Sherwood Arboretum is a heritage-listed
arboretum at 39A Turner Street,
Sherwood,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, Australia. A 1946 addition to the site is also known as the John Herbert Memorial Vista. It was added to the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...
on 3 May 2007.
History
![Sherwood Arboretum wetlands](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Sherwood_Arboretum_wetlands.jpg)
The Sherwood Arboretum covers an area of 15 hectares, containing approximately 1,100 trees from about 300 species. The arboretum comprises parkland, artificial freshwater wetland and has an extensive frontage to the
Brisbane River.
[
In keeping with an international trend toward the application of scientific methods to forestry, and over concern for the depleting stock of Queensland's forests and commercial timbers, Sherwood Arboretum was established at the urging of a number of community interest groups, the Local Government Authorities and the ]Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...
.[
In June 1922, the Curator of the Botanical Gardens, Ernest Walter Bick F.L.S. wrote to the ]Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
Deputy Town Clerk outlining the need to establish ''"...an Arboretum near the city where the growth of native and other trees could be studied."'' The Government Botanist, Cyril Tenison White
Cyril Tenison ("C.T.") White (17 August 1890 – 15 August 1950) was an Australian botanist.
Early life
White was born in Brisbane to Henry White, a trade broker, and Louisa ''nee'' Bailey. He attended school at South Brisbane State School, a ...
, raised public awareness, when he wrote to the daily papers on 13 July 1922. The proposal was sponsored by the Empire Forest Association, and gathered the support of the Royal Society of Queensland
The Royal Society of Queensland was formed in Queensland, Australia in 1884 from the Queensland Philosophical Society, Queensland's oldest scientific institution, with royal patronage granted in 1885.
The aim of the Society is "Progressing scie ...
, the Queensland Naturalists' Club, the Horticultural Society, the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science, the Public Health Association, and through a number of articles in the A & B Journal of Queensland.[
No suitable land was initially identified within Brisbane Shire. In 1925, the Greater Brisbane Scheme saw the amalgamation of local councils and shires to establish the ]City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainlan ...
. Land previously purchased by Sherwood Shire Council was considered suitable, and a proposal to dedicate land for arboretum purposes was strongly supported by the outgoing Sherwood Shire Council.[
Symbolically, Sherwood Arboretum was officially opened on World Forestry Day, 21 March 1925, with a planting of 72 Queensland kauri (]Agathis robusta
''Agathis robusta'' (syn. ''A. palmerstonii''), the Queensland kauri (pine) or smooth-barked kauri, is a coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. (Although sometimes called a pine, it is not a true pine, and has leaves, not needles.) It has a ...
) along a central promenade named Sir Matthew Nathan
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Quee ...
Avenue in honour of the Queensland Governor
The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial funct ...
.[ It was initially known as Sherwood Forest Park.]
Many of the people associated with the opening and the first plantings are well known today as founders of the State and Brisbane City, prominent local residents and landowners, and leading scientists of the day such as: Sir Matthew Nathan; William Jolly, the First Mayor of Greater Brisbane; Archbishop James Duhig
Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-s ...
, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane; Romeo Lahey
Romeo Watkins Lahey, M.B.E, (2 June 188726 October 1968) was an Australian businessman, civil servant and conservationist.
Early life
Romeo Watkins Lahey was born 2 June 1887 in Pimpama, Queensland, Australia. His father was David Lahey, an I ...
, local timber mill owner and founder of the National Parks Association, W. D. Francis of the Queensland Herbarium
The Queensland Herbarium (Index Herbariorum code: BRI) is situated at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. It is responsible for disco ...
and author of "Australian Rainforest Trees"; and Edward Swain
Edward Harold Fulcher Swain (1883—1970) was a forester in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Swain laid the foundations of modern forestry economics in Queensland.
Early life
Edward Harold Fulcher Swain was born in Sydney in 1883.
Ca ...
, then District Inspector of Forests who became Director of Forests in 1928.[
From its outset, the Sherwood Arboretum was focused on growing Australian trees, and especially Queensland trees.][ Over 600 specimens had been planted by 1929 with plans for another 400 in place. The temperature, climate and soils did not favour these early endeavours, and many of the plantings from the 1920s and 1930s appear to have failed.][
Significant tree plantings include pine, fig and native plum, such as: Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta); bull kauri ( Agathis microstachya); bunya pine (]Araucaria bidwillii
''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Austra ...
); hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii
''Araucaria cunninghamii'' is a species of ''Araucaria'' known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine, Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine. The scientific name honours the botanist a ...
); Bribie Island pine (Callitrus columellaris); Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla
''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...
); Queensland weeping fig (Ficus microcarpa
''Ficus microcarpa'', also known as Chinese banyan, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, curtain fig, or , is a tree in the fig family Moraceae. It is native in a range from China through tropical Asia and the Caroline Islands to Australia. It is wide ...
