Gembrook Avenue of Honour

Redwood Road,Gembrook, CARDINIA SHIRE

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Vic. War Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    Gembrook Avenue of Honour - Physical Description 1

    Avenue of Oaks

    Historical Australian Themes

    Gembrook Avenue of Honour - Historical Australian Themes

    Remembering the fallen

    Usage/Former Usage

    Gembrook Avenue of Honour - Usage/Former Usage

    Commemoration

    Veterans Description for Public

    Gembrook Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public

    The Gembrook Avenue of Honour, on Redwood Road, was planted in 1947 with twenty-seven Oak trees (Quercus canariensis and Robur) to commemorate the Second World War. Recently some of the trees had to be removed and replaced with new plantings.

    In Australia, commemorative trees have been planted in public spaces since the late nineteenth century. Arbor Days were held regularly in most Victorian State Schools during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and numerous trees were planted in parks in Melbourne and throughout Victoria to mark the visits of important and famous people.

    This tradition of commemorative planting was continued in 1901 when at the end of the Boer War trees were often planted for each soldier of the district who was killed in South Africa. These plantings, however, rarely consisted of more than two or three trees in each town.

    During and after the First World War avenues of honour consisting of trees lining significant streets became a popular form of commemoration. They represented a new egalitarian approach to the commemoration of soldiers where rank was not a consideration: each tree symbolises a person.

    Avenues of honour are a uniquely Australian phenomenon. Australians, and in particular Victorians, embraced the idea of planting them more enthusiastically than any other country in the world. The Eurack Avenue of Honour is the earliest known avenue of honour to be planted in Victoria and dates from 1916.

    By the time of the Second World War avenues of honour had declined in popularity as a means of commemoration. Today it is estimated that over 300 avenues of honour have been planted in Victoria to commemorate service personnel since 1901.
    
    

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