recommendation of the executive director and assessment of ... · recommendation of the executive...

Recommendation of the Executive Director and assessment of cultural heritage significance under s.32 of the Heritage Act 1995

Name Avenue of Honour Location Bellarine Highway Queenscliff, Borough of Queenscliffe Hermes Number 197743 Heritage Overlay Number No Heritage Overlay Other Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO3 – The Narrows)

Avenue of Honour, Queenscliff (June, 2017)

This recommendation report has been issued by the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria under s.32 of the Heritage Act 1995. It has not been considered or endorsed by the Heritage Council of Victoria.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION TO THE HERITAGE COUNCIL:

• That the place NOT be included in the Victorian Heritage Register under Section 32 (1)(b) of the Heritage Act 1995.

• The Heritage Council may wish to consider exercising its powers under s42 (1)(d)(i) of the Heritage Act 1995 to refer the recommendation to the Borough of Queenscliffe for inclusion in the local Heritage Overlay.

STEVEN AVERY Executive Director Recommendation Date: 22 September 2017

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Name: Avenue of Honour, Queenscliff Hermes number: 197743

EXTENT OF NOMINATION Date that the nomination was accepted by the Executive Director A nomination for a portion of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour was first accepted on 31 August 2015. On 19 July 2017 the nominator submitted a revised extent of nomination for this place. Written extent of nomination Avenue of Honour. Bellarine Highway between Murray Road and Swanston Street. Nomination extent diagram The nominated area is outlined in yellow on ‘Diagram A’.

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AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF EXTENT OF NOMINATION

The total extent assessed in this Report is of the avenues and rows of Monterey Cypress trees which extend for approximately 1.3 kilometres along the Bellarine Highway and Flinders Street, between its intersections with Murray Road to the west and Swanston Street to the east.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESPONSE SUMMARY It is the view of the Executive Director that this place should not be included in the Victorian Heritage Register for the reasons outlined in the following Report. The information presented in this Report demonstrates that the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour may be of potential local significance, rather than State level significance. Heritage Council may wish to refer the recommendation and submissions to the relevant planning authority for consideration for an amendment to a planning scheme; or determine that it is more appropriate for steps to be taken under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 or by any other means to protect or conserve the place. The Executive Director also notes that the Borough of Queenscliffe’s Significant Landscape Overlay SLO3 ‘The Narrows’ recognises and specifically mentions that the avenue of Monterey Cypress trees along the portion of the Bellarine Highway between Murray Road and King Street ‘provides a bold entrance to the Borough’. The Borough of Queenscliffe’s Significant Landscape Overlay SLO1 ‘Swan Bay Landscape Area’ also applies to the trees on the northern side of the Bellarine Highway between its intersections with Murray Road and Smith Avenue, and includes a landscape character objective of maintaining the integrity of Swan Bay’s unique landscape features.

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RECOMMENDATION REASONS REASONS FOR RECOMMENDING INCLUSION IN THE VICTORIAN HERITAGE REGISTER [s.34A(2)] Following is the Executive Director's assessment of the place against the tests set out in The Victorian Heritage Register Criteria and Thresholds Guidelines (2014).

CRITERION A Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION A

The place/object has a CLEARASSOCIATION with an event, phase, period, process, function, movement, custom or way of life in Victoria’s cultural history.

Plus

The association of the place/object to the event, phase, etc IS EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object and/or in documentary resources or oral history.

Plus

The EVENT, PHASE, etc is of HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, having made a strong or influential contribution to Victoria.

Executive Director’s Response

The creation of WWI memorial avenues of honour was a phase/process of historical importance, and has made a strong and influential contribution to Victoria.

The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is a place which has a clear association with this phase/process.

The association of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour to the creation of WWI memorial avenues of honour is evident in the physical fabric of the place and in documentary resources.

Criterion A is likely to be satisfied. STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION A

The place/object allows the clear association with the event, phase etc. of historical importance to be UNDERSTOOD BETTER THAN MOST OTHER PLACES OR OBJECTS IN VICTORIA WITH SUBSTANTIALLY THE

SAME ASSOCIATION.


The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour does not allow its clear association with the avenues of honour phenomenon to be understood better than most other places or objects in Victoria with substantially the same association. It has lost much intactness and integrity. Of the Avenue’s originally planted 50 WWI commemorative trees, only 32 remain. The portion of the Avenue which possibly comprises a WWII commemorative purpose retains only 12 of its originally planted total of 29 trees, and all of these remaining 12 are on the Bellarine Highway’s north side, presenting as a single row rather than the originally intended avenue. The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is difficult to interpret as a commemorative planting.

This contrasts with other Avenues of Honour in Victoria which are highly intact and extremely readable as commemorative plantings – located at, for example:

• Mortlake [VHR H2342]: an avenue approximately 2.2 kilometres in length of 191 Monterey Cypress trees with recently-placed granite name plaques at the foot of each tree;

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• Macedon [VHR H2344]: an avenue approximately one kilometre in length of 154 predominantly Pin Oaks with rubble stone cairns at both ends, the larger of which at the eastern end listing all those represented in the avenue and their associated tree numbers; and

• Eurack [VHR H2102]: a single row of 20 Dutch Elms which is highly intact, and in which each tree is marked with a stylised white painted concrete cross bearing a black marble nameplate. Dating from July 1916, this is one of Victoria’s earliest extant Avenues of Honour.

