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Statement of Significance

The rich, fertile soil, temperate climate and the interest of many of its citizens in things botanical, has resulted in Toowoomba Region’s ability to grow a wide range of indigenous and non-indigenous plants. In 1860, the area was the first to hold an Agricultural Show in Queensland – 15 years before Brisbane. Walter Hill, the then Government Botanist and first curator of the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, travelled to Toowoomba to advise with the design and planning of Queen's Park and street plantings in Toowoomba. He subsequently imported many tree species from Europe, Asia and other parts of the world to be planted there. Hill Street in Toowoomba is named in his honour. The town attracts many visitors in September for its famous Carnival of Flowers, where people come from near and far to enjoy Toowoomba’s many parks and gardens. This tree is the oldest, deliberately planted tree, the oldest exotic tree in the city, and the most well documented tree in the city. The tree grows on an area once called Paradise Farm. Paradise Farm was established by John Handley and his second wife, Jane, on new land about a mile north of Drayton, the town at the top of the Great Dividing Range that preceded and gave rise to Toowoomba. John Handley obtained four blocks of land, totalling over a hundred acres (40.4 hectares), on which he built a house and farm buildings (since removed), established five acres (2 hectares) of productive gardens, vineyards and orchards, and cleared and developed the rest as grazing paddocks.

This tree has horticultural value as it is oldest and stoutest Spanish Chestnut in Toowoomba. It is a sizable tree in a conspicuous place at the junction of two roads and is therefore an important landmark, as well as contributing to the landscape of this historic town. It is the oldest, deliberately planted tree and the oldest exotic tree in Toowoomba. It was planted by a Drayton and Toowoomba pioneer, and is valued by the extensive Handley family of Toowoomba and district. It is the best documented tree in Toowoomba and probably one of the town's oldest trees.

The tree is located on the verge at the south-eastern corner of West Street and Nelson Street, Darling Heights, Toowoomba.