Jo urnal of the Australian Garden History Society

Australian Garden History is the
official journal of the Australian
Garden History Society and Is
published six times a year.

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EDITOR

Trisha Dixon

Bobundara, Cooma, NSW 2630
Ph (02) 6453 5578
Fax (02) 6453 5557
e-mail:trisha@snowy.nct.au

DESIGN

Andrew Rankine Design Associates
Ph (02) 6292 7819

www.arjd.nct.ali

PRINTING

Goanna Print. Canberra

ISSN 1033-3673

FRONT COVER

Corymbia ficifolia by
Jenny Phillips (see page 22)

GUEST

EDITORIAL

by Howard Tanner

G arden-making is the pursuit of a personal
Eden, and even Robinson Crusoe, once he had
set up home on his desert island, complete with
palisades and ramparts to deter the foe, and
stockpiles of life’s necessities - weapons, tools,
furniture, provisions — still had one vital need: in
the middle of his island he created a little garden
complete with trellises and shaded retreats.

The earliest Australian gardens had a practical
layout well suited to orchards and vegetable
production, but at the first opportunity the outlook
was enhanced by a consciously designed structure:
often an aviary or a summer house, which provided
an ornamental focus and a rationale for strolling
through the grounds.

Some readers will recall Richard Aitken’s ground¬
breaking 1980 exhibition on Leisure and Pleasure
Buildings of Geelong. These ranged from rustic
arbours, to Victorian bandstands and classical
pavilions, each one striving to bring individuality
and distinction to a designed setting. On one hand
they were practical shelters against the sun and rain,
and on the other, they were eyecatchers in the landscape. The exhibition conveyed the variety and
number of such structures in late 19 r ^ century Geelong, and indeed Australia, and also the generally
transitory nature of such timber constructions.

My favourite summerhouse is in the grounds of Admiralty House on a bluff overlooking Sydney
Harbour. I first observed it as a school boy from the ferry boat. During summer, banks of blue¬
flowering hydrangeas overhang the water’s edge and high above, enfolded by camellia bushes and old
olive trees is the little summer house — octagonal, and painted in Norfolk green — just large enough
to sit writing a letter or to take tea. In my imagination it was a secluded place for lovers to rendezvous.

The 19™ century pretensions of the newly rich found expression in the dream of a splendid
mansion and estate on the British model. At the Campbell family’s property Duntroon (now
contained within the grounds of the Royal Military Academy in Canberra) elaborate Gothic
extensions to the original bungalow, an octagonal conservatory and a garden maze are part of this
antipodean dream. Labour-intensive gardens such as these had their hey-day between 1870 and
1914, when pastoral prosperity allowed for numerous outdoor staff to plant, water and maintain
elaborate horticultural episodes or the countless plants of a giant maze. Elsewhere, Edwardian
grottoes of real and faux rockwork, lengthy pergolas and trellises of wood and wire are further
evidence of the desire for elaborate architectural devices and the occasional garden folly.

Today, new landscape designs by Vladimir (Tom) Sitta reveal a bold interpretation and continuation
of such historic themes. In Paradise Transformed: The Private Garden in the Twenty-First Century
(Monacelli Press, New York, 1996) one can see his most remarkable realised garden to date, near
Harden in New South Wales. Hedged vistas cleave the landscape, while tilted alder trees form a green
cathedral, and a stone 'folly cove’ emits and dematerialiscs the immediate setting with clouds of mist.
In a most abstract and contemporary way, Sitta here revives the grand landscape tradition of
perambulatory intrigue, accented by follies and grottoes.

With Richard Weller and Room 4.1.3 — in schemes for Centennial Park, Sydney and the National
Museum of Australia in Canberra - Sitta seeks to create a symbolic Australian landscape, graphically
realised on a huge scale. As part of contemporary history, I hope the Journal will see fit to publish
their work in the near future.

Howard Tanner helped found, and became the second chairman of the A.G.H.S. During the 1970s he extensively researched Australia's
garden history for several books and a major travelling exhibition. As Chairman of the N.S.W Heritage Council 1993-1996 he instigated
the study and identification of the surviving colonial gardens in the Sydney region. His Sydney-based architectural practice. Tanner &
Associates, is well known for its schools, housing and heritage work and has masterplanned major gardens at Goulbum and Mittagong.

2

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

CONTENTS

MAZES AND GROTTOES

?v p

4

Mazes

BARRY LONG recounts the history of the labyrinth

10

Geelong Maze — A Thorny Puzzle

TRISHA DIXON highlights an account of one of Australia’s earliest mazes

12

Stone Circle - Monaro

JOHN AND PHYLL McLEAN on the creation of a stone circle

14

A Craftsman of Rock: the work of Charles Robinette

DAVID JONES looks at Australia’s master grotto designer

17

The Rippon Lea Grotto

RICHARD HEATHCOTE depicts the creation of one of Australia’s only remaining grottoes

19

With Seeds in Their Pockets

SUZANNE HUNT reports on a seminar looking at immigrants and their gardens

21

The Bookshelf

PETER TIMMS dips into Neil Robertson and Louise Earwaker’s ‘Open Garden’ book
and a look at a book to be launched this month on Elizasbeth Bay Garden

22

Botanical Snippets

23

Calendar of Events

24

The Back Page: The Lady in Blue

TRISHA DIXON searches through the labyrinth of information for clues to the
identity of the woman in the painting of her Bobundara garden

Thanks to Georgina Whitehead, John and Beverley Joyce, Di Ellerton, Kate McKern, Elizabeth Wright,
Nola Foster and Jackie Courmadias for packing the last issue of the Journal.

© Australian Garden History Society 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form for commercial purposes wholly or in part (other than the circumstances outlined in any agreement
between the author/artist/photographer/illustrator and the Society) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Permission
may be granted subject to an acknowledgment being made. Copying for private and educational purposes is permitted provided
acknowledgment is made in any report, thesis or other document which has used information contained in this publication.

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

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3

THE PUZZLE MAZE, TYPICALLY
A HEDGE MAZE, is the usual image
brought to mind when mazes are
mentioned. There has been a complex
evolution to this particular expression of
garden ornamentation and amusement.

LABYRINTHS

by Barry Long

T he labyrinth motif is an ancient mystical and
ritual symbol found, apparently unrelated, in
many parts of the world. The words labyrinth and
maze can be used interchangeably but maze is now
generally used for the garden structure usually with
a puzzle element. It has been conjectured that the
classic labyrinth design (see Fig. 1 on page 6) has an
entrail or womb-like appearance and evokes the
sense of fertility and food gathering, basic elements
in the life of primitive man. As such the design has
been found scratched on rocks by primitive
cultures; it appears in the myth of the Minotaur
and was seen in ancient buildings such as the

Egyptian labyrinth (c. 2000 BC) and in the tomb
of Lars Porsena, the Etruscan king (c. 600 BC) and
seems to have strong links with Troy, the seven
traverses representing the seven cities or perhaps
the mass of impenetrable defences with the goal
representing the city itself In Scandinavia ritual
mazes outlined in stone were built and in England,
Wales and Germany turf mazes were laid out and
used at times of celebration. The design is
incorporated into the floor, as a mosaic, in some of
the great gothic cathedrals perhaps as part of the
known Christian habit of converting pagan
symbols and rituals to a Christian meaning.

4

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

Two of the most famous cathedral mazes are
illustrated (see Fig.2 on p.6). The one at Rheims
was ordered to be removed because of the noise
created during services by children using the maze
when they should have been at their devotions.

