Ellerslie Avenue of Honour

Hopkins Highway, Ellerslie VIC 3265

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Vic. War Heritage Inventory

Ellerslie Avenue of Honour.jpg

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    Ellerslie Avenue of Honour - Physical Description 1

    A row of mature Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) planted in the road reserve on the east side of the Hopkins Highway at Ellerslie.
    
    COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
    The single row of Monterey Cypress at Ellerslie 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. Other examples of Cypress that are comparable with the Ellerslie planting include that at Orford and Woorndoo. The trees at Ellerslie were planted as a single row rather than as an avenue proper, which makes it similar to Grassmere and Narringal.

    Physical Conditions

    Ellerslie Avenue of Honour - Physical Conditions

    Good

    Integrity

    Ellerslie Avenue of Honour - Integrity

    Intact

    Veterans Description for Public

    Ellerslie Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public

    The single row of Monterey Cypress, along Hopkins Highway at Ellerslie, is one of an important collection of avenues of honour planted in Moyne Shire after the First World War. Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) was the most common species used for these plantings. Thirty trees were originally planted in 1920, one for each man who enlisted, eleven of whom were killed. Twenty-nine trees still remain although the name plaques are now mostly gone.

    Other examples of Cypress avenues that are comparable with the Ellerslie planting, include Orford and Woorndoo. The trees at Ellerslie were planted as a single row rather than as an avenue proper, which makes it similar to Grassmere and Narringal.

    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 May 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.
    
    

    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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