Criterion A is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.

CRITERION B Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION B

The place/object has a clear ASSOCIATION with an event, phase, period, process, function, movement, custom or way of life of importance in Victoria’s cultural history.

Plus

The association of the place/object to the event, phase, etc IS EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object and/or in documentary resources or oral history.

Plus

The place/object is RARE OR UNCOMMON, being one of a small number of places/objects remaining that demonstrates the important event, phase etc.

OR The place/object is RARE OR UNCOMMON, containing unusual features of note that were not widely

replicated OR

The existence of the class of place/object that demonstrates the important event, phase etc is ENDANGERED to the point of rarity due to threats and pressures on such places/objects.


A paper posted on the Australian Garden History Society (AGHS)’s website in July 2017 identified 85 WWI Avenues of Honour, of varying degrees intactness and integrity, remaining throughout Victoria – but also noted that the AGHS expects to rediscover more with the passing of time. Avenues of Honour are therefore not uncommon or rare. Moreover, the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour

• does not contain unusual features of note that were not widely replicated; and

• is not part of a class of place that is endangered to the point of rarity due to threats and pressures on such places.

Criterion B is notlikely to be satisfied.

CRITERION C Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION C

The: • visible physical fabric; &/or • documentary evidence; &/or

• oral history, relating to the place/object indicates a likelihood that the place/object contains PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of

historical interest that is NOT CURRENTLY VISIBLE OR UNDERSTOOD.

Plus

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From what we know of the place/object,the physical evidence is likely to be of an INTEGRITY and/or CONDITION that it COULD YIELD INFORMATION through detailed investigation.


The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour does not have the potential to yield information that is not currently visible or understood (such as archaeological information) that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history.

Criterion C is not likely to be satisfied.

CRITERION D Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION D

The place/object is one of a CLASS of places/objects that has a clear ASSOCIATION with an event, phase, period, process, function, movement, important person(s), custom or way of life in Victoria’s history.

Plus

The EVENT, PHASE, etc is of HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, having made a strong or influential contribution to Victoria.

Plus

The principal characteristics of the class are EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object.


The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is an example of the ‘avenues of honour’ class of cultural place within the broad ‘war memorials’ place type. It has a clear association with the historically important process of the creation of memorial avenues of honour during and after WWI – a process which has made a strong and influential contribution to Victoria.

The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour does exhibit characteristics that are typical of this class of place.

Criterion D is likely to be satisfied. STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION D

The place/object is a NOTABLE EXAMPLE of the class in Victoria (refer to Reference Tool D).


The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is one of many such avenues that are associated with the history of commemorative plantings during and after World War I.

However, the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour has experienced a substantial loss of intactness and integrity. It has been extensively altered, and during the twentieth and twenty first centuries has lost 35 of its originally-planted 79 commemorative trees – including 18 of its original 50 WWI memorial trees – and almost all of the fabric of its former interpretive features. These changes have disguised the Avenue of Honour’s original extent and character, and significantly compromise the degree to which its heritage values can be understood and appreciated to the point where it is now difficult to interpret as an Avenue of Honour.

The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is not a notable example of its class of place in Victoria, being neither fine, highly intact, influential or pivotal as defined within ‘Reference Tool D’ of The Victorian Heritage Register Criteria and Threshold Guidelines.

Criterion D is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.

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CRITERION E Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION E

The PHYSICAL FABRIC of the place/object clearly exhibits particular aesthetic characteristics.


The physical fabric of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour does clearly exhibit some particular aesthetic characteristics. It is one of a series of avenues and rows of mature Monterey Cypress that define Queenscliff's public open spaces, and which in those spaces dominate the streetscapes and harness the uniformity of the individual trees to create a dramatic visual effect.

Criterion E is likely to be satisfied. STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION E

The aesthetic characteristics are APPRECIATED OR VALUED by the wider community or an appropriately-related discipline as evidenced, for example, by:

• critical recognition of the aesthetic characteristics of the place/object within a relevant art, design, architectural or related discipline as an outstanding example within Victoria; or

• wide public acknowledgement of exceptional meritin Victoria in medium such as songs, poetry, literature, painting, sculpture, publications, print media etc.


The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour’s aesthetic characteristics have not received critical recognition within a relevant art, design, architectural or related discipline as an outstanding example within Victoria, or received wide public acknowledgement of exceptional merit in Victoria in media such as songs, poetry, literature, painting, sculpture, publications, or print.

Criterion E is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.

CRITERION F Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION F

The place/object contains PHYSICAL EVIDENCE that clearly demonstrates creative or technical ACHIEVEMENT for the time in which it was created.

Plus

The physical evidence demonstrates a HIGH DEGREE OF INTEGRITY.


No elements of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour which can be assessed under the Heritage Act 1995 contain physical evidence that clearly demonstrates creative or technical achievement for the time in which it was created.

Criterion F is not likely to be satisfied.