); cluster fig (Ficus racemosa
''Ficus racemosa'', the cluster fig, red river fig or gular, is a species of plant in the family Moraceae. It is native to Australia and tropical Asia. It is a fast-growing plant with large, very rough leaves, usually attaining the size of a lar ...
); rusty fig (Ficus rubiginosa
''Ficus rubiginosa'', the rusty fig or Port Jackson fig (''damun'' in the Dharug language), is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Australia in the genus ''Ficus''. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants ( hemiepiphyte) ...
); and Queensland rarities like Burdekin plum, (Pleogynium timorense) and Davidson plum ( Davidsonia pruriens). From the west, the more arid interior and tropical north are wilga ( Geijera parviflora); broad-leafed bottle tree ( Brachychiton australis); lacebark (Brachychiton discolor
''Brachychiton discolor'' is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It grows in drier rainforest areas. Scattered from Paterson, New South Wales (32° S) to Mackay, Queensland (21° S). There is also an isolated community of these trees at Cap ...
); tulip oak (Harpuilia pendula); with the Leichardt tree (Nauclea orientalis
''Nauclea orientalis'' is a species of tree in the family Rubiaceae, native to Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Australia. It has many common names, including bur tree, canary wood, Leichhardt pine and yellow cheesewood. It grows to a maximum of a ...
); celery wood (Polyscias elegans
''Polyscias elegans'', known as the celery wood, is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. It occurs in a variety of different rainforest types, from fertile basaltic soils, to sand dunes and less fertile sedimentary soils. The range of natu ...
); yellow wood (Flindseria xanthoxyla). Mangroves occur along the river frontage: milky mangrove (Excoecaria agaloeha), grey mangrove (Auicennia marina) and river mangrove ( Aegiceras corniculatum). Examples of exotic species are uncommon, but include a Syrian Ash (Fraxinus syriaca) from Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.[
In 1946, a number of land parcels and some connecting unformed roads were acquired adjacent the Arboretum. This addition is now named the John Herbert Memorial Vista, commemorating the State Member for Sherwood 1956-1978, who was an active member of the local community and had a long association with the ]National Trust of Queensland
National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963.
It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the e ...
. The John Herbert Memorial Vista is managed as an integral part of the Arboretums natural biosystem.[
The Sherwood Arboretum has a special association with Brisbane's renowned landscape architect, ]Harry Oakman
Henry Octave Cyril Vereecke (4 April 1906 – 16 June 2002), better known as Harry Oakman, was one of Australia's foremost gardening authorities and a pioneer of Australian architectural landscaping. An immigrant from Belgium, Oakman wrote ...
, who was the Manager of Parks and Gardens for the Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
from 1946 to 1963. Oakman had been Head Gardener, Department of Parks, for Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...
from 1940 to 1946. He later worked in Canberra, and wrote seven books on tropical and sub-tropical gardening. Harry Oakman (1906-2002) produced a major redesign of the Sherwood Arboretum, although his design was not implemented at the time. It has served subsequent generations, however, and the essential characteristics and elements of today's design reflect those advanced by Oakman by maintaining the original tree plantings and developing new elegant looping pedestrian pathways from the perimeter and within the main drive; capturing vistas overlooking the forests and the plantings; and culminating in the wharf and terminal.[
A report by the ]Queensland Conservation Council
The Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) or Queensland Conservation is a non-governmental organisation that represents all the major conservation organisations of Queensland state in Australia. The organisation have been working to protect, cons ...
released in 1975 claimed that Brisbane's parks were, in general, often flat, lacking in trees and natural water features, and had too much emphasis on built-recreation facilities. The report argued that too many buildings, sports clubs, car parks, and roads all defeated the purpose of parks as open spaces. The Sherwood Arboretum stands in stark contradiction to this generalisation.[
The park's vistas, river frontage, subtropical mature trees and mature plantings of Queensland pines, native figs and specimens of rare Queensland native plums in a setting of grassed open spaces, open lagoons and shrubby borderlines, demonstrate an established sub-tropical garden character and are well appreciated by the public. Indeed, Sherwood Arboretum is listed as the third or fourth most visited park in Brisbane.][
The changing land use in and around Sherwood Arboretum, from Aboriginal resource, to colonial farm, to suburban subdivision, and finally to parkland, demonstrates the evolution of Queensland's history, and the process of the creation of open spaces as the area's population grew. The Brisbane City Council's management of the land at Sherwood reflected its interest in the international ]town planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
movement of the time. Redesigns of the park also demonstrate changes in parks philosophy and use over time, with a shift in emphasis from formal genteel Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
avenues and strictly scientific pursuits, to the development and maintenance of living natural ecosystems with a rich and a diverse biota and multiple opportunities for leisure activities and leisurely interaction with the natural environment.[
]
The park has a long-standing and strong association with the local community. The children's playground is very popular with local mothers and children. The mix of open space, timbered slopes and forest groves attracts the use of festival organisers, wedding parties, sportspeople, the elderly, picnickers and the disabled.[
Current park use ranges from active to passive. Active use ranges from sports use, such school events and cross-country running, through numerous social events and festivals, playground use, weddings, cycling and jogging. More passive uses include picnics, strolls through the gardens, quiet contemplation, and visitation by tourists. Many of the trees have heavily scarred trunks and limbs, especially the long-lived figs, bearing the testimonials of the countless lovers who have felt inclined to leave their testimonials inscribed.][
Sherwood Arboretum continues to hold its scientific and cultural values with Queensland native specimens and plantings vastly predominant, and exotics noticeable by their near absence.][
]
The original formal Edwardian layout of the park as exemplified by the Queensland kauri plantings along Sir Mathew Nathan Avenue, has given way to less formal grove-like clumpings, more fluid and more in keeping with contemporary standards of garden design and aesthetics. The garden redesign undertaken by Harry Oakman has inspired the contemporary layout, although many of the earlier tree plantings remain.[
The Sherwood Arboretum has a character of park planting that is a distinct aspect of Brisbane's historic parks and large gardens.][
The Arboretum lands hold important environmental values for the suburb and Brisbane city as a whole by providing critical water habitat for native plants and animals, by maintaining in stream water quality and for flood mitigation. It is a bird watching site of State significance and international repute, with 124 species recorded.][
The Arboretum continues to play a role in science, with new plantings of the rare and endangered angle-stemmed myrtle (Austromyrtus gonoclada) in accordance with the ]Government of Queensland
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...
's recovery plan for this species; and ongoing studies in ecology and reproductive strategies for the dusky moorhen ( Gallinula tenebrosa).[
]
A series of improvements since 1974 has led to the establishment of two artificial freshwater lagoons, a children's playground, disabled user access, car parking improvements, a large roofed amenity block with bench seats and tables, a riverside boardwalk and public jetty on the river, and pedestrian pathway system, garden furniture, and an artistic installation commemorating the 1974 flood showing the height of the floodwaters. A toilet block was under construction at the time of the heritage listing. These structures are not considered to be significant.[
]
Description
A rolling open landscape provides a spacious setting for clumped tree plantings, individual specimen trees, and an avenue of mature and semi-mature Queensland kauri.[
The Sherwood Arboretum is bounded on the west by the Brisbane River and on the south-west by Jolimont and Turner Streets. Residential properties occur on the other boundaries. These properties are accessed from Joseph and Ferry Streets in the north; Dudley and Dunella Streets in the east; and Douglas Street in the south.][ Public vehicle access occurs off Jolimont Street with a 50 vehicle car park, and a smaller car park on Dewar Street directly into the John Herbert Memorial Vista.][
Pedestrian access is provided from the Jolimont Street Car Park; off Dewar Street, Joseph Street, Turner Street; and from the pontoon on the Brisbane River centrally located on the Arboretum's eastern boundary.][
]
Heritage listing
Sherwood Arboretum (including the John Herbert Memorial Vista) was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...
on 3 May 2007 having satisfied the following criteria.[
The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.
The Sherwood Arboretum is important as evidence for the development of modern scientific methods of managing forestry and timber production in Queensland following the First World War. The need for an arboretum in Queensland was identified by a number of eminent scientists and was supported by important scientific, commercial and community interest groups. The establishment of the Sherwood Arboretum was only achieved through cooperation between these groups and various levels of government, demonstrating the importance of the project.
In keeping with a long tradition of tree planting by eminent persons, the Arboretum contains plantings by the then Governor, Sir Mathew Nathan, and numerous distinguished scientists, politicians, local landholders and community leaders.][
The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.
Sherwood Arboretum appears to be unique among Queensland's public open spaces and botanical gardens by its concentration on tree species native to Queensland, and by the virtual exclusion of exotics.][
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.
Sherwood Arboretum is an important example of its type, combining public amenity and scientific purpose within an aesthetically pleasing arboreal landscape. It continues to serve its original function for research along with other public uses such as public relaxation, education and leisure.][
The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.
The wide vistas, the riverside location, majestic landscapes and large and small natural beauties of the Sherwood Arboretum have a high aesthetic value, encouraging an appreciation of nature and sense of place which far exceeds what its small acreage might otherwise imply.][
The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period.
The Sherwood Arboretum is a managed landscape demonstrating a high level of creative and technical achievement in balancing aesthetically pleasing design characteristics with scientific requirements.][
The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
Sherwood Arboretum is important to researchers and national and international visitors for its natural, aesthetic and scientific values, and is also valued by the local communities of Sherwood, Chelmer and Corinda as recreational space.][
]
References
Attribution
External links
Brisbane City Council Flickr set
{{commons category, Sherwood Arboretum
Queensland Heritage Register
Sherwood, Queensland
Parks in Queensland
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register
Protected areas established in 1925
1925 establishments in Australia
Arboreta in Australia