Orford Avenue of Honour

Hamilton - Port Fairy Road, Orford VIC 3284

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Vic. War Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    Orford Avenue of Honour - Physical Description 1

    Double row of mature Cypress [?] trees on the main road through Orford.
    
    Avenue of trees - on east side pines, probably Radiata Pine (Pinus insignia); on the west side Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa). The avenue extends from the old road through Orford along to and down the highway south. Under the trees are wooden spikes with brass name plate. There are more than 20 cypresses. [FS 2001]
    
    COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
    The avenue of trees (Cupressus macrocarpa and Pinus insignia) at Orford is one of an important collection of avenues (and rows) of honour planted in Moyne Shire after World War I. Monterey Cypress was the most common species used for these plantings. The avenue of honour at Mortlake is the most impressive with around 200 trees. Orford is a significant example on account of the survival of the wooden posts with name plates. It is also unusual because of the use of two species rather than the usual single species.

    Physical Conditions

    Orford Avenue of Honour - Physical Conditions

    Good

    Integrity

    Orford Avenue of Honour - Integrity

    Intact

    Veterans Description for Public

    Orford Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public

    The Orford Avenue of Honour, comprises of twenty Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and Pine trees (Pinus insignia), planted in Orford in the 1920s in memory of the local men who died fighting in First World War. A total of 22 local men from Orford are listed on the honour roll as serving in the Great War. As an additional mark of respect, the public hall in Orford, erected in 1909, was designated as a soldiers' memorial hall after the First World War and a soldiers' honour board installed.
    
    The avenue extends from the old road through Orford, south to the Hamilton- Port Fairy Road. Under the trees are wooden spikes with brass name plates. A sign was affixed to mark the Orford Avenue of Honour at a ceremony in early April 2002.
    
    The Orford avenue of trees is one of an important collection of avenues (and rows) of honour planted in Moyne Shire after the First World War. Monterey Cypress was the most common species used for these plantings. The avenue of honour at Mortlake is the most impressive with around 200 trees. Orford is a significant example on account of the survival of the wooden posts with name plates. It is also unusual because of the use of two species rather than the usual single species.

    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. Dating from May 1916, the Eurack Avenue of Honour is the earliest known avenue of honour to be planted in Victoria.

    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.
    
    

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Moyne - Moyne Shire Heritage Study Stage 2

    Author: Helen Doyle in association with Context P/L
    Year: 2006
    Grading: Local

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