Benalla Avenue of Honour
Barkly Street,Benalla, BENALLA RURAL CITY
-
Add to tour
You must log in to do that.
-
Share
-
Shortlist place
You must log in to do that.
- Download report
Statement of Significance
This record has minimal details. Please look to the right-hand-side bar for any further details about this record.
-
-
Benalla Avenue of Honour - Physical Description 1
Avenue.
Benalla Avenue of Honour - Historical Australian Themes
Remembering the fallen
Benalla Avenue of Honour - Usage/Former Usage
Commemoration
Veterans Description for Public
Benalla Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public
The Benalla Avenue of Honour originally lined both sides of Barkly Street with thirty silky oak trees, planted in 1917. However, the first section of Barkly Street has been closed and partly incorporated into Benalla High School, so the avenue is no longer intact. Nonetheless a small monument, in the Botanical Gardens on Bridge Street, marks where the avenue once stood. The plaque is inscribed: 'In memory of those who fell in the Great War 1914-18.'
In Australia, commemorative trees have been planted in public spaces since the late nineteenth century. Arbor Days were held regularly in most Victorian State Schools during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and numerous trees were planted in parks in Melbourne and throughout Victoria to mark the visits of important and famous people.
This tradition of commemorative planting was continued in 1901 when at the end of the Boer War trees were often planted for each soldier of the district who was killed in South Africa. These plantings, however, rarely consisted of more than two or three trees in each town.
During and after the First World War avenues of honour consisting of trees lining significant streets became a popular form of commemoration. They represented a new egalitarian approach to the commemoration of soldiers where rank was not a consideration: each tree symbolises a person.
Avenues of honour are a uniquely Australian phenomenon. Australians, and in particular Victorians, embraced the idea of planting them more enthusiastically than any other country in the world. The Eurack Avenue of Honour is the earliest known avenue of honour in Victoriawith planting commencing in May 1916.
By the time of the Second World War avenues of honour had declined in popularity as a means of commemoration. Today it is estimated that over 300 avenues of honour have been planted in Victoria to commemorate service personnel since 1901.
-
-
-
-
-
NATIONAL BANKVictorian Heritage Register H1056
-
BENALLA WATER SUPPLY DEPOTVictorian Heritage Register H1048
-
BROKEN RIVER BRIDGEVictorian Heritage Register H1043
-
-