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CRITERION G Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of a place to Indigenous people as part of their continuing and developing cultural traditions. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION G

Evidence exists of a DIRECT ASSOCIATION between the place/object and a PARTICULAR COMMUNITY OR CULTURAL GROUP.

(For the purpose of these guidelines, ‘COMMUNITY or CULTURAL GROUP’ is defined as a sizable group of persons who share a common and long-standing interest or identity).

Plus

The ASSOCIATION between the place/object and the community or cultural group is STRONG OR SPECIAL, as evidenced by the regular or long-term use of/engagement with the place/object or the enduring ceremonial,

ritual, commemorative, spiritual or celebratory use of the place/object.


The community of the Borough of Queenscliffe has a direct association with the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour as a place which commemorates the sacrifices of the district’s soldiers in both World Wars. The association between the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour and the community is special, with the Avenue providing a striking reminder of the loss and sorrow experienced by people in the Borough of Queenscliffe.

Criterion G is likely to be satisfied.

STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION G

The place/object represents a PARTICULARLY STRONG EXAMPLE of the association between it and the community or cultural group by reason of its RELATIONSHIP TO IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS in Victoria

and/or its ABILITY TO INTERPRET EXPERIENCES to the broader Victorian community.


The association between the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour and the community of the Borough of Queenscliffe is no stronger than the association between avenues of honour and communities at many other locations around Victoria. This avenue of honour does not have social significance across the broader Victorian community.

Criterion G is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.

CRITERION H Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria’s history. STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION H

The place/object has a DIRECT ASSOCIATION with a person or group of persons who have made a strong or influential CONTRIBUTION to the course of Victoria’s history.

Plus

The ASSOCIATION of the place/object to the person(s) IS EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object and/or in documentary resources and/or oral history.

Plus

The ASSOCIATION:

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• directly relates to ACHIEVEMENTS of the person(s) at, or relating to, the place/object; or

• relates to an enduring and/or close INTERACTION between the person(s) and the place/object.


No elements of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour which can be assessed under the Heritage Act 1995 have a direct association with a person or group of persons who have made a strong or influential contribution to the course of Victoria’s history.

Criterion H is not likely to be satisfied.

ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE [s.34A(2)(d)]

The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is a good example of one of the hundreds of avenues of honour which have been planted in Australia to commemorate those who served in World War I. At Queenscliff, as in many towns across Australia, the planting of these memorial trees acted as a focus of remembrance for the grieving local community. The Borough of Queenscliffe’s Significant Landscape Overlay SLO3 ‘The Narrows’ Schedule recognises that the avenue of Monterey Cypress trees along the Bellarine Highway between Murray Road and King Street is an important landscape feature and a key element that provides a bold entrance to the Borough.

RELEVANT INFORMATION Local Government Authority Borough of Queenscliffe

Heritage Overlay No

Other Overlays Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO3 – The Narrows)

Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO1 – Swan Bay Landscape Area) Bushfire Management Overlay (WMO).

Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register There is a registered Aboriginal place along the Avenue of Honour.

Other Listings Victorian War Heritage Inventory.

HISTORY

Avenues of Honour in Victoria

‘Avenue of honour’ is a term which may refer to different types of memorial avenues. Treenet, a not-for-profit tree research and education organisation based at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Arboretum, includes within this term Boer War, WWI and WWII memorial avenues. The Australian Garden History Society (AGHS) has taken a different approach, using ‘avenue of honour’ to refer only to WWI avenue plantings of trees and applying the term ‘memorial avenue’ instead to those which commemorate other wars. It is difficult to identify with certainty which are Australia’s earliest memorial avenues of trees, but in

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Victoria at least one (in Horsham) appears to have been planted to commemorate soldiers who fought in the Boer War.

A Commonwealth Department of Works and Railways War Memorials Survey in 1920-21 found that 123 avenues had been planted around the country with 92 of those in Victoria. A 1987 thesis by Janine Haddow identified 142 avenues that were known to have been planted in Victoria (128 of those WWI, four WWII extensions to existing avenues, and ten that were solely WWII) but also noted that only 64 of these appeared to have survived. A paper posted on the AGHS’s website in July this year stated that the Society has located 85 WWI avenues of honour, of varying degrees of intactness and integrity, remaining throughout Victoria.

The exact number of memorial avenues of trees in Australia remains unknown. The July 2017 AGHS paper noted that Treenet has so far identified 578 avenues that were planted around Australia, with 312 of those in Victoria – but also notes that the AGHS itself has to date positively identified far fewer, with its count currently at 347 memorial avenues nationally and 111 in Victoria (a figure which includes those commemorating WWI, WWII and other conflicts). By far the largest numbers of memorial avenues of trees in Victoria were planted during and after WWI. After WWII a smaller number of new avenues was planted, and some existing ones extended. Following the cessation of the Vietnam War some additional avenues were planted, largely as initiatives of the Vietnam Veterans Association and local Councils.

Most memorial avenues of trees consist of a pair of rows of trees (though single rows also occur) bordering a public road, but the details of individual avenues vary considerably. Some avenues were planted for all who enlisted, others only for those who died; some had name plaques, others didn’t; some communities planted native trees, others exotics; and some avenues were indicated by a sign, some by a cairn and others not at all. As noted above, many of these avenues in Victoria remain, varying in planting date, size, tree species, location and intactness – and as memorials these can be of historical significance. Some avenues of trees are also of aesthetic significance as visually grand, extensive, intact and distinctive plantings.

