Chelsworth Park
18-28 Irvine Road IVANHOE, BANYULE CITY
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
Chelsworth Park, comprising 22 acres of sporting facilities and including a stone-lined drainage channel, an avenue of oaks, orchard remnants and a billabong, is significant. The sports pavilion, designed by architect Graeme Gunn is also significant.
How is it significant?
Chelsworth Park is of local historical, social and scientific significance to to the City of Banyule. The sports pavilion is of architectural significance to the City of Banyule.
Why is it significant?
Chelsworth Park is of local historical significance as part of the original Chelsworth Estate dating back to the 1840s and developed from the 1930s for the increasing active recreational needs of the municipality.(Criterion A) Whilst predominantly a landscape that is now devoted to sports, it contains remnants of previous uses including bluestone drainage channel and an associated avenue of mature oaks.
It is of significance for its importance in the rise of conservation and environmental consciousness in the municipality from the 1950s. Environmental destruction within Chelsworth Park sparked the formation of the Ivanhoe River Parklands Protection League in 1955, with noted landscape designer and environmentalist Ellis Stones as its first president. A plaque to his memory has been placed in a rock garden inthe Park. (Criteria A, H).
This growing appreciation of the natural environment is also exemplified by the simple geometric timber sports pavilion in Chelsworth Park. Designed by prominent architect Graeme Gunn in the 1970s, the sports pavilion is significant and was recognized by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects with a citation award in 1976. Gunn was highly influential in the development of contemporary architecture in Melbourne in the late 1960s and 70s, and through his involvement with the Project Housing company Merchant Builders, developed building designs, such as the sports pavilion,which complemented the Australian landscape through their simple, functional design and use of natural materials. (Criterion E)
Chelsworth Park is of local significance as the location of the last remaining of a number of billabongs once in the Wilson Reserve / Chelsworth Park area. (Criteria B, F)-
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Chelsworth Park - Physical Description 1
Chelsworth Park consists of gentle slopes running into a flood plain. Whilst there are some historic remnants from its former use as part of the Chelsworth Estate, its dominant character is that of an active sports area. Chelsworth Park consists of 22 hectares largely given over to sports. Facilities exist for active recreation such as cricket and tennis, and seven separate sporting clubs use the facilities in the Park. Two sports pavilions are located in Chelsworth Park, one of which was designed by architect Graeme Gunn and stands as an interesting example of this prominent architect's work. It consists of a simple elevated geometric building with flat roof, and projecting portico supported by triangular metal roof trusses and concrete pillars. The portico protects a broad, shallow-stepped 'forecourt' of bluestone and asphalt which faces the sports oval. The building is clad in vertical timber of alternating widthsin a grey-green colour, and the whole blends with the surrounding parkland. The second sports pavilion located nearby is a more traditional building of orange brick with pitched roof and timber decking.
A rock-walled drainage channel (Irvine Creek) exists on the eastern side of Chelsworth Park. This is lined with mature oaks of considerable age. A similar but unlined drainage channel (Locksley Creek) can also be found on the western side, parallel with The Boulevard.
Mature trees and what may be orchard remnants are scattered throughout the Park. The embankment associated with the miniature railway is also extant. Bailey's Billabong faces the Park and is the last remaining of a number of billabongs which were once within the Wilson Reserve / Chelsworth Park area (Toomey, 1999).
Opposite Bailey's Billabong is a large 'rock garden' bearing a memorial plaque noting 'In memory of Ellis Andrew Stones 1895-1975'.
Heritage Study and Grading
Banyule - Banyule Heritage Review
Author: Context P/L
Year: 2009
Grading: Local
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RAVENSWOODVictorian Heritage Register H0199
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HODDLE SURVEY TREE, KEW GOLF CLUBVictorian Heritage Register H2340
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DAREBIN CREEK 12Victorian Heritage Inventory
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