Although garden mazes or labyrinths were first
mentioned in the twelfth century it is not clear what
form they took at this time. They were probably
garden buildings or trellis work structures.
The Renaissance saw a new use of the labyrinth
symbol. Its humanist philosophy and inspiration
taken from the classical example saw a new style of
house and garden evolve. Alberti in his book

On Building (1452) recommended a return to the
style of the Roman villa and garden. Symmetrical
planting of trees and shrubs relating to the villa was
recommended. In itself this was novel as previously
the house and garden had been seen as separate
entities with any integration being accidental.
The garden was to be formal and contain groves of
trees and labyrinths or mazes. There is, in fact, no
firm evidence that the Romans had mazes as
envisaged by Alberti although they used complicated
topiary designs for children and exercise for soldiers
laid out a labyrinthine pattern on die ground known
as die Game of Troy. The vigour of Renaissance

above: Fig 3

Floral labyrinth of modified
Cretan design

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

5

above: Fig I
Cretan labyrinth design

top: Fig 2

Cathedral pavement mazes -
Rheims (left) and Chartres

Dr Barry Long is a physician
in Adelaide. He enjoys
gardening in the Adelaide hills
on the banks of the Sturt
River and has an interest in
garden history. The maze in
Belair National Park is near his
childhood home and when he
became involved In the
project to restore it his
interest was stimulated in the
subject and the extensive
legendary and historical
associations of the maze.

ideas saw the rapid establishment of mazes as a
garden element. The mazes initially took the form
of low hedges or floral labyrinths mainly with a
unicursal path and less often with a simple puzzle
element. The pattern commonly was drat of a
stylised Cretan labyrinth. The floral labyrinth
contained hedges of low-growing plants or clipped
shrubs embellished with statues and other
ornaments. The botaniail enrichment of gardens
from China and die Americas was yet to come and
mazes of this type offering a pleasant walk with
diversions on the way to die goal at the centre were
a means of increasing the interest of a garden
(see Fig. 3 on p.4-5).

In the late Tudor era die height of the hedges
increased and the puzzle element began to
dominate and this form of maze remained popular
in large gardens until die eighteenth century when
the landscape style characterised by ‘Capability’
Brown replaced the earlier more formal gardens
and their mazes. Late in his career, ‘Capability’
Brown was the Royal Gardener at Hampton
Court but ironically was forbidden to touch the
Hampton Court maze. Mazes persisted in
pleasure gardens in the eighteenth and early
nineteenth century. These were public gardens
laid out for the entertainment, in a garden setting,
of the growing working and middle classes created
by the Industrial Revolution. Records are scanty

but the pleasure gardens undoubtedly contained
mazes. During the high Victorian era in the late
nineteenth century large, lavish and often eclectic
private gardens were laid out containing much
garden architecture and ornamentation including
mazes. With the advent of the more modern style
of ‘wild’ gardening advocated by William
Robinson and the style of Gertrude Jekyll
emphasising colour harmony over an architectural
framework combined with increasing labour costs
and the scarcity of man-power caused by the two
world wars the high maintenance hedge puzzles
mazes again largely disappeared.

In the 1970s there was a renewal of interest in
mazes world-wide but particularly in Britain
which has a climate particularly favourable to
hedge mazes. Japan had a craze for wooden puzzle
mazes in the 1980s and there were about 150
mazes with maze runners attempting to traverse
the maze in the shortest possible time. The new
era has produced mazes which are more diverse
and complex than in the past. Hedge mazes are
still planted but other forms include wooden
panel, turf, stone, pavement, colour, water and
mirror mazes. Mazes can incorporate themes,
symbols and hidden meanings to challenge and
educate. The renewed popularity of mazes may
relate to the current interest in adventure travel.

Australia’s large colonial gardens followed the
late Victorian fashion and some contained mazes.
All but one (Duntroon) were in public gardens
and there may not have been quite the wealth in
Australia to maintain mazes. The first of the
colonial mazes was in Cremorne Gardens in
suburban Melbourne, a pleasure garden with the
maze being laid out to an ‘English’ plan in c. 1 853.
(see Fig. 4) gives some idea of what was offered to
the public in a Victorian pleasure garden. Two
mazes were planted in the Ballarat Botanic
Gardens, the first in 1862 (Acacia paradoxa )
succeeded by another in 1888. Duntroon,

6

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

originally a grazing property, had a Hampton
Court design maze planted by Marianne
Campbell. This was a smaller and squared up copy
of the original irregular trapezoid. The area
became Duntroon Military College and the maze
was removed in 1954 but replanted in 1965 and is
currently planted with cotoneaster (see Fig. 5).
There was a maze in Carlton Gardens, Melbourne
planted c.1880 for the Great Exhibition. Belair
National Park, at the time of its formation in 1891
had a maze, planted in 1888, of Crataegus monogyna
and another maze was planted in 1902 of Kaffir
apple both to the same English plan. The latter was
removed, derelict, in 1950, a victim of die wartime
scarcity of resources and man-power. The original
maze survived partly intact and has been
progressively restored by die S.A Branch of the
Australian Garden History Society. The original
plan and the maze after restoration are illustrated
(see Figs. 6 & 7). This is the only surviving colonial
maze in Australia and one of the few in the world
dating from the nineteenth century.

Australia has approximately 66 mazes known to
the author. They are generally in tourist complexes
with a few in public gardens. Only two of the
number (these have not been confirmed: near
Healesville and in the Western District of Victoria)
are in private gardens. About half of the Australian
mazes are of hedge, a third wooden panel with the
remainder being of roses, trellised climbers, brick
wall, pavement or colour mazes with one turf maze
and a stone circle. Ashcombe Maze (Shoreham,
Vic.) is the first commercial hedge maze and the
best known maze complex with the original maze
being planted with an unnamed form of Cupressus
lambertiana. Tasmazia, Promised Land, (Tas.) is
another tourist complex and is illustrated in Fig. 9
and indicates the diversity of expression dtat can be
given to mazes. Wooden panel mazes are relatively
cheap to build and maintain and have proved
popular in commercial tourist attractions.

The general appearance of this type of maze is
shown in Fig. 10. This maze is located in a public
park at St Kilda, S.A. Another example of mazes,
in a public park, is in tropical Queensland.
Queens Gardens in Townsville contains two small
mirror image mazes of Murrayapaniculata flanking
a path (Fig. 11).

Although the maze is again enjoying a renewed
popularity, mainly as a tourist attraction, the maze
concept has not really found its way back into the
private garden. Over the span of human existence
it has embodied some of the most ancient
symbolism, some of our most important myths,

above top: Fig 5
Duntroon maze

above: Fig 6

Plan of first Belair maze

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

7

opposite page, top: Fig 7
Partly restored Belair maze

bottom:Fig 11
Mazes, Queens Gardens,
Townsville, Queensland.

right Fig 4
Plan of Cremome Gardens

Cradle Mountain To Sheffield "Town of Mural*"

8

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

those of the Cretan labyrinth and Troy, has been
turned to a religious use and has been
incorporated in many games and rituals.
Hopscotch is laid out in the form of a gothic
cathedral with the game having a connection to
the maze symbol. Morris dancing is thought to
relate to ancient maze dancing. The modern
maze has lost much of its rich history and is used
for ornament, safe adventure and education.
Traditional mazes are too large and labour
intensive to include in modern gardens but
pavement mazes with a path inlaid into a paved
area in the garden such as a courtyard could add
additional enjoyment. The floral labyrinth also
has potential for modern application. Only a
small area would be needed to create a simple
maze-like path flanked by garden beds filled with
interesting plants. It would certainly allow an
interesting display in a plantsmans gardens with
the goal at the centre perhaps being a seat
allowing a relaxed appreciation of the
surrounding beauty of the garden. The labyrinth
is a very rich and complex symbol and its use,
given imagination, is unlimited.

Australian Garden History Vol 11 No 5 March/April 2000

9

E L 0 N G maze

- A THORNY PUZZLE

by Trisha Dixon TV'i

JX(

ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING HISTORIC
MAZES in Australia was once sited in Geelong, Victoria.

nown as ‘the Richardson Maze’ after Mayor,

.Councillor H.F. Richardson, the maze,
although an ambitious project, was never a success
and had a short life span.