Queenscliff: WWI Avenue of Honour trees (Age Class 1 tree group)

The earliest portion of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour was planted on 24 July 1918, to commemorate soldiers from the district who had been killed in WWI. In a public address at the planting ceremony the then Mayor of Queenscliff Cr. W. J. Thwaites said that when he first proposed to the local council that Queenscliff should have an avenue of honour, ‘his brother councillors at once fell in with the suggestion’. Fifty Monterey Cypress trees were planted on the day, with relatives of soldiers ‘as far as possible doing the planting’.

Forty six of the fifty trees in the Avenue were specifically dedicated to the memory of an individual fallen soldier from the district. At the time of planting, half of the trees had been paid for by local residents. The trees were protected by timber guards, and copper nameplates were later fixed to these guards. None of the guards or the nameplates remain along the Avenue, although one surviving nameplate has been displayed at the Queenscliffe Historical Museum. Following the signing of the Armistice that marked the end of World War I, an 'In Memoriam' service was held at the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour during which school children hung floral wreaths on each tree-guard.

Queenscliff: Flinders Street possible WWII commemorative trees (Age Class 2 tree group)

Historical aerial photographic evidence indicates that 29 additional Monterey Cypress trees were planted on both sides of Flinders Street and to the immediate east of the original extent of the WWI Avenue of Honour, between Bethune Street to the east and Smith Street to the west, at some time between 1940 and 1950.

While definitely not part of the original World War I Avenue of Honour, the remains of concrete bases at three of the remaining 12 of these 29 1940-50-era trees suggests that they too were commemorative plantings of some kind. In a March 2015 interview, local resident Ron Hodgetts recalled planting these trees during a school Arbor Day ceremony in 1945 when he was a young schoolboy. These Monterey Cypress trees

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may thus have been planted to commemorate World War II soldiers, although this is not certain. The earliest known photographic record of the 29 trees is in aerial photographs taken some time between 1940 and 1950.

Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale: additional Monterey Cypress avenues and rows (Age Classes 3 & 4)

To the immediate west of the original World War I Avenue of Honour, aerial photographic evidence shows that a row of five additional Monterey Cypress trees was planted along the Bellarine Highway’s north side some time between 1945 and 1950. Four of these remain (in the ‘Age Class 3’ tree group), with two each on either side of what is now the entrance driveway to the Marine Discovery Centre. There are currently no remains of concrete bases at the foot of these trees, and any historical or commemorative associations these trees may have had are unclear.

An avenue of 29 Monterey Cypress on the portion of the Bellarine Highway at what is known locally as ‘The Narrows’ is the western-most group of trees (‘Age Class 4’) to have been planted within the nominated extent area. Most of these 29 trees were planted between 1965 and 1975 and do not appear to have a significant commemorative association.

PLANTING DETAILS

Age Class: Planting start date: Present-day number of trees:

Age Class 1 (WWI) trees: 24 July 1918 32

Age Class 2 (possible WWII) trees: between 1940 and 1950 12

Age Class 3 trees: between 1945 and 1950 4

Age Class 4 trees: between 1965 and 1975 29 (4 of which replaced originals)

77 trees total

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

All of the trees within the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour are Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa syn. Hesperocyparis macrocarpa). Monterey Cypress has been extensively cultivated in public parks, gardens, cemeteries and farms in Australia and New Zealand. Mature trees can grow up to 35m tall. As the trees age, their development takes the form of long massive limbs which finally spread out into a wide umbrella-shaped crown. Able to withstand sustained exposure to salt-laden winds, Monterey Cypress is a common sight in coastal towns in Victoria including along the main streets through Cowes and Apollo Bay.

The extent of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour comprises the 77 Monterey Cypress trees which extend approximately 1.3 kilometres along the Bellarine Highway and Flinders Street, between its intersections with Murray Road to the west and Swanston Street to the east. These trees were planted in four separate and distinct stages (denoted Age Classes 1 to 4):

‘Age Class 1’ – WWI Avenue of Honour (32 trees): 32 of the original World War I commemorative Monterey Cypress trees remain, extending westward from Flinders Street’s intersection with Smith Street. A total of 18 trees of the originally-planted 50 have been removed from this area, mostly due to conflict with existing or proposed infrastructure. Some individual trees have also been removed due to safety concerns. What appear to be concrete nameplate bases remain at the foot of the trunks of five of these trees.

‘Age Class 2’ – along Flinders Street, and possibly a WWII commemorative planting (12 trees): a row of 12 mature even-aged Monterey Cypress trees is located on the northern side of Flinders Street, to the immediate east of the original World War I Avenue of Honour. There are three trees between Swanston

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Street and Henry Street, and nine trees between Henry Street and Smith Street. Aerial photographic evidence and local testimony suggest that these trees were planted between 1940 and 1950. What appear to be concrete nameplate bases remain at the foot of the trunks of three of these trees. It is however unclear whether or not these trees were planted for a commemorative purpose

‘Age Class 3’ – Marine Discovery Centre (four trees): a row of four mature, even-aged Monterey Cypress are located on the northern side of the Bellarine Highway, to the immediate west of the original World War I Avenue of Honour and to either side of what is now the entrance to the Marine Discovery Centre. Aerial photographic evidence suggests that these trees were planted between 1945 and 1950. None of these trees have concrete nameplate bases.

