Queens Gardens, Townsville

Queens Gardens is a heritage-listed botanical garden in 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]

Layout

Queens Botanic Gardens are maintained by Townsville City Council (covering 4 hectares). The garden is loosely divided into quadrants and is it in the pleasure garden style of many colonial gardens of the time. many economic plants exist from its development stage as a trial garden. Special areas include the Events Lawn with magnificent trees, a formal rose garden, the Herb Society's garden, a perennial border, two hedged mazes, Frangipani collection, 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 extensively damaged during cyclone Yasi but is covering well. There are several sites well suited to outdoor weddings and similar events.

History

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.

Heritage listing

The gardens were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 2008.^[3]

See also

There are two other botanical gardens in Townsville:

• Anderson Park, Townsville
• The Palmetum, Townsville

References

Coordinates: 19°15′11″S 146°48′35″E / 19.2530°S 146.8098°E / -19.2530; 146.8098