George Jones, who has documented the
gardening history of Geelong in his book,

Growing Together quotes a report to Geelong Town
Council in 1896 by Mayor Richardson: ‘...Ihave
to thank the Council for kindly falling in with my
idea, and contributing a portion of the special vote
towards constructing a maze in the Eastern Park,
which I feel sure, in years to come will be an
attraction to visitors and residents. ’

Although allegedly providing a lot of fun for a
while, its failure to grow and its harbour for
rabbits were the main reasons for its demise.

A site was selected ‘in front and a little to the
right of the curators residence’ and binding of one
hundred pounds put forward. On the afternoon
of August 26, 1896, George Jones reports that the
members of the gardens committee paid their
monthly visit of inspection...

The first place inspected was the maze, which is in
course ofconstruction, and as the walks forming what
in the fiiturepromises to be a source of attraction, and
distraction, have been laid out and planted on each
side with boxthorn, the coitncillors undertook the
unravelling of the puzzle. The labyrinth of short
paths, gentle but misleading turns and false passages,
tried the patience and the pedestrian abilities of the
Corporation representatives, but, under the guidance
of the curator, they eventually reached the centre of
the maze after traversing fully a quarter of a mile of
country. The committee held a meeting in the centre
of the maze and arranged various matters.

From The Geelong Advertiser
The townsfolk had their turn on Sunday
September 6 when several hundred people
enjoyed ‘considerable merriment’ attempting to
unravel the mystery of the maze.

However, it literally failed to grow. ‘So much so,
that on a similar "monthly visit of inspection" six

years later the committee
noted the height was
only about 18 inches.
The Geelong Times, 16th
October, 1902, said "Its progress, however, during
the past 12 months, since the privet and white
thorn was mixed with the boxthorn, has been more
rapid, and it is estimated that in about 12 years’
hence it will be high enough to get ‘lost’ in it."’
George Jones writes.

Plants chosen for the maze were an unusual
choice - and ones that discouraged any ‘cheating’
by climbing over or under the hedges. White thorn
is the common hawthorn, Crataegus oxycantha
with its mass of sharp thorny branches; and the
boxthorn, Lycium ferocissimum is aptly named for
its ferocious thorns (used in Africa for keeping
lions at bay and in colonial gardens as hedges to
keep stock from straying). Interestingly all three
plants chosen (privet, hawthorn and boxthorn)
were introduced species - all popular hedging
plants - later to become noxious weeds.

Another introduced species of the four-legged
variety was found to be using the thorny protection
of the maze to dig their burrows and in 1905, the
East Geelong Police detected four young men
searching for rabbits in the maze. George Jones
writes that complaints had been made by the
curator that rabbiters had been damaging it. ‘On
this occasion they had brought a greyhound with
them and had climbed the fence. The council
decision: "The youths be warned."’

An amusing incident, before the demise of the
maze, was reported in The Sun News-PictoriaL
October 30, 1924 — the author having trouble
with his/her spelling:

Every city, like every man, at some time or other has
had a joke against itself Geelong’s joke is its maize.

Thirty years ago a 114 -acre block, elaborately and
geometrically set out, was planted with maize in the
Botanic Gardens. A fence ivas built around the block
to protect the cereal when it sprang into growth. The
maize grew to a certain height, then went on strike.

The children of the time, who longed to explore
among the stunted stems, have long since grown into
manhood, but the maize declines to reachfinal growth.

10

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

Geelongs patience is incorruptible. The maize
is beguiled with ivater, and the fence kept in diligent
repair.

‘Still’ as George Jones writes, ‘the joke about the
maze was wearing a little thin.’ Although it did
not appear to have grown much in recent years, it
was allowed to linger on until 1930 when it was
finally decided that the hedges forming it be
removed, bringing an end to the Geelong maze.

‘To my mind the maze was "just another maze"
George Jones thought ‘until I received a letter
from Dr Barry M. Long ...it then took on a new
significance, as I am sure you will agree.’

Dr Long considered the maze, in general outline,
to be identical to a plan in a rare book, The Orchard
and Garden , published by Adam Islip in 1602. The

designs in Islips book were obtained from French
and Dutch sources. The design is for a floral
labyrinth and is unicursal. If die design was adopted
for the Geelong maze it would have been modified
to conform with the Victorian puzzle style. It is also
similar to that of the Hever Castle maze in Britain
which was planted only a little later in 1902.

Today there is no trace of the maze and the area
once covered by its thorny hedges is now just
outside the present Geelong Botanic Gardens. An
aerial photograph of the Gardens taken in 1925
shows the maze as its focal point. ‘Regrettably it
never grew satisfactorily and must be looked upon
as a failure’ George Jones says. ‘However, as far as
history is concerned, failures are just as important
as successes.’

Aerial view of the
Richardson Maze, created
more than a hundred years
ago, photographed in 1925,
five years before its demise.

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 Novernber/December 2000

11

CIRCLE -

In mythology, a symbol
of totality and wholeness.

In western magic an important

symbol used in ceremonial
workings within the temple.

A VISIT TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY of
Art in Washington, USA last year provided the
inspiration for making ‘Stone Circle — Monaro’.

My work
is about
an cmotionaf
one to one
reCationskip
with nature

- Richard Long

L ooking down from a balcony at the Gallery,
there was a large circular area covered with pieces
of slate. It was captivating.

This was the work of international artist Richard
Long, born in England 1945- Considered to be
one of Britain’s leading artists, Richard always uses
natural materials. His work includes walks,
sculptures and mud works. Some of his works are
exhibited in galleries, while others are in open
spaces ranging from localities near his home in
Bristol to remote and isolated places in many parts
of the world.

‘I like common materials, whatever is to hand,
but especially stones. I like the idea that stones are
what the world is made of. I like to use the
symmetry of patterns between time, places and
time, between distance and rime, between stones
and distance, between time and stones.’ writes
Richard Long.

We live in a beautiful place of subtle colouring.
The hills of the Monaro, rising above the treeless
plains, are covered with eucalypts, callitris and
acacia. The understory is parched and rocky. The
rocks, grey with lichen and green with moss, arc
most beautiful after rain. We built our house low,
and coloured it to blend in with the surroundings.
Our garden merges gradually with the surrounding

bush. In this setting we planned our
stone circle.

There was some debate over site selection, the
first location being rejected on the grounds
of excessive earth works. The next site was
conveniendy below the house; it was at a junction
of several garden paths, and was lightly screened
by native trees. It was not a horizontal plane, but
its slight saddle shape was able to be reduced to a
gently sloping plane without too much pick and
shovel work.

The decision as to where and how big the circle
should be became a family affair in which an
artistic daughter played a pivotal role. Using a
garden hose we laid it out and moved it around
until it looked right. Then the centre of the circle
was located and referred to recovery marks on
neighbouring trees, and the radius was measured.
It was 3.23 metres.

The circle was marked for the time being with
small stones which served as a guide while some
cutting and filling was done to create a plane.

The next task was to gather suitable stones.
It was estimated that if they were to be the size of
dinner plates, about four hundred would be
required. As it turned out many were smaller so far
more were used. All of the stones were covered
with lichen, and some had moss. We gathered
them off our property, and, the Monaro being
what it is (known for its stony terrain) there were
plenty left. Regretfully, we unhoused about a dozen
scorpions, about the same number that over die

12

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

years have gate-crashed our house. There seemed to
be a rough justice in this.

The stones were not all the size of dinner plates.
The largest had a mass of about seventy kilograms,
but many were like saucers; altogether there were
about seven hundred pieces.

The stones varied in thickness between five and
one hundred and fifty millimetres. It became
evident that as well as having a texture in the
planned position of the close fitting pieces of stone
there had to be a texture in vertical dimension.
There also had to be a fiirdter texture in lichen
colour, with its various shades of green and brown.