‘Age Class 4’ – The Narrows western extent (29 trees): an avenue containing a total of 29 Monterey Cypress trees located to the south of the Marine Discovery Centre. These are the youngest group of plantings through ‘The Narrows’ area of Queenscliff. Aerial photographic evidence suggests that the majority of these trees were planted between 1965 and 1975, although four of the trees (Nos 52, 53, 65 and 66) are much smaller than the other trees in this group and appear to be recently planted replacements of original trees. None of these trees have concrete nameplate bases.

Botanical commemorative features that are not part of the Avenue of Honour but are within its extent

Queenscliffe Memorial Garden: within the gap between the Age Class 1 and Age Class 2 groups of trees – on the north side of the Bellarine Highway – is a grassed traffic island of size approximately 95m east-west by 10m north-south. The island contains a row of six Red Flowering Gum trees (Corymbia ficifolia). The east-most two of these trees are much smaller than the others in this row, and appear to be very recently planted replacements of the original trees. At the island’s west end is a timber plank sign reading ‘QUEENSCLIFFE MEMORIAL GARDEN’. The midpoint of the Garden contains a concrete-paved area which encircles a large granite boulder with three affixed bronze plaques. The central of these plaques reads ‘THIS MEMORIAL GARDEN COMMEMORATES THE FALLEN IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918’. The other two plaques contain lists totalling 48 names, 46 of which match those in a list of 46 names published in the Queenscliff Sentinel on 27 July 1918 following the Avenue of Honour planting ceremony on 24 July. A single flagpole stands to the immediate north of the boulder. However, the date of the Memorial Garden’s creation – and of this boulder and plaques’ installation – is not clear. There is no explicit link between the Memorial Garden and the Avenue of Honour, although their commemoration of the same group of WWI soldiers is obvious. This is worthy of further research.

These tables summarise the features of the tree planting areas within the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour:

‘Age Class’ Number, Name, and planting date

Original number of Monterey Cypress trees planted

Number of surviving original trees

Originals replaced by new trees

Originals removed and not replaced

Number of trees with remnant concrete bases of former nameplates

Age Class 1: WWI Avenue of Honour, 24 July 1918

50 32 (64% of originals)

0 18 5

Age Class 2: Flinders Street (possible WWII commemorative), between 1940-50


0 17 3

Age Class 3: Marine Discovery Centre,

5 4 (80% of

0 1 0

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between 1945-50 originals)

Age Class 4: ‘The Narrows’, western extent, between 1965-75

Not certain, but at least 29

25 (±86% of originals)

4 Not known

0

TOTALS: At least 113 73 (±65% of originals)

4 At least 36 8

Not part of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour, but within its extent:

Name, and planting date

Original number of Red Flowering Gum trees planted

Number of surviving original trees

Originals replaced by new trees

Originals removed and not replaced

Number of trees with remnant concrete bases of former nameplates

Quenscliffe Memorial Garden, date unknown


2 0 0

INTEGRITY/INTACTNESS Intactness – the intactness of the place is fair to poor. Thirty two of the fifty originally-planted WWI Avenue of Honour trees remain standing. Of another 29 originally-planted trees with a possible WWII commemorative function only twelve now remain. There is a substantial gap between the groups of WWI and possible WWII trees where nine trees have been removed and not replaced. These commemorative trees’ nameplates and the original tree guards to which those nameplates were fixed are no longer present, and the remnants of concrete bases which appear to have been used more recently to support name plates are visible at the foot of only eight trees. (July 2017) Integrity – the integrity of the place is poor. The cultural heritage values of the place are difficult to read in the extant fabric, to the point where there is some conjecture among local residents over the Avenue of Honour’s definitive extent. (July 2017) The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour has experienced a substantial loss of intactness and integrity. It has been subject to extensive alteration, and during the twentieth and twenty first centuries has lost many of its originally-planted trees and almost all of the fabric of its former interpretive features. These changes have disguised the Avenue of Honour’s original extent and character, and significantly compromise the degree to which its heritage values can be understood and appreciated.

CONDITION Overall the place is in fair condition. However, many of the Monterey Cypress trees in the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour are showing signs of Seiridium Canker infection, with a thinning canopy and discoloration of foliage. This is a fungus which interferes with a tree’s sap-conducting system, eventually causing death of the branch or main trunk above the wound. It appears that this disease is presently progressing slowly through mature trees across the Borough of Queenscliffe.

The condition of the trees within each of the four separate Age Class areas varies considerably. The health and condition of each of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour trees was the subject of a May 2015 report by

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consulting arborists Homewood Consulting Pty Ltd, within which the arborists assigned a number to each individual tree. There is a degree of variation in condition across the place.

