Werribee Avenue of Honour
Princes Highway, near Tower Road WERRIBEE, WYNDHAM CITY
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Statement of Significance
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Veterans Description for Public
Werribee Avenue of Honour - Veterans Description for Public
The Werribee Avenue Honour was planted along the Princes Highway near Tower Road to commemorate the First World War. On 7th August 1918, the town's businesses closed for one hour during the avenue's opening ceremony, which commemorated the first three men in the district to enlist for service: Privates Latham, Conran and McTigue. Plaques for each of the men were placed on the first three trees of the avenue.
Today, several sugar gums (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) on the south side of the Princes Highway, near the Tower Road intersection, may be remnants of the planting but it can no longer be clearly distinguished as an avenue.
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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CROSSROADS UNITING CHURCHVictorian Heritage Register H0628
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CALLANAN'S CHEMISTVictorian Heritage Register H1956
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FORMER DAIRY SITEVictorian Heritage Inventory
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