By Carolyn Webb
In 1928, a storekeeper in the small Gippsland town of Tynong wrote to the organising committee of Melbourne’s planned Shrine of Remembrance.
Mary Ann Ryan, an amateur geologist, recommended that a local stone be used to build it.
A page from Making the Shrine by Laura J. Carroll depicts how Mary Ann Ryan, a Gippsland shopkeeper, recommended local granite be used to build the Shrine of Remembrance in the 1920s.
She even sent samples to the architects in Melbourne.
In a story that illustrates the passion and thought that everyday people injected into Victoria’s war memorial, the architects accepted the stone with its beautiful silvery-grey hue, and so, what you see today is porphyritic granite from Tynong.
The tale is told in a new graphic narrative, Making the Shrine, which depicts real stories about the Shrine on the 90th anniversary of its unveiling.
The book’s author and illustrator, Laura J. Carroll, manages the Shrine’s education and volunteer programs. She began the book in her own time as a passion project during COVID-19.
Author Laura J. Carroll at the Tynong quarry where stone was sourced for the Shrine.Credit: Justin McManus
She includes the story of how a boy was assigned to sleep over at the Shrine the night before its opening on November 11, 1934, to mind the pigeons.
Carroll draws birds being released over some of the 300,000 people who attended the opening.
Laura J. Carroll’s drawing of a boy sleeping over at the Shrine to mind the pigeons before its 1934 opening.
There are many quirky bits of trivia scattered throughout the book. For example, a man built a margarine model of the Shrine for the 1956 Olympics.
A darker story Carroll came across – in a 1929 article in Melbourne’s old Argus newspaper – was the discovery of human remains during the Shrine’s construction, which a scientist surmised were probably Indigenous.
But Carroll found no trace of what happened to the remains.
In 1971, protesters painted the letters PEACE on the Shrine’s front columns. It took years to remove completely.
Carroll also interviewed and sketched Frank Johnston, who in 1975 helped install mirrors to keep a shaft of sunlight falling over the sanctuary at 11am on November 11 each year, after the introduction of daylight saving ruined the effect.
She wanted to explore new perspectives, as well as “why this place mattered, and why people 100 years ago invested so much effort into building it”.
Surveyor Frank Johnston making his calculations for the ray of light ceremony at the Shrine, circa 1980.
Carroll, who has a 13-year-old son, could see that a graphic story would appeal to young people – although she didn’t write it only for them.
The Shrine has proved to be more than a place of commemoration for WWI soldiers, and subsequent generations have interpreted it in their own ways.
Frank Johnston’s mirror placement ensures a shaft of sunlight falls over the sanctuary at 11am every Remembrance Day.
The book also portrays the rallies held at the Shrine against vaccination regulations and COVID-19 restrictions.
At the end, Carroll depicts a contemporary young couple sitting on the steps at sunset, attracted more by the Shrine’s aesthetics than its historical meaning. For this image, she was inspired by Stonehenge, which has also evolved into a site of protest and celebration.
“I feel like it’s always been in a state of flux, and that’s going to continue,” Carroll said of the Shrine.
“But I think it will survive. The purpose and meaning of it will be discovered again.”
Deakin University historian Bart Ziino said the Shrine was an active and dynamic place, and Carroll’s graphic work offered “a new way to interpret its past and communicate with new audiences in innovative ways”.
A couple sit at the Shrine at sunset.
Making the Shrine, which received a City of Melbourne grant, will be launched at Mission to Seafarers in Docklands on September 18.
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