Surrounding the circle we cleared a pathway and
surfaced it with detritus from overhanging trees.
Some of the low branches are hazardous for tall
people, but have been allowed to remain for the
artisdc contribution of die overhang.

Now that construction is finished we can enjoy
the benefits of our stone circle. We feel that there
is a correctness in the location of the circle. It is the
focus of garden paths and can be glimpsed from
most of the garden. Although understated in itself
it has come to dominate the garden.

Now that it has known snow in winter, the
harsh sun of summer (when it has become a lizard
motel), the gentleness of autumn rains and the
wild winds of spring, its timeless quality is enhan¬
ced. It is as though it has been there forever.

This timelessness is perhaps inevitable. The circle
has had since earliest times a magic, mysterious
quality. It is a symbol of wholeness, of totality.

It has no

beginning and
no end.

Walking the land,
choosing and placing
the stones, and the joy
of joint achievement was a
wonderful experience. We have
created a place for meditation, dreaming,
peace, tranquillity and spiritual renewal.

My stones are [ikeyrains of sand

in the space of tke fandscape

- Richard Long

RICH A-R D LONG_

my art is in the nature of things

B ritish artist Richard Long accepted John Kaldors
invitation to visit Australia in 1977. Like his
contemporaries Gilbert & George, Long studied
sculpture at St Martins School of Art in London in
the late sixties. Although Long’s work is far removed
in sensibility from that of die ‘living sculptures’, in
their shared rejection of formalism they both created
work that expanded the definition of sculpture
through the action of the artist.
In Long’s case, the action is mostly walking.

Richard Long’s trips are not expeditions of
discovery but conceptually defined walks through
different landscapes. For example, A straight hundred
mile walk in Australia 1977 is one of a series of
straight hundred mile walks undertaken in countries
including Ireland, Canada and Japan.
The Australian walk was documented through

photographs, which were used to make a work and
an artist’s book. Long’s walk took place near Broken
Hill: ‘I had no particular destination in mind when I
set out. I caught the train from Sydney to Perdi and
simply got off when I saw country that I thought was
suitable.’ The walk was made daily, the artist
returning to the same campsite each night; the
hundred miles refers not to new ground covered but
the cumulative total of the daily walking.

Long also made site-specific works for the Sydney
and Melbourne state galleries. Using blue metal stone
found at a Sydney quarry, Stone litre was installed in
the entrance gallery of the Art Gallery of New South
Wales. The branches for Bushwood circle, installed at
the National Gallery of Victoria, were collected
during a walk in bushland near Melbourne.

- John Kaldor Art Project 6 — Richard Long 1977

Bibliography
Fuchs, S. H. 1986,

Richard Long, Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, New
York, Thames and Hudson.
Long, R. 1991, Walking in
Circles, Thames and Hudson.
Long, R. 1995,' Richard Long’,
Sao Paulo Bienal 1994,
British Council, London,

Phyll and John McLean live in
retirement on rural land near
Cooma, NSW Phyll was a
teacher librarian, a focus for
her interest in literature, art
and history, but most of all,
enthused by her mother, she
has always been a gardener.
John's engineering background
is complementary in this, and
he scribbles a few words,

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

13

a cr

by David Jones

AFTSMANof ROCK:

the work of Charles Robinette

NO POET COULD DESIRE A MORE
CONGENIAL NOOK in which to conceive
or perfect his ideal creations; and few persons
with any soul will leave this poem of rock and
plants after a retreat of an hour without a feeling
of regeneration and quiet enjoyment [sic.].

O ne of the interesting characters that has been
discovered as a result of the forthcoming
Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (c.2001),
is Charles Robinette (1841-1921). Robinette has
surfaced as being the only professional horticultural
structure and grotto designer and maker in
Australia in the 1870s-1920s.

While we have a considerable literature in
Europe, North America, and Australia that reviews
the qualities of grottoes we know little of their
designers and creators, and less of whether they
moved from one project to another and increased
the scale and quality of their craftmanship.

Advertisement,
‘C, Robinette, Artistic
Grotto and Horticultural
Builder, Malvern', featuring
the grotto and rockery at
the Melbourne General
Cemetery, c. 1895.
(Hall collection)

Aitken has touched on this topic when reviewing
garden structures, and Watts has mentioned several
in Historic Gardens of Victoria (1983). We know of
grottoes at Werribee Park and Rippon Lea in
Victoria; Wairoa, Anlaby, Montefiore (in North
Adelaide - designed for Chief Justice Sir Samuel
Way) and The Acacias (in Kensington Park-garden
of Adelaide Mayor Sir Edwin Smith) in SA. Most of
these grottoes, except the latter two, attempt to
adhere to picturesque ideals but with varying degrees
of success.

Establishing a Reputation
in South Australia

Born in Moulton, Lincolnshire, Robinette served as
gardener to Isaac Holden of Oakworth House near
Keighley in West Yorkshire, from 1867-1873.

In December 1875, Charles and Mary Robinette,
with their first child Julia, sailed to Australia arriving
at Port Adelaide in January 1876. Upon arrival the
Robinettes established a grocery business first in

14

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

Rundle Street and then at Glenelg in 1882 where he
established his workshop.

Robinette had no formal training in gardening or
horticulture. Instead, he was an adept learner who
studied surveying and hydraulic engineering front
monographs drat he acquired. While dtere are
numerous detailed reviews about his artistic
workmanship in creating grotto and rockery
structures, there is little recorded that gives as an
insight into his design ideas and intentions.
Descriptions about what he intended, or any of his
ink drawings prepared for each design, are also
limited. All point to an unusual expertise in crafting
stone, understanding theory and design and
hydraulic principles with grotto creadon.

In Adelaide, Robinette was engaged to work on
several private commissions including Montefiore
and The Acacias. The grottoes and rockeries at
Montefiore were praised as a triumph ... of nature,
art, and practical convenience. The whole is as
natural-looking as if it had been carved in toto from
the side of a mountain stream ... The only break to
the fanciful picture is die litde incongruity of pure
white stalactites suspended from the decidedly
discolored limestone formation of the cave. This is
an artistic (ault. But no blame to the art builder, who
perforce had to use the only material available.
Despite this the grotto is a splendid copy of nature,
and delightfully picturesque.

At The Acacias he crafted his largest work
involving ‘innumerable cascades and rills, at the foot
of each of which is a pool apparently hollowed out by
the constantly falling water.’

ARTISTIC GROTTO AND HORTICULTURAL BUILDER,

MALVERN.

o

C OHDIMC'ITr; A*TI*TIC GROTTO A«U IImmiilultubag llUll.Htu, Si |irr|»»rwl 1° execute
. l\UD 1 l\ Ij 1 I 1-/, order* fur the election of nil fund* of Comerviioile*. Greenhouse*, Gmttocs,
' and I'ernerle*.

C. R- also bee* to »Ul« that he ii a specialist In Hie art of Grotto Building, and would respectfully invite
an inspection of ionic of liii work. Specimen* may lie scat III llie_ ISoUuidl and 'Zoological Garden*, Melbourne ;
alio in the Mclbourne'Geiieral Cemetery mid the Malvern Public Guldens, and oilier places.

PLANS, SKETCHES, AND ESTIMATES PHEPARED TO ORDER.

Tin following fliport appeared In " The Oardtn and Ihi field," fibrunnj, 1801, of a Oiollo built bg 0. ft. for llh Honor
Mr, S. •/, Wag, Chief Juttlot, Adelaide

[From “ The (TirJm sod lie PulJf February, iSSi.]

