Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour
Lakes Entrance, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
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Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour - Physical Description 1
Originally an avenue of cypress. Now turned into commemorative wood carvings, depicting servicemen, Red Cross workers and local families affected by the war.
Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour - Historical Australian Themes
Remembering the fallen
Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour - Usage/Former Usage
Commemoration
Veterans Description for Public
Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public
The Lakes Entrance Avenue of Honour was planted in 1924 to commemorate the lives of twenty-six residents killed in the First World War. The avenue originally resembled an avenue of Cypresses, however during the 1990s the trees were beginning to show signs of over maturity and were thought to pose a safety risk. To preserve the history of the avenue, the Council decided to crop the trees, rather than completely remove them and invited a local "chain saw artist" to develop wood carvings on the remaining stumps. The carvings depict servicemen, nurses, Red Cross workers and local families affected by the First World War. The avenue was rededicated in 1998 after a community project costing $15,000.
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. Dating from May 1916, the Eurack Avenue of Honour is the earliest known avenue of honour to be planted in Victoria.
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.
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NEW WORKS SITEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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FORMER CLUB HOTEL SITEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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New Works, Lakes EntranceNational Trust
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