Werribee Park is the estate of a historical building in

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It includes Werribee Park Mansion, the Victoria State Rose Garden, formal gardens, the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, the

Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo is an African themed zoo in Werribee, about south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board or Zoos Victoria which also includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary ...

, a contemporary sculpture walk and a natural riverine which is being grown with the plants of the Kurung Jang Balluk clan who lived on

Werribee River The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the Werribee Plain, expansive lowland plain southwest of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg ...

. There is also the Mansion Hotel and Conference Centre. The Park was purchased by the

Victoria State Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

in 1973. It was opened as a tourist attraction in 1977. It is run by

Parks Victoria Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia. Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria Ac ...

. The mansion and associated built facilities and grounds were listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

on 1 April 1987.

Mansion

Werribee Park Mansion was built between 1874 and 1877 in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

-style by the pioneering pastoralists

Thomas Chirnside Thomas Chirnside (1815 – 1887) was an Australian pastoralist who settled on much of what would become western Melbourne. Thomas Chirnside was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, the elder son of Robert Chirnside and Mary Fairs. His father was also ...

(1815-1887) and his brother Andrew Chirnside (1818-1890), from Scotland, founders of the " Chirnside Pastoral Empire". Its residential and working buildings supported a large farm workforce. The rooms open to the public include the billiard room, the main bedrooms, the reception rooms and part of the kitchen. Aerial Panorama of Werribee Park

In 1887, after Thomas Chirnside committed suicide, his brother Andrew Spencer Chirnside took over the running of the Werribee and all the holdings along with his sons. When Andrew Chirnside died in 1890 of heart disease, his jewellery and other personal items were left to his wife, Mary Chirnside (née Begbie), for the term of her life and then to his sons, George Thomas Chirnside and John Percy Chirnside. Andrew Chirnside also bequeathed to his wife a legacy of £10,000, and an annuity of £5000 during her life to be paid out to her every six months. Lastly, Andrew Chirnside devised to his sons his interest in the Werribee Park and Point Cook Estates and all the other property of the partnership firm of Andrew Chirnside & Sons. One son, George Chirnside, inherited Werribee Park Mansion and surrounding lands while the younger brother, John Percy, inherited the rocky stone land above the railway line. Not surprisingly, this led to ill feelings, and when Percy purchased land and had Hamilton build "The Manor" in 1895–1896, George took out a court order to prevent Percy from using the word "Werribee" when naming his new mansion. From 1923 to 1973, Werribee Park Mansion was a

Catholic seminary This is a list of Catholic seminaries in the world, including those that have been closed. According to the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, Pontifical Yearbook, the total number of candidates for the Priesthood (Catholic Church), priesthood in the wor ...

, Corpus Christi College. The wings, which are now the Mansion Hotel were added during that period. In 1996 episodes set in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for the television series '' The Genie From Down Under'' were shot at the mansion. Rooms in the house were used for American-based film ''

The Pirate Movie ''The Pirate Movie'' is a 1982 Australian musical romantic comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. Loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera ''The Pirates of Penzance'', the origin ...

'', starring

Kristy McNichol Christina Ann McNichol (born September 11, 1962) is an American former actress. She is known for such film roles as Angel in ''Little Darlings'', Polly in '' Only When I Laugh'', and Barbara Weston in the TV sitcom ''Empty Nest''. She won two Emmy ...

and

Christopher Atkins Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984). Early life Christopher Atki ...

. The mansion was also used in the 1976 film '' The Devil's Playground''. In December 2007, the Werribee Park Mansion hosted two

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

concerts as part of his '' Rocket Man Solo Tour''. Every year the Werribee Mansion Grounds are used to host the Werribee Christmas Carols event, the harvest festival, the polo championships and since 2013 on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

, the ''Let Them Eat Cake'' music festival.

Heritage Orchard

Werribee Park Heritage Orchard is an antique

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

dating from the 1870s. It was renowned for its peaches, grapes, apples, quinces, pears, a variety of plums and several other fruits, as well as walnuts and olives. Over the past few decades the orchard was forgotten and - through neglect - fell into ruin. Recently this historic treasure was rediscovered. Some of the old

heritage fruit An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or heirloom vegetable (especially in Ireland and the UK) is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particular ...

varieties survive - mainly quince, pear and apple. In partnership with

a community group was formed in 2010 to look after the orchard. The aims of Werribee Park Heritage Orchard are: # To provide support for and to foster public awareness of the orchard. # To assist with the preservation and enhancement of the orchard and with special projects selected by the group in consultation with Parks Victoria and other major stakeholders. # To involve people with an interest in the orchard.

National Equestrian Centre

The Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre is an international standard sporting facility for equestrian events, including

Equitana Equitana is a trade fair organization for equestrian sports. This bi-annual trade fair first opened in 1972 in Essen, Germany, and holds events in Germany, the United States, and Australia. Australia Equitana expos have been held biennially in Mel ...

and the World

Polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

Championships. It was officially opened in 1984 as the designated State Centre for equestrian activity. Before 1992, it was operated by the Werribee Park Corporation and was used by the Victorian Polo Association and the Victorian branch of

Equestrian Australia Equestrian Australia (EA) is the national governing body for equestrian sports in Australia. These sports include the FEI-recognized disciplines of dressage, eventing, show jumping, equestrian vaulting, endurance riding, reining, para-equestria ...

. In 1992, the facility was leased for 21 years to the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre Inc. This association comprises representatives of these two bodies. Prince Charles once played polo at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre.

Open Range Zoo

The

is one of three zoos run by Zoos Victoria. It contains animals from Africa such as rhino, giraffe, antelope, zebra, lions and hippo.

Shadowfax Winery

Located on the grounds of Werribee Park, Shadowfax Vineyard and Winery produces a wide range of wines focused on their Macedon vineyards. They formerly made the One Eye Shiraz, a wine produced from the oldest Shiraz vines in Heathcote's Cambrian soil.Shadowfax Winery web page
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References