Ir we compare die elfuri* at ornamental horticulture of ilic |*i.t
with the protein, it ll noticed »l eec* lhat great etiUoa are
being injili* lawenli <ll**llr»|<J iialute In liyr . -gluL.1

place Thi» ■> iiW.l.tnl b, Ic|ki<* bits fl

veenety ilirongh Ml let »c imuMnm , «n-l (tin* imi^il-nlmg the
gem* of foirtt and mount »|« mix the very tie*il i»f ymt iiini,
where they not only alfori! dally a pure and untwllitel eniMjnnrni
lo III* fortunate |urnenii», amt |nuiiiulr •niMln lleallll, lint al*.
lend gradually lo tal»« tl * miihmla laote and tonit at aociety in
general • and, indenl, In this respect llieu efiiMIS occupy In
liurinnltnre the ranli, it Kemi to me, Lliai |irw!try tiul.lt in
literature. (Jr,c of Hie mwi enceot.f.i eiiv.»|it> m dm direction
I luve lately hid the plmitre or Wetii.hling, »it, the gndciit
• lieclieil to the residence of Hie tlnnor the t.'lilef Justice, al
North Adelaide, anil llu-ie llnr» reflect only vrry llitjierfvilly thn
impresaioni uf lilt aulliui. 1'liengb nui vtivutlvs, yci the kb ill
wills which idealised nature, art, and |.e.icth , *l iwmnnioUf hive
been coinliined aecurcd very happy result*, and reflects the
Ingtint credit upon it* designer. The arrangements for the water
supply of the fcethcied |iets, often forming a sure fur inure than line
organ of sense, have here been ingeniously converted into an

ornament ; the walet.eonsunlly changing, it contained in pools
amnug rock-walk, representing a smuli gtotto diaped with ferns,
mid uvetsliadnwed by tall ahniln. The whole is as natural-
lu<.Liiig a* if It had Iseen rareeiT in Me from the side of a
HMMUilain ktiQuill. IIill rise gem i>t the wool* appeared to be
ilia sull unfinished fvineej. ('•““f 1 rockery of ttuly fairy-like
Miwet, with |it«-apices, iwiiii«uin»e l.nwfclett, l.ny water-falls,
sislatlils giMioel, etc. aril Marked eith »t»»>al l^ndred pieces
nf Hires, elf , winch Me ifltp-uml m tlctsgfitful naturalness and/
lanumiy Thu wlude design has been *u well earned out in
II* uiiliiieuliimi and ntlwr details ibsi it sy peart as U iUhc fan-
lAstiral rm-L music* had Itecit dlrerilr produced at ills place
l>r Lliw hand uf nailin', Wilde the mpi.itiy sniitin f. rn drapery,
il.e cheerful rnwinnnin® sif (he wain., and tlse (billeting and
chirping of limit lively 'Milk lend an r-irhantw.ent in the scene,
•liongly reminding One oi wine |wt«Mgn m the "Arabian
Nights. u Nu pnti s-oi.ld ihraiie a mvie ocni**m»l nook in
wliiuli in i-miovivc ui p.ifori I i» bleat ctwiian , sml few
purmns wills any smil mil lease tins fern *< /fault,

after a reirc.it <>f an liotir, witlioiil a feeling ol regeneration and
ipiict enjoyment. And, I lliink, none but those few unfortunate
onus will turn away disappointed, for whom a rock is but a large
stone, and a lovely plant a Imneli of sliange weeds.

A Shift to Melbourne

In late 1885 Robinette gained employment with
William Guilfoyle of the Royal Botanic Garden,
Melbourne. Increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of
worksmanship of his staff, Guilfoyle commissioned
Robinette to craft a rockery in the Garden near die
Anderson Street (B Gate) entrance. The small
triangular grotto, described as a fantastic piece of
rockwork,’ was planted in typical nineteenth century
period succulents.

A reporter recorded critically that it is a ... very
extraordinary piece of workmanship ... as though it
had dropped from the sky. It consists of irregular
masses of stone cemented together, with irregular
outlines and surfaces formed into caves, arches,
stalactites, &c., with pools intervening, and pockets for
plants. We understand it is called a fountain, but by
whatever name it may he known, it is totally out of
place in such a position, being in no way connected
with its surroundings, and is certainly as great a piece of
incongruity as ever was perpetuated.

During his project Robinette was also engaged to

work on several other public commissions. Grotesque
rockeries on two small triangular carriage-drive islands
in The Domain—credited as his constructions—arc
very typical of his artistic style and design. At the
Melbourne Zoological Garden, in 1886-87, he erected
a very handsome rockery and pond’ and \.. a platypus
pool with rocks and burrows and holes for them to live
in.’ Another project was the ‘Rockery’ in the
Melbourne General Cemetery in c.1889. In Malvern
Gardens he crafted the ‘handsome fountain and a fish
pond, fashioned in artistic grotto work’ in 1888. In
1892 he was at work in die Darling Gardens, Clifton
Hill, creating a rockery and a series o( ponds.

In about 1896 Robinette decided to shift his family
to the alluvial goldfields in dtc Ovens Valley in north¬
eastern Victoria What prompted this decision is
unknown; possibly he had insufficient horticultural
commissions to sustain him due to the stock market
crash. He died after a short illness at his residence in
Porepunkah in 1921, aged 80 yea is, and was buried in
the Bright Cemetery. The Alpine Observer recorded
him simply as a well-known and highly respected
resident of Porepunkah.’

Advertisement Flyer,

‘C. Robinette, Artistic Grotto
and Horticultural Builder,
Malvern', c, 1899.

(Fleming collection)

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

15

Acknowledgments
Richard Aitken who
encouraged much of this
research. Nina and Ray
Fleming, Di Foster and the
City of Stonnmgton Historical
Collection, Catherine de
Courcy, Tina Meyer, Geoff
Hall, Seth Hall, David Gilbert,
Maree Vickndge, the Burke
Museum archive in
Beechworth, Professor John
Dixon Hunt John Moreton
and the Bright & District
Historical Society, Isobel
Paton, and Dr Pauline Payne.

Fernery and grotto at
'Montefiore', 1902. Source:
The Australian Gardener, I
December 1902, p. 4.

The Legacy

Charles Robinette therefore stands out as an unusual and significant landscape designer in the history of
Australian horticulture and landscape design. Between 1875 and 1920 he crafted some of the most
significant public and private grotto and rockery structures known in Adelaide and Melbourne. His
authorship of these artistic works disappeared because of his artisan status, minimal recognition in period
publications and journals, and due to the promotional activities of the public clients he worked for that
often appropriated any accolades of the artistic quality of the structures and success as their own.

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Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

GROTTO

R I P P O N L

MOONLIGHT BOATING PARTIES at the Rippon Lea estate in
Melbourne must have been exhilarating.

T he large lake presented imposing vistas by
day but at night, with sights and sounds
augmented, it must have been very dramatic for
the revellers afloat. In its heyday, during the
1890s, Sir Frederick and Lady Sargood's famous
garden in Elsternwick was the scene for all kinds
of social events and public functions.
The Sargoods knew how to use their grounds to
best advantage and Table Talk , Melbourne's
society periodical, often described the occasions.
Reports offered detailed, careful comment on
which ladies were most fashionably dressed in
contrast to the unrestrained hyperbole about the
extensive and well kept grounds.

Frederick Sargood was a merchant baron who
acquired his wealth in the Victorian goldrush years
of the 1850s establishing an extensive soft goods
and haberdashery business. Gardening was his
hobby and great passion which he pursued
vigorously. His head gardener, Adam Anderson,
and his landscaper, William Sangster, were both
Scotsmen and well grounded in the picturesque
tradition which they had experienced during their
formative years in Scotland. Anderson had worked

for the Duke of Aberdeen at Haddo and Sangster
trained on the Duke of Hamilton's estate in
Ayrshire.

A major element in Sangster's scheme in the
early 1880s for improving Rippon Lea involved
extending the lake to three times its existing size.
The soil removed to achieve this was then used to
create a mound with tunnels and a lookout tower
situated at the top, providing panoramic views of
Port Phillip Bay. This created scale adding
interest to a relatively flat site and provided
further landscaping opportunities.