‘Age Class 1’ (WWI Avenue of Honour): Approximately 40% of the 32 remaining World War I commemorative Monterey Cypress trees have poor structure due to extensive pruning. Trees 42, 43 and 44 have been particularly heavily pruned for power line clearance. There is substantial decay in the trunk of Tree 19, and Homewood Consulting recommended its removal by mid-2017. Approximately 60% of the trees are currently in fair health and of fair structure with a Useful Life Expectancy (ULE) extending to 2025-35. However, 40% of the WWI Avenue of Honour trees although of fair health also have poor structure.

‘Age Class 2’ (Flinders Street, possible WWII commemorative plantings): Most of these 12 trees have a relatively short ULE of 5-10 years. Many large branches on Tree 7 have been removed or cut back, leaving its canopy quite open, and there is substantial decay in its trunk. The majority of these trees although currently in fair health are also of poor structure.

‘Age Class 3’ (Marine Discovery Centre): These four trees are currently in fair health for their age and location, but three of the four trees are of poor structure.

‘Age Class 4’ (The Narrows western extent): These 29 trees are currently in fair health and of fair or good structure. At present they require very little maintenance work with regard to public safety.

Remnant concrete bases of former nameplates: All of the eight remnant concrete bases which appear to have been used at one time to support name plates at the foot of trees within the WWI Avenue of Honour (Age Class 1) and Flinders Street (Age Class 2) areas are conspicuously missing any fabric above ground level, and most have been uplifted to some degree by the outward growth of the trees at their bases. (July 2017)

COMPARISONS There are currently ten Avenues of Honour included in the VHR:

Place VHR Number Date Planted

1 Bacchus Marsh VHR H2238 1918

2 Ballarat VHR H2089 1917

3 Cranbourne VHR H2345 1918

4 Eurack VHR H2102 1916

5 Former Mont Park Hospital, MacLeod Part of VHR H1872 1919

6 Kingston VHR H2343 1918

7 Macedon VHR H2344 1918

8 Mortlake VHR H2342 1919

9 Shepparton (Calder Woodburn, WWII) VHR H1975 1945

10 Woodend VHR H2066 1918

Other VHR-listed Avenues of Honour Eurack Avenue of Honour [VHR H2102]

The Eurack Avenue of Honour is historically significant as one of the earliest known of this form of World War I memorial in Victoria. It is also significant for exemplifying rural Victoria's reaction to World War I. It is representative of plantings that first appeared in Australia during World War I commemorating all those who enlisted for service in an egalitarian form where each individual, regardless of rank, was equally recognised for their service. The Avenue has significance for its commemoration of Lord Kitchener. The Eurack Avenue of Honour is of aesthetic significance as an intact and distinctive commemorative planting. The uniform

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plantings of the trees and the stark concrete crosses in their isolated surroundings combine to create an imposing cultural landscape.

The Eurack Avenue of Honour is a World War I memorial on Eurack Road commemorating 26 soldiers from the district who enlisted for the war. It was part of the mid-1916 program of Anzac Avenue plantings in Victorian schools. The avenue is a single row of 20 Ulmus x hollandica (Dutch Elm) planted along the south side of Eurack Road. The Avenue was due to be planted on 30 June 1916 (the designated Arbor Day at Eurack) but not planted until Friday 28 July 1916 due to the non-arrival of the trees. It was located in front of the Eurack School, general store, post office and church, the centre of the small settlement that sprang up after the Eurack Estate was subdivided for closer settlement in 1891. Each tree is marked with a stylised white painted concrete cross bearing the name of the soldier/s it commemorates inscribed on a black marble plate. The original plaques were put in place at a ceremony in December 1918. Six of the trees are dedicated to brothers. One of the crosses commemorates Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War who was killed in 1916 when HMS Hampshire struck a mine en route to Russia. Three trees were replaced in 2011 and a tree added to the avenue in 2014, replacing a tree which had been removed a number of years ago and never replaced. A new plaque was cast for this tree and added to the avenue.

Eurack Avenue of Honour [VHR 2102]

Cross and plaque at Eurack

Macedon Avenue of Honour [VHR H2344]

The Macedon Avenue of Honour is historically significant for exemplifying rural Victoria's reaction to World War I. It is significant as a fine example of this important form of memorial planting in Victoria which commemorated individual sacrifice during World War I. It is representative of many plantings that appeared in Victoria, particularly during World War I, commemorating all those who enlisted for service in an egalitarian form where each individual, regardless of rank, was equally recognised for their service. The two war memorials are important for their associations with the Avenue of Honour. The Macedon Avenue of Honour is aesthetically significant as an extensive and highly distinctive planting of 154 oak trees. The uniform planting of trees on both sides of the road for a distance of one kilometre produces a continuous avenue of trees, which is particularly dramatic in autumn. Despite the destruction of a number of original trees, replanting has resulted in the maintenance of the impressive and imposing visual and cultural landmark and key landscape feature of the district.

