held on the third Sunday of each month (bookings essential), and a small tea room in the courtyard serves homemade cakes and scones.
Caulfield Park
The 26-hectare Caulfield Park in Caulfield North is the district’s great outdoor common — a Victorian garden reserve whose collection of mature specimen trees is regarded as one of the most diverse of any Melbourne public park outside the Royal Botanic Gardens. A decorative lake with ducks and waterbirds anchors the western side, flanked by a restored arbour and formal garden beds. The perimeter walking and running track is a well-used community circuit, while the mid-park ovals and grounds support cricket, soccer and bowls. A war memorial, children’s playgrounds, tennis courts and BBQ facilities make Caulfield Park a genuinely all-purpose recreation reserve across all seasons and age groups.
Glen Eira City Council Gallery
Located on the ground floor of the handsome heritage Glen Eira Town Hall — its main hall and portico remodelled in 1931 as part of a Depression-era local employment scheme — the Glen Eira City Council Gallery has operated as a free public art space since 1975. The gallery has built a strong reputation for contemporary and emerging Australian art, with a rotating programme of exhibitions, community art events and occasional special projects. Entry is always free. Open Tuesday to Thursday, 10am–5pm.
Glen Huntly Road Shopping Strip
The commercial activity of the Caulfield precinct concentrates particularly along Glen Huntly Road, where an independent strip of cafés, kosher bakeries, delis, restaurants, specialty food stores and boutiques reflects the area’s deep Jewish community roots alongside a broader multicultural food culture. The intersection with Hawthorn Road marks the heritage-listed grand union tram junction — installed in 1913 and one of the most unusual pieces of tramway infrastructure in Melbourne — where trams can turn in all directions from all four approaches. It remains in daily use and is worth observing at street level when the trams converge and diverge around its distinctive junction geometry.
Brighton General Cemetery
Opened in 1855 and predating the Caulfield Roads Board itself, the Brighton General Cemetery on the corner of North Road and Hawthorn Road in Caulfield South is one of Melbourne’s most historically significant burial grounds. Up to 70,000 people are interred here, including General Sir John Monash — Australia’s most celebrated World War I commander — alongside artists, politicians, military figures and notable civilian Victorians. The cemetery celebrated its 170th anniversary in 2025 and is actively managed as both a working cemetery and a heritage site of considerable historical depth, with self-guided tours and genealogical resources available.
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