Sangster created a number of picturesque
features to exploit fully the impact of the
extended lake. These included islands, bridges,
waterfalls and extensive ornamental rockwork all
of which survive intact today. The most
delightful feature is the garden grotto situated
behind the main waterfall on the north face of
the mound. The grotto is approached from a
path that skirts the mound winding round the
south side of the lake. It is essentially a curved
corridor with a barrel vaulted roof lined with
volcanic rocks.

A

by Richard Heathcote

Boating parties were a regular
event at Rippon Lea and
moonlight boating a particularly
dramatic garden occasion.

La Trobe Collection,

State Library of Victoria

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

17

The grotto entrance taken
shortly after Sangster
completed landscaping.
Photographed byj. M. Lindt
c 1885.

Courtesy of Brian Webster

Sargood children and friends
photographed at the entry to
the grotto at Rippon Lea
c 1888.

National Trust Collections

For nearly ten years Richard
Heathcote has managed
Rippon Lea Estate for the
National Trust in Victoria.
This year Como Historic
House and garden was added
to his portfolio providing him
with even less time to
tend his own modest
suburban family garden but
increased opportunities for
studying the social use and
landscape history of these
William Sangster gardens.

The grotto at Rippon Lea does not appear to
have had any decorative plasterwork or inset
decoration such as the sheep's knuckle bones and
sea shells of the Werribee Park grotto, also extant
and in Victoria. Although not fanciful in this
way, the hooks in the ceiling of the grotto cave at
Rippon Lea tell us that it was lit and accessible
during the moonlight boating parties held in the
pleasure grounds.

The grottos best effect is the sensation of the
sublime experienced from within as the cascade
from the waterfall crashes into the pool.
The overwhelming noise and visual excitement is
heightened inside the cave as slits in the rock
work provide glimpses out to the falling water as
well as shafts of light for the interior. A large
opening offers a grand vista across
the lake and wooden benches
encourage the grotto’s use as a cool
resting place on hot summer days.

The plantings around the feature
were informal and relatively wild
revealing the large volcanic rocks
which face the north elevation of
the mound and lake surrounds.

This picturesque feature must have
held great attraction for the young
Sargood children (five sons and five
daughters) and their friends. A
secret cave to repair to out of view
from parents and servants ever
watchful eye!

The grotto at Rippon Lea is
currently not open to the public as
some of the rockwork is unstable
and in need of structural repair.

However, the mound, lookout tower and
waterfalls are all accessible and reward the
explorer with wonderful garden views. The
National Trust of Australia (Victoria) who own
and manage the gardens are planning to
undertake repairs in the near future so that this
secret and exotic feature can once more be
experienced by visitors to the pleasure grounds.
Although rowboat rides operate for visitors on
summer Sunday afternoons, the Trust has yet to
make arrangements for moonlight boating
parties. Perhaps when the Grotto reopens this
would be a suitable celebration?

Rippon Lea Estate is open to the public daily
Warn to 5pm except Christmas Day & Good

La Trobc Collection, State Library of Victoria

18

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

WITH

I N

THEIR

ARCHIVES SEMINAR 2000
a review

DOLLS AND BRASSIERES STUFFED WITH SEEDS
were some of the intriguing details to emerge from the
Victorian Branchs Winter Seminar, ‘With Seeds in Their
Pockets’: immigrants and their gardens in Victoria at the State
Library’s new conference facility.

T he purpose of the seminar was to investigate
the contribution of different cultural groups
to our garden heritage from 1840 to 2000 and to
support the ongoing development of the Garden
History Archive, recently established as part of
the LaTrobe Picture and Manuscripts collection.

The speakers were, Maria Tence from the
Immigration Museum; Recreating a sense of
home: Immigrants and gardens 1920-2000.
Diane Reilly; the La Trobe Librarian, The La
Trobe Collection and Governor La Trobes
Garden at Jolimont. Eddie Butler-Bowden from
the Museum of Victoria; The Front Lawn: An
Anglo Australian Obsession. Basil Natoli; from
Community Services Victoria Community
Gardens Across Victoria. Sue Ebury; Verika’s
Australian Garden and Suzanne Hunt; A
priceless legacy: The English Garden Tradition in
19th century Victoria, both members of AGHS.
(Vic). The topics covered ranged from general
comments about social attitudes towards
gardening to the motivation for their creation.
They also explored changing fashions in garden
design from the nineteenth to the twenty-first
centuries and gardening in different contexts. For
instance gardens cultivated for the production of
food, and the role ol gardens in helping
immigrants to reshape the landscape, making it
less foreign and strange.

A practical example of how ideas have been
introduced and adapted was demonstrated by

Sue Ebury in her discussion of Verika’s
Australian Garden. This case study
compared the cyclical rituals sur¬
rounding the subsistence style of food
crop cultivation in the harsh Dinarric
region of Bosnia Herzegovina with the type of
garden that Verika, a Bosnian refugee,
subsequently created in the Central Highlands
area of Victoria. Although Verika adjusted to a
different climate and terrain it came as no
surprise to learn that the production of
foodstuffs was still a major consideration for her.
Many of the vegetable, fruit and nut tree varieties
she currently grows are ones that she was familiar
with. Her Australian gardening experience did
however enable her to extend this knowledge to
include flowers amongst the corn, potato, herbs
and tomato plants. Perhaps the most significant
revelation about Verika’s experience was a
comment made to her by Bosnian compatriots
who perceived that garden cultivation was no
longer a necessity in the relatively affluent
lifestyle now enjoyed in Australia. Why, they
wondered, would she still continue to undertake
such hard peasant work!

Basil Natoli also made the observation that
familiar herbs, spices and vegetables were the first
plants to be grown in community gardens he has
helped to establish. Mainly worked by migrants
from Asia the creation of these small plots has
effectively helped to breakdown racial barriers and

Community gardens - Belgium
Street, Richmond, Victoria.

Photos by Libby Brown

Australian Garden History Voi 12 No 3 November/December 2000

19

Ron D'Aprano in his
back garden. 1988
State Library of Victoria
Collection LRN 821371

Suzanne Hunt is a social
historian and former Museum
Curator. Currently writing and
undertaking research on
the sociology of gardening in
Victoria, Suzanne is the
Archives Co-ordinator for the
Victcorian Branch of the
Australian Garden History
Society.

Verika and her husband
in the garden.

Photograph by Sue Ebury

provides a wonderful opportunity for people living
in high-rise accommodadon to combine a leisure
activity with growing foodstuffs for the table.

How some of the most recent exotic plant
material was introduced remained a vexed issue for
future discussion. Trouser cuffs, gumboots and
underwear were some of the likely methods of
transportation hinted at. The general consensus was
however, that the overwhelming desire to sustain a
similar garden culture in a foreign environment will
make it difficult to eradicate the practice entirely.

The socialisation of gardening through die media
was the message imparted by Eddie Butler-Bowdcn
in his amusing look at The Front Lawn: An Anglo-
Australian Obsession. The significance of the front
lawn as a symbol of power and pride in the
Australian psyche was not lost on advertising
agencies. The maintenance of this most sacred of
spaces became die province of the male member of
the household who were advised to clip and mow
their lawn in the pursuit of perfection. Lawned
areas in contemporary vernacular also afforded sleek
green areas around minimalist architectural sites
and cool refreshing places on which to rest from the
frantic pace of modern living. The utilisation of the
front garden space for growing food crops by
European immigrants provided an interesting
comparison.

The contribution of migrant groups from the
colonial period to the year 2000 has been immense.
Primarily, the story of our garden culture has been
the successful naturalisation of introduced plant

material. It is a rich and diverse heritage that reflects
the character and patterns of British, European, and
mostly Asian migration. This seminar was an
attempt to focus upon the contribution of some of
these cultural groups, who having chosen to setde in
Victoria, brought with them ideas, skills and
preferences for plants and garden styles that they
adapted into their new way of life. The sociolog)' of
gardens is perpetually changing. Garden history
does not belong exclusively to die nineteenth or
twentieth century - it is happening in Melbourne
right this minute and it is important to try to
document and understand how our most recent
arrivals create their own ‘sense of place’.