The Macedon Avenue of Honour is an avenue of 154 oak trees, predominantly Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), with one English oak (Quercus robur) at both ends of each row. Planted on Honour Avenue, it is approximately one kilometre in length and runs between the cemetery at Bent Street and Mt Macedon Road. Rubble stone cairns are located at both ends, with the larger at the eastern end listing all those represented in the avenue and their associated tree numbers. It appears that individual name plaques were not placed on individual trees. The Macedon Avenue of Honour was officially opened on 10 August 1918 by the Premier of Victoria, Harry Lawson, at a ceremony attended by some 700 people. Voluntary workers

http://applications.doi.vic.gov.au/ImageFactoryWeb/getfile?path=hvi2009/western_rural_2_compressed/h2102-3.jpg/medium.jpg&context=ImageFactory.Hermes&delete=no&version=

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spent three months preparing the selected site and all but four of 154 trees were planted prior to the official opening of the avenue. Trees have been replaced over time, particularly after fire damaged a number of trees in 1983 and after the establishment of a replanting programme by the Gisborne Shire from 1994.

Macedon Avenue of Honour[VHR H2344]

Mortlake Avenue of Honour [VHR H2342]

The Avenue of Honour, Mortlake is historically significant for exemplifying rural Victoria's reaction to both WWI and WWII. It is significant as a fine example of a form of memorial planting in Victoria which commemorated individual sacrifice during both wars, which is rare in Victoria. It is representative of many plantings that appeared in Australia, particularly during World War I, commemorating all those who enlisted for service in an egalitarian form where each individual, regardless of rank, was equally recognised for their service. The Avenue of Honour, Mortlake is aesthetically significant as an outstanding planting of 191 Monterey Cypress trees which forms an extensive, largely intact and highly distinctive commemorative avenue. This uniform planting of densely foliaged trees on both sides of the road produces a dramatic and continuous avenue along the north-eastern approach to the town of Mortlake, which contrasts markedly with the pastoral surroundings. The avenue is an impressive and imposing visual and cultural landmark and a key landscape feature of the district. The Mortlake Avenue of Honour is an avenue of 191 Monterey Cypress trees. This species had been grown extensively to form wind breaks in the Western District from the 1870s. Planted on the Hamilton Highway, the avenue begins at the Ararat-Mortlake Road, to the north-east of the township of Mortlake, and runs approximately 2.2 kilometres to Cemetery Lane. There are 99 trees on the northern side, and 92 trees on the southern side. The original planting of 85 trees commenced at the Mortlake end and this was initially extended to approximately 146 trees. Another phase of planting increased the avenue to approximately 196 trees at its greatest extent and at the time of its Registration in April 2015 it contained 191 trees. It is a dense, dark avenue of large trees which are evenly spaced along the avenue. Recent granite name plaques identifying individual soldiers are placed at the foot of trees.

Mortlake Avenue of Honour [VHR 2242]

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SUMMARY

The Queenscliff Avenue of Honour consists of Monterey Cypress trees and appears to comprise four separate areas and historical phases of planting along the Bellarine Highway. Its WWI commemorative portion of 50 trees (described above as ‘Age Class 1’) was planted on 24 July 1918 to commemorate 46 soldiers from the district who were killed in the War. From the 1940s, three further stages of planting adjacent to the original added 29 (in 1940-50), five (1945-50) and at least another 29 (1965-75) trees to the original extent. The incremental additions to the avenues and rows of Monterey Cypress trees, many of which appear to have no clear commemorative association, in combination with the later removal of substantial groups of trees and other individual trees appears to have led to some local conjecture over the definitive extent of the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour.

However, in comparison with the examples above, the Queenscliff Avenue of Honour is not an outstanding or intact Avenue of Honour. The loss of 35 of its original 79 commemorative trees – including 18 of its original 50 WWI memorial trees – and the absence of all of its commemorative nameplates has resulted in a substantial loss of integrity, to the point where it is now difficult to read and interpret as an Avenue of Honour.

KEY REFERENCES USED TO PREPARE ASSESSMENT Avenue of Honour Tree Management and Replacement Plan for Borough of Queenscliffe (May 2015), Homewood Consulting Pty Ltd Avenues Of Honour, on ‘treenet’ website, via https://www.treenet.org/avenues-of-honour/ Avenues of honour and other commemorative plantings, on ‘Preserving war heritage and memorabilia’ page of fact sheets, at ‘Department of Premier and Cabinet’ website, accessed 5th Sep 2017, via http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/index.php/veterans/caring-for-veterans-heritage-resources-and-opportunites/preserving-war-heritage-and-memorabilia Cockerell, Sarah (c.2009), 5. Australian Memorial Avenues, last accessed 5th Sep 2017, via http://www.bacchusmarsh.avenueofhonour.org.au/SarahCThesisFinal5nopics-1.pdf Cockerell, Sarah (2008), Avenues of Honour: Location, Assessment and Management of War Memorial Tree Avenues in Australia, last accessed 5th Sep 2017, via http://www.whitehead.com.au/up/pdf/2008/2008%20AVENUES%20OF%20HONOUR%20-%20LOCATION%20ASSESSMENT%20AND%20MANAGEMENT%20OF%20WAR%20MEMORIAL%20TREE%20AVENUES%20IN%20AUSTRALIA%20Sarah%20Cockerell.pdf Fact Sheet: Avenues of Honour (20 April 2013), Sarah Cockerell interview with presenter Sophie Thomson, Gardening Australia: Series 24, Episode 06, on ABC Television website, viewed 28th Aug 2017, via http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s3738008.htm Haddow, Janine (1987), Avenues of honour in Victoria. Honours thesis, School of Environmental Planning, University of Melbourne, via https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/39017

