waverley council significant tree register · 2013-12-16 · property over three generations. The subdivision of the estate in 1882 reduced the land on which Bronte House is situated

waverley council significant tree register

Tree Address: Bronte Gully Bronte

Botanical Name: Taxodium distichum

Tree Common Name: Swamp Cypress

Co-ordinates: X: 339,480.0 Y: 6, 247, 352.1 Tree Height: 20m+ Diameter at Breast Height: 1300mm Radial Spread: 25m Age Class: Mature Health: Good Structural Condition: Adaptive growth on top side of 1st order branch. Wound/cavity on 3rd order branch at 11m. Bees nest. No access to base due to bees nest. SULE: 15 - 40 years TPZ Calculation: 15m SRZ Calculation: 4.1m

Tree Management Comments:

• Remove deadwood >50mm in diameter considered unstable from target areas. • Undertake aerial inspection of tree when undertaking pruning works. • Assess tree’s habitat value prior to pruning works. • Mulch SRZ area. • Under take regular monitoring or tree’s health and structural condition.

Historical Themes:

• Developing local, regional and national economies: Environment – cultural landscapes. • Building Settlements, towns and cities: Towns, suburbs and villages.

Significance Attributes: Cultural/Social/Commemorative � Historic Botanic/Scientific Ecological � Visual/Aesthetic

Significance Level: Individual local significance.

Statement of Significance: The Taxodium distichum (Swamp Cypress), located in the upper south-west corner of Bronte Gully, is a specimen of massive scale, form and proportions. It is the only known example of this species for the Waverley LGA and possesses high rarity significance (botanic and aesthetic value). The Swamp Cypress forms part of an important cultural landscape still containing elements that demonstrate its origin as a Picturesque garden fashioned on the late 18th – early 19th century English model. Bronte House and its garden are listed with State significance on the NSW Heritage Register (historic value). The Swamp Cypress is thought to have connections with Mrs Georgiana Lowe; the Lowes were residents of the house from 1845-1850. Mrs. Lowe was an avid collector of seeds and plants including those collected by explorer Ludwig Leichhardt and from the plant collections at Elizabeth Bay House (historic value). The Swamp Cypress is considered to have individual local significance in terms of botanic, aesthetic and historic value. Background: Taxodium distichum (Swamp Cypress) was first received at Elizabeth Bay House in 1836 and cultivated at Camden Park in 1843.1

Swamp Cypress is a species of deciduous conifer native to south-eastern North America with soft, fine textured, needle-like bright green foliage changing to orange in late autumn before falling.

The Swamp Cypress is located in Upper Bronte Gully. Bronte Gully forms part of historic Bronte Park, an area of land comprising of headlands, foreshores, baths, parkland and bush. The land on which Bronte Park developed is part of four land grants totaling 42 acres at what was then called Nelson Bay acquired by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis in 1836. William Mortimer Lewis began the house in 1836 but due to economic depression was forced to sell the property before its completion in 1843. Robert Lowe, an English barrister and later NSW parliamentarian, bought the property and finished the house in 1845. Despite being residents of the property for only four years, it was the Lowes who finished the house and laid out the gardens.2 The house changed hands quickly over the next couple of years, until the Ebsworth family bought the property in 1882. They were the longest private owners of Bronte House, the family occupying the property over three generations. The subdivision of the estate in 1882 reduced the land on which Bronte House is situated to 4 acres.3 In 1948 the Ebsworths sold the house and its grounds to Waverley Council. The house was fully restored by Council and is now leased out. The estate to which Bronte House belonged was once extensive. It included the cliff to the south of the house, where the property’s stables were located, Bronte Park, including the Gully, and the beachfront

1Historic Houses Trust of NSW, 2011, Colonial Plant Database, accessed 02.09.11 ttp://www.hht.net.au/research/colonial_plants 2 Mandis Roberts,2005, Bronte Park Plan of Management, Sydney, pg 12. 3 Mandis Roberts,2005, Bronte Park Plan of Management, Sydney, pg 12.

itself. Georgiana Lowe was an avid collector of seeds and plants, and it is almost certain that her garden contained native species as well as the shrubs and cottage annuals grown from the seeds her brother sent her from England. In almost all of her letters to relatives in England, Georgiana described the pleasure she had in making her garden. Writing to her mother-in-law in October 1847, she notes "I have just been planting seeds that were collected on Dr. Leichardt's expedition. A gentleman who accompanied him gave me a few seeds of each new flower and tree discovered. I intend to make drawings of our new place."4 Georgiana Lowe was also a regular visitor at Elizabeth Bay House, home of Alexander MacLeay, and procured cuttings of plants and trees for her own garden5. It is known that Swamp Cypress had been growing at Elizabeth Bay House since 18376. The Picturesque landscape movement preferred the natural landscape over the manicured. Designers sought to respond to the topography of a given site creating a balance between painterly composition and the variety and roughness of natural scenery. Whilst classical beauty was associated with the smooth and neat, picturesque beauty had a wilder, untamed quality.7 Bronte Park has historical significance as a cultural landscape still containing elements that demonstrate its origin as a Picturesque landscape fashioned on the late 18th – early 19th century English model. The Gully retains mature species of Cinnamomum camphora, Angophora costata, Eucalyptus botryoides, Eucalyptus robusta, Phoenix spp., and Ficus rubiginosa; all possible remnants of the Picturesque 19th century landscape. Swamp Cypress is a rare species for the Waverley LGA with no other examples known to exist in the area.

4 Schofield,L, 2002, The Garden at Bronte, Penguin Group, Victoria. 5 Schofield,L, 2002, The Garden at Bronte, Penguin Group, Victoria. 6Historic Houses Trust of NSW, 2011, Colonial Plant Database, accessed 02.09.11 http://www.hht.net.au/research/colonial_plants 7 Andrews, M (1989). The Search for the Picturesque, Stamford, UK, 1989 p.67