History of the gardens

Their scale of the gardens reflects Castlemaine’s prosperity during the gold rush and community desire to highlight the success of the town.

Development of the gardens was ongoing and continued until their peak in the 1890s. The impressive cast iron gates were constructed in 1877-78 by local engineering firm Thompson & Co and local monumental mason George Redfearn. Also in 1877-78, a decorative fountain was erected nearby.

Lake Joanna was completed in 1879 and Lake Augusta was constructed in 1884. In the 1890s, a rustic bridge, conservatory, fernery, shelter shed, rotunda and grotto were added. The tearooms were constructed in 1919 and in 1920 a glasshouse was built.

Many of the gardens heritage features including Lake Augusta, the summerhouse, bridges and grotto have since been removed. The gardens have decreased in size, with land annexed for a caravan park, swimming pool and Alexander Hospital, but remain of historical, scientific, social and aesthetic significance.

A grand late nineteenth century design

Many of the original plants were provided by Government Botanist Ferdinand Mueller and Daniel Bunce the curator of Geelong Botanic Gardens. An English Oak planted in 1863 is one of the oldest commemorative plantings in Victoria. Many of the plants within the gardens are characteristic of late nineteenth century gardens. They also represent the scientific role of a botanical garden.

The gardens feature an outstanding collection of mature trees, including many conifers, Elms and Oaks as well as stunning individual specimens of Indian Bean Tree, Peppercorn and Eucalypts.

Within these gardens are clues to this region’s and Australia’s post-settlement history, ranging from the choice and style of plantings over time, to the architecture and design of built structures.

The Walker Street entrance gates reflect Victoria’s Goldfields wealth and an era when sophisticated local manufacturing thrived. They were designed and built in Castlemaine in 1877-78.

Other elements are the fountain, the heritage-listed Middle Bridge over Barkers Creek, the weir and engineering of Lake Joanna, the 1938 plan for the Sunken Reserve, once also a lake that was to have become a cricket ground, and the Summerhouse built in 1872 and replaced in 1946.

Each element reflects the fashions of the time in which they were built. Floral displays were garish in the 19th century but became more sombre around WW1. What do today’s displays say about our current times?

Designed and built locally in the 1870s, these gates reflect the wealth that gold and the rush to find it brought to central Victoria.

Local manufacturing was thriving when Castlemaine Borough Engineer Angus Cornish designed the gates in 1877. He chose cast-iron gates, a palisade fence and bluestone pillars topped with lamp irons for this ceremonial entrance to welcome visitors from Castlemaine’s town centre.

The gates were made across the railway line from here by the Thompson and Company foundry. Local monumental mason George Redfearn completed the stone work.

As you move about the gardens, consider the changing fashions that have shaped plantings – what is planted where and why, and to what effect.

Colourful seasonal displays, for example, became fashionable in the 19th century allowing English estate gardeners to display their gardening prowess. Sometimes estate displays were changed overnight using different flower colours to impress visitors and matching coloured macaws were tied on perches nearby. In these gardens, such displays were more restrained, reflecting the post-WW1 mood and celebrating local returning soldiers. Floral displays continue to this day.

This stump of a Woolybutt (Eucalyptus longifolia) tree, removed in 2017, continues to provide habitat for native birds and microbats. Though native to the east coast of Australia, the Woolybutt is rarely cultivated. This explains this tree’s listing on the Victorian Heritage Register and on the National Trust’s Significant Tree Register.

Removing senescing trees like this Woolybutt is unfortunate, but it creates opportunity to plant new trees which keeps the garden vital and interesting. Efforts to generate a new tree from seed are underway to propagate this future climate-suitable species.

In 1877, gardens curator Philip Doran proposed a lake be built as part of his vision to make the gardens a public leisure ground.

In a rare feat of landscape engineering for a regional botanic garden, Barkers Creek was straightened. This removed a bend which crossed the gardens all the way east to Downes Road (near the rail line) and back to the present weir and made way for the lake.

The lake was built by prisoners, and completed and filled in 1879. It is named after Joanna Adams, who was married to the then Mayor, William Adams.

This is the site of Lake Augusta, which was engineered in the 1880s as part of inaugural curator Philip Doran’s extension of the gardens. Built in 1884, it was never successfully integrated into the gardens, possibly because its rigid, geometric shape lacked the natural charm of Lake Joanna.

It was filled in 1938 and converted to a sports field. Landscape designer Hugh Linaker, who designed many government landscapes throughout Victoria, had prepared a layout and planting plan for the site which included a cricket ground but this was never realised.

Sunken Reserve is the former footprint of Lake Augusta which was created in the 1880s. Deemed unsuccessful, the lake was drained and made into a sports field. It remains on the Victorian Heritage Register as part of these gardens.

Landscape designer Hugh Linaker, who’d been Victoria’s Superintendent of Parks and Gardens, prepared a plan for the site which included a cricket ground, tree and shrub plantings, seating terraces for viewing, a pavilion and access steps. His 1938 plan was never implemented. Linaker died that year and WW2 erupted the following year.

River red gum is the most widely distributed of Australia’s eucalypts. It’s found across most of mainland Australia except south-western South Australia, southern West Australia and the eastern coastal ranges of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Associated with riverine sites, it is most common on clay soils along river and creek margins. It dominates the Murray-Darling river system. Indigenous people used its bark for canoes and shields. It’s a significant pollen producer for honey and parrots nest in it.

This bridge was originally constructed in the late 19th century. Its sturdy structural techniques and its high clearance recognised the potential for Barkers Creek to flood, not only along the creek but into the broader gardens environment.

While not having specific heritage significance, the bridge is nonetheless consistent with the garden’s historic character.

Before you is a reconstruction of the original summerhouse built in these gardens in 1872, well before the garden gates and fountain. The garden’s original curator Philip Doran recommended it as a rain shelter.

The original summerhouse was removed some time after 1946, then, thanks to efforts by the then Friends of the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens Group, it was reconstructed in 2000. Its trellised timber wall panels and connecting upper trellis frieze copied original features. For the roof, wood palings were used instead of wooden shingles thought to have featured in the original summerhouse.

This is the site of Lake Augusta, which was engineered in the 1880s as part of inaugural curator Philip Doran’s extension of the gardens. Built in 1884, it was never successfully integrated into the gardens, possibly because its rigid, geometric shape lacked the natural charm of Lake Joanna.

It was filled in 1938 and converted to a sports field. Landscape designer Hugh Linaker, who designed many government landscapes throughout Victoria, had prepared a layout and planting plan for the site which included a cricket ground but this was never realised.

This cast iron fountain was installed around 1883. Topped by a sculpture of a boy and serpent, a typical classical theme, it is set on a granite plinth in a granite bowl four metres wide.

Located near the main entrance, it created a sense of permanency and grandeur within the newly established gardens and reflected Castlemaine’s early interest and investment in the gardens’ ornamental aesthetics.

In 2011, the fountain was restored, the concrete surround was removed and the area around the fountain was renovated with new planting beds and gravel paths.