The development of the Garden History Archive
at the State Library is an ongoing project for the
Victorian Branch. This year we produced a
beautiful coloured brochure, called “ Garden History
in Every Backyard" that highlights the work of the
library and our Society. A photographic record of
the garden at ‘Claremont’ in Geelong was funded
by the library, and will form part of the archive and
there have been some significant donations
including the journals of a well known Melbourne
landscaper, garden photographs by Libby Brown
and a century of records from the Rose Society of
Victoria. The State Library has already placed our
brochure on their web site and is keen to work with
us to contact groups and individuals who may have
material that they would like to donate.

We are thrilled with the success that has so far
been achieved and encourage other State Branches
to consider undertaking their own archives project.
The benefits include raising the public profile of
the society by working with an established
institution, creating a body of material that can be
used for future research and publication and,
importandy, ensuring that our garden histoiy is
preserved for future generations.

For further information contact Suzanne Hunt -
Archives Co Ordinator (03) 9827 8073.

CHARLTON

Circa 1880s

The subject of Sydney Long’s ‘River House’ painting, a National Trust
listed garden with renovations to house by Professor Leslie Wilkinson.
Two acres of romantic rambling gardens created by Sheila Hoskins
on the banks of the Mulwaree River on the outskirts of Goulburn.

Five bedroom house, drawing room overlooking the garden and river,
formal dining room and large family room with tennis court and
a number of charming garden buildings, including turn of the century
brick stables.

Enquiries

Elders Real Estate Goulburn
Dick Greenlees

email gbnbch@goulburn.net.au mobile 0412 770482 office 4821 9222

20

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

‘I KNOW ONE DAY MY OLD PEARS
WILL DIE’, says Barbara Jennings, one of
the many contributors to this alluring book.

belong where,
what weather

‘I hope I die first - it would break my heart.
But you have to accept that that’s nature, and you
move on and redesign the area’. The blend of passion
and acquiescence here is immensely appealing; die
cheerful acknowledgement that however tenaciously
you struggle to realise your personal ambitions you
will always be brought up short by forces beyond
your control. This is what makes gardeners such
interesting people: they are creative, nurturing,
sensual and fervent, yet with egos kept neatly
trimmed by circumstance.

It was such a simple idea to let gardeners speak
directly about their own properties and their own
experiences. The result is a garden book that reads like
a stimulating conversation with interesting people
rather than a lecture by experts. These people are
experts, of course, but they have gained their expertise
through years of practical experience, learning by
their mistakes, and what strikes one most is their
modesty, as well as their frankness.

They live all over Australia, from die dry centre to
the tropics; on stately country properties and on
quarter-acre suburban blocks. All are members of
Australia’s Open Garden Scheme, for which this book
is a fine advertisement.

And they present us with a vast range of views and
opinions. If you got them all together, you’d generate
some memorable arguments about what plants

patterns arc most
suitable (' I have
no desire for a
tropical garden’,
says one, while
another couldn’t
garden in a cold
climate) and what might constitute an Australian style.

The colour photographs are luscious and
beautifully printed. My only complaint is that they
tend to concentrate on details, so we don’t often get a
good sense of what the overall effect is, or of how the
garden relates to its environment. When one
gardener, for example, describes the transformation
she wrought by removing a drive that cut right across
the vista down the garden’, you long to see what she’s
talking about. Sketch plans would certainly have
helped in this regard.

Still, the book is certainly seductive and that,
I suppose, is the point. It makes you want to get out
there to see these gardens for yourself and to meet the
people who created them and care for them. One,
Dennis Hundscheidt, says ' I would like to be known
as a good gardener. I would like people to say, oh yes,
I remember him, he was a good gardener’. A noble
enough ambition, I reckon.

NOTED BOTANICAL HISTORIAN,
Dr Lionel Gilbert, has documented the
fascinating history of the creation of
Elizabeth Bay garden by Alexander McLeay.

The book, to be launched this month, is particularly
relevant to this issue as it includes details and two
photographs of the grotto, which has in part
survived the development of housing and sub¬
division that has all but obliterated any traces of
McLeay s grand creation.

The grotto, although derelict, has enormous
historical significant. Elizabeth Bay House was
designed by colonial architect, John Verge and the
remaining neo-classical scroll work still to be seen in
the grotto, could perhaps be the work of Verge too.
The magificent carving which is the focal point of
the grotto, bears the date 1835, which must surely
make it Australia's earliest grotto. Based on a natural
rock shelter and reinforced with sandstone blocks, it
remains virtually intact, although overgrown with
moss and having suffered being used as a place for
burning garden refuse in recent years.

The grotto is to be found in the Arthur McElhone
Reserve, a small carefully designed and well
maintained park in front of Elizabeth Bay House along
with 'some intriguing, if forlorn, fragments of such

romantic features as a witiding watercourse, circuitous
pathways, massive retaining walls, balustrades and
stainvays, pools, fountains ... interspersed with patches of
exotic leafy growth' Dr Lionel Gilbert writes that these
remain as poigmant relics of one of the most
significant centres of horticultural influence in 19th
century New South Wales.

The gardens, started in 1828, long before Elizabeth
Bay House was built, overlook Sydney Harbour.
Alexander McLeay, Colonial Secretary, had the
foresight to retain the indigenous trees and shrubs as
well as sourcing exotics from throughout the world.
The book is a fascinating account of the creation of
the garden and contains not only lists of plants, but
where they came from and who sent them to McLeay.
More than a book about plants, it is a tribute to the
McLeay family, who made an enormous contribution
to early scientific investigation in the foundling
colony of New South Wales.

It may also hopefully spark an interest in
preserving the grotto - such an integral component
of our Australian garden history.

The Open Garden: Australian
Gardens and their gardeners
by Louise Earwaker and
Neil Robertson

Sydney, 2000, Allen and Unwin
RRP $65,00 (inc. GST)

Review by Peter Timms

Mr McLeay's Elizabeth Bay Garden
by Dr Lionel Gilbert
Mulini Press

PO Box 82, Jamison Centre,
Canberra. ACT 2614
$ 10.00 post free

Review by Trisha Dixon

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

21

o t a n i c a

i n

e x

FRONT.COVER

Kirstie McRobert has once again undertaken the meticulous task
of indexing Australian Garden History. Kirstie has indexed the
entire Volumes 1 - 10 which have been published in one volume.
This has been an exacting and labour intensive task and the
Society would like to acknowledge and thank Kirstie for her
enormous contribution.

Copies of the Index will be available at the Conference and
through the AGHS Office.

-MAZING
NEWS

Secretary and Treasurer of the South
Australian Branch of the Australian
Garden History Society, Miriam
Hansman recently attended a workshop
on the Belair National Park organised
by Hassell Ltd. Discussions with the
local National Parks & Wildlife Service
indicate they now realize the historical
importance of the maze and are taking
an interest in managing the maze. The
Committee is now working on some
improvements to the Maze to prepare it
for a possible handover.

1/71

a ¥

C-

The Corymbia ficifolia featured on
the front cover is included in the
newly released Jenny Phillips’
Australian Botanical Artists
National Trust Desk Diary 2001.
Jenny is Director of the Botanical Art
School of Melbourne in Punt Road, South
Yarra where she transforms often complete
beginners into skilled botanic artists — the
most exacting of art forms. Her generosity
of spirit, her passion for her art, her
consummate skill and unwavering belief in
her students ability to succeed
have earned her hundreds of
devotees throughout the world.
Jenny has been teaching artists
and enthusiasts for the past nine
years and the diary not only
features her own work, but the
art of many of her students.