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Lawry, David (2009), Half Time in the Treenet Avenues of Honour 1915-2015 Project, from The 10th National Street Tree Symposium 2009, via https://www.treenet.org/resources/half-time-in-the-treenet-avenues-of-honour-1915-2015-project/ Queenscliff Memorial Garden, on ‘Monument Australia’ website, accessed 5th Sep 2017, via http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1/display/33225-queenscliff-memorial-garden/ Read, Stuart (13 May 2017), Avenues of Honour, Memorial and other Avenues, Lone Pines, via https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Avenues-of-Honour-sorted-by-states-2017-update.pdf Spencer, Roger (2005), Horticultural flora of south-eastern Australia. Volume 1, ferns, conifers & their allies: the identification of garden and cultivated plants, Sydney: University of NSW Press. Updated: Avenues of Honour and Other Significant Plantings – Australia-wide List, on ‘Australian Garden History Society’ website, via https://www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/2017/07/new-website/ War-related heritage in Victoria (August 2011), Veterans Unit, Department of Planning and Community Development, Melbourne.

Journal and newspaper articles Ballarat Courier, Queenscliff. Avenue of Honour, Friday 26 July 1918, p.5. Queenscliff Sentinel (Drysdale, Portarlington and Sorrento Advertiser), Saturday 15 June 1918, p.2. Queenscliff Sentinel (Drysdale, Portarlington and Sorrento Advertiser), Saturday 27 July 1918, p.2. Queenscliff Sentinel (Drysdale, Portarlington and Sorrento Advertiser), Saturday 23 November 1918, p.2

ADDITIONAL IMAGES

Aerial photograph from showing Tree Nos 1 to 77 from ‘The Narrows’ at the left (west) to Flinders Street at the right (east). Analysis of aerial photographs shows four distinct planting periods (Age Classes 1 to 4), and allows inferences regarding the history of the trees. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

Six additional Red Flowering Gum Trees Unknown planting date

‘Queenscliffe Memorial Garden’

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‘Age Class 1’: remaining 29 of the original WWI Avenue of Honour commemorative Monterey Cypress trees. The red crosses show the estimated locations of trees that have been removed since the 1918 planting.

(via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

c.1940s photograph showing the extent of the trees within the original WWI Avenue of Honour. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

‘Queenscliffe Memorial Garden’

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Looking westwards from opposite the Queenscliffe Memorial Garden boulder. Tree 13 (on the RHS) is the east-most tree in this group. (June 2017)

Tree 43, pruned heavily for power line clearance. (June 2017)

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Looking north-eastwards from within the west area of this group. Tree 37 (on the RHS here) has been very recently pruned. (June 2017)

Tree 19’s condition is poor. (June 2017) Concrete base at Tree 18, looking west. (June 2017)

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‘Age Class 2’: Flinders Street (possible WWII commemorative) Monterey Cypress trees 1 to 12. Red crosses show the estimated locations of trees that have been removed.

(via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

Flinders Street (possible WWII commemorative) Monterey Cypress trees c.1940 to 1950. Trees 1 to 12 are highlighted. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

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Trees 4 to 12 looking east along Flinders St: Tree 12 in foreground on LHS. (June 2017)

Trees 1 to 3 looking southeast along Flinders St towards the intersection with Swanston St. Tree 3 is in foreground on LHS.(June 2017)

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Trees 8 (LHS trunk) to 4 (RHS), looking towards the east along Flinders St. Note the absent canopy of Tree 7, second trunk from left. (June 2017)

Tree 7 is in poor condition. (June 2017) Concrete base at Tree 9, looking east. (June 2017)

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‘Age Class 3’: remaining four Monterey Cypress trees at what is now the entry to the Marine Discovery Centre. The red cross shows the estimated location of one tree that has been removed since the original 1945-50

planting was carried out. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

Aerial photograph of same area taken in 1962. Trees 45 to 48 are highlighted. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

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Tree 48 in the foreground: looking east along the Bellarine Highway, and to its left (from L to R) Trees 47, 46 and 45. (January 2015)

Trees 45 (LHS) to 48 (RHS), looking south-east to the Bellarine Hwy from the direction of the Marine Discovery Centre. (January 2015)

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‘Age Class 4’: Monterey Cypress trees 49 to 77 at ‘The Narrows’, south of the Marine Discovery Centre. (via Homewood Consulting, May 2015)

Looking eastward: Tree 66 in foreground on LHS, Tree 67 on RHS. (January 2015)

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Queenscliffe Memorial Garden: boulder with plaques is located at the centre of the traffic island. ‘Age Class 1’ original WWI Avenue of Honour Monterey Cypress trees are to the left (west), and

‘Age Class 2’ possible WWII commemorative Monterey Cypress trees are to the right (east). (January 2016)

Looking west to east along the row of Boulder with plaques from southwest; one original six Red Flowering Gum trees. (2013) and two replacement trees beyond. (Oct 2012)

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