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Statement of Significance

The site of Brisbane City Botanic Gardens was selected as a public garden in 1828 by New South Wales Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser three years after the establishment of the European settlement. Originally the garden was planted with food crops to feed the convicts. In 1855, a portion of the land was declared a 'botanic reserve' and Walter Hill was appointed as curator. The Queensland Heritage Register describes the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens as 'the most significant, non-aboriginal cultural landscape in Queensland having a continuous horticultural history since 1828, without any significant loss of land area or change in use over time.' It incorporates Brisbane's most mature gardens and features many rare and unusual species of plants.
Between 1866 and 1870, Walter Hill removed the dividing fence between Queen’s Park and the gardens and replaced it with this avenue of Weeping Figs. It was effectively a sound barrier between the then northern boundary of the Botanic Gardens and Queen’s Park, the latter used for various recreational purposes such as cricket matches. Half of these figs remain today and some have been replanted.
The avenue is an important landmark which originally divided the northern part of the Botanic Gardens from Queen's Park, which were combined into what is now the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens - Queensland's original Botanic Gardens. The avenue of beautiful, old and mostly mature weeping figs significantly contributes to the beauty of the Gardens and is frequently used as a setting for wedding photographs by members of the community. It is associated with the Garden's original curator, Walter Hill, who was responsible for its planting.
The weeping fig avenue is located between the Garden's rotunda and the Brisbane River, running north-east.