The front cover image is also
available as a signed and
numbered limited edition and is
available from Botanicart
(03) 9820 3331

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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‘Donations are welcome and should be payable to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and forwarded to the AGHS.

Membership benefits: subscription to the Society’s official journal. Australian Garden History, six times a year; garden related seminars, lectures, garden visits and
specialist tours; opportunity to attend annual conference and conference tour; contributing to the preservation of historic gardens for posterity.

AGHS Office, Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, Vic. 3141

Phone (03) 9650 5043 Toll Free 1800 678 446 Fax (03) 9650 8470

THIS FORM CAN BE PHOTOCOPIED SO THAT THE JOURNAL CAN BE RETAINED INTACT

22

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

CALENDAR / EVENTS

NOVEMBER

SATURDAY 25

Vic Birregurra - Working Bee at
Mooleric Enquiries (03) 9397 2260.

SUNDAY 26

Tas Freshwater Point Christmas Picnic
Luncheon in a beautiful waterfront
garden, created in 1824 Bookings
and enqtiiries Deirdre Pearson
03 6225 3084

DECEMBER

MONDAY4

Vic Melbourne Christmas function -
Footscray Park Enquiries 03 9397 2260

FRIDAY 15

SA Adelaide — Christmas function
Venue Quixley home, 3 Britton
Avenue, Tranmere Time 6 - 8pm
Cost $10 (non-members $12)

SATURDAY 16

ACT Symonston Christmas party at
Mugga Mugga — explore the cottage
and see the restoration of Lizzie
Curleys ‘cottage garden (c. 1915)

Time A - 6pm Cost Members $8.00
(non-members $ 10) Directions
Entrance to Mugga Mugga is opposite
the Therapeutic Goods Laboratories in
Narrabundah Lane, Symonston RSVP
to AGHS, Box 1630, Canberra, ACT
2601 by Monday December 11.

AUSTRALIAN GARDEN HISTORY

EDITORSHIP

OF JOURNAL

Nina Crone from Victoria has been
appointed as the new Editor of Australian
Garden History and will take up the three
year appointment for the first issue in
2001. Nina has been an active member
of the Australian Garden History Society
participating in conferences, tours and
working bees and was Secretary of the
Victorian Branch for two years.

Former Principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar School and Producer/
Director Radio and Television Programmes for the ABC, Nina has also
lectured in garden history to Landscape Design students and in January was
awarded an OAM for services to education.

Nina is well known to Victorians as a garden columnist for The Age writing
under the name Alison Dalrymple. She had also been a regular contributor to
the Journal and assisted with proof reading. Nina holds a B. Ed, Dip. Ed. and a
B.A. in History and French from the University of Melbourne and a Diplome
sur les Institutions Internationales from the University of Geneva.

The Chairman of the Society, Peter Watts, said he was delighted with the
appointment and said the National Management Committee looked forward
to working with Nina. He paid tribute to Trisha Dixon who has edited the
journal for the past 6 years and extended a very warm thank you to her on
behalf of all members.

LETTERS TO

THE EDITOR

The Editor

This very beautiful Victorian garden
um is situated in pride of place in our
Warrnambool Botanic Gardens.
The Friends are trying to identify it
and better yet, find out where it
came from. It is believed that the um
was placed in the Gardens at the
turn of the century. One of the
Friends thinks that being so Italian in
style, it could possibly be a Brancusi.

In an endeavour to find out more
information I am writing to you to
ask if any of your members might
have any ideas on its origins.

We are currently searching
through old Council minutes but
there seem to be no papers nor
correspondence on the um. Actually
there was a fire some years ago and
many valuable papers were lost at
that time.

Yours sincerely

Marigold Curtis

Friends of the Warrnambool
Botanic Gardens Inc. Committee
Member
PO Box I 190
Warrnambool 3280

Australian Garden History Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000

23

CK PACE

lady, in d/ue

by Trisha Dixon

"Bobundara" An Early
Australian Homestead
by Percy F. S. Spence
from Australia
Painted by Percy PS. Spence
Described by Frank Fox

T he house facade looked the same — the steps, even the pink
oxalis — how intriguing to see a painting of our home and
garden in an unknown book. Flipping through the book there
were more paintings of tali gaitered men in the Bobundara office,
of men on horseback and ploughing teams on the Lucerne flats, a
horse-drawn sulky at the front gate and many more.

We had recently moved to our property' Bobundara, and here
was a feast of beautiful watercolours by an early Australian artist
that we (and the previous owners) had no idea existed. The book,
simply titled Australia was a modern second edition, so imagine
our delight in finding an original leatherbound copy, published in
London in 1910. The paintings were by Percy Frederick Seaton
Spence (1868 — 1933), a prolific and talented artist who moved to
London in 1895 (his portrait of R.L. Stevenson is in the National
Portrait Gallery in London).

The identity of the lady in blue has become as much of a
mystery as the location of the painting of our home and garden.
Much of the fun of living in an historic garden is the research to
try and unravel the development through the years. Old
photographs together with oral and written history help piece
together a compelling but far too inconclusive picture. To find
such a wealth of art work was pure delight - but where to find the
identity of people portrayed and perhaps view the originals?

Art historian, Mary Eagle, who recently contributed to the
Journal (Back page article Vol 12 No 1), provided key research
clue tools. Assess the costumes of the people in the paintings,’ she
urged. The dress of‘the lady in blue’ along with the riding attire
of the men in the other paintings of Bobundara were placed as
most definitely ‘Edwardian’ (1901-1910) which put aside our
assumption of the ‘lady in blue’ as Mrs Wilbraham Edwards (Ida
Emiline Ryrie who died in 1896 after the birth of their son).

Photographs of die Edwards showed the same aquiline features
as depicted in the paintings. Also, we had been told the next
owners (the ‘dashing’ Cambridge-educated Sellar brothers) had no
women visitors. And yet, during their ownership, an elegant

woman ‘appeared’ in a painting of Bobundara. One of many letters
received provides a clue: ‘they lived it up and had Governors and
ADCs to stay and the odd aristocrat from England, that sort of
thing. ..Mr Douglas was a Shakespearean scholar, Mr Walter a pianist
who played six hours a day for their own enjoyment. The homestead
was a large comfortable home, well run with a very beautifrl garden
running down to the creek... the vegetables were all grown at the back
of the homestead and poultry and turkeys across the creek. One day
when the brothers and Uncle were in Cooma one of the servants found
the key to the cupboard where the alcohol was kept and all got dead
drunk. The gardener who had been burning some leaves lit the fire and
it got away, a neighbour coming home saw the fire and stopped it before
it got to the house, but the lovely garden was destroyed. When the
brothers returned they were so angry that they sent them back to Japan,
got some local people in and went to Manly to live. ’

‘Check your local newspaper for visiting dignitaries for die
periods Spence was back in Australia’ Maty' suggested. And what
a plethora of names there were with nearby Dalgety a promising
site for the proposed Capital. The only females however were
Lady Chelmsford and Governor Rawson’s daughter - who both
visited twice.

‘Ascertain the time of year from what is in flower’ - the pink
oxalis which forms a stunning border in the painting (and is
flowering profusely at the time of writing) along with the Red
Flanders Poppies indicate spring and there - on October 22,
1908, is the second visit by Miss Rawson — a long shot, but
perhaps the enigmatic ‘lady in blue’?

Not a maze in the true sense of the word, but just as a maze is
intended to confuse, frustrate, disorient and challenge with its
baffling complexity, there are parallels in my search. Optimistic
that in relinquishing editorship, there will be time to research the
labyrinth of information and solve the mystery, I would be
grateful for any clues! As a finale, warm thanks for the support of
so many people over the years, the contributions to the Journal
and all the wonderful letters.

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Australian Garden Flistory Vol 12 No 3 November/December 2000