Queens Gardens are one of three botanical gardens of Townsville, Queensland. Queens Gardens are located in the suburb of North Ward, at the base of Castle Hill, near to both the city centre and The Strand beachside park. They have been called Townsville's finest park.[1]
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The park covers over 4 hectares. The garden is divided into quadrants, each with a central fountain. Special areas include a formal rose garden, the Herb Society's garden, the annuals garden beds, the 2 small hedge mazes, a rainforest walk and the black bean (also known as Moreton Bay chestnuts) avenue. There is also a small aviary featuring peacocks, lorikeets and sulfur-crested cockatoos.
The gardens were formally established in 1870, and known at that time as the Botanical Gardens Reserve. [2] They represented an acclimatisation garden, part of the colonial town's agricultural planning for both local food supply and development of farming industry. Initially 40.5 hectares (100 acres) of land was set aside for a variety of exotic species, including cocoa, African oil palms and mangoes. Some of the hoop pines and black beans (Castanospermum australe) planted at that time are still growing today and may be the oldest cultivated specimens in Australia.
In the late nineteenth century this industrious garden began its transformation into a formal recreational park. This was briefly interrupted during World War Two when Queens Gardens acted as a military base for 100,000 American soldiers. The gardens were extensively redesigned in 1959 by Mr. Alan Wilson (Superintendent of Parks) who also designed Townsville's arboretum, Anderson Gardens.[2] Due to the needs of the growing city for central sporting grounds and residential development, the gardens are currently one tenth their original size.
There are two other botanical gardens in Townsville: