details

Statement of Significance

The avenue of Elms was planted in the early 1870s as a carriageway, reminiscent of tree-lined roadways found throughout Europe at that time. The individual trees are evenly spaced at about 14 m distance (equivalent to 15 Yards in the old land measure unit) and the avenue is about 21 metres wide (equivalent to 23 Yards in the old land measure unit). The current avenue is made up of about 80 individual trees, planted in two parallel but curving lines (perhaps to follow a natural water course) creating a broad thoroughfare between two existing roads (Hutt Street and Beaumont Road).

History

Recorded as having been planted by William O’Brien (Adelaide City Gardener) as part of a park lands master plan prepared by John Ednie Brown, the State’s first Conservator of Forests (1878-90).

Location

The Elm Carriageway is at the Eastern end of the South Parklands, Adelaide CBD

Notes

1. The 2 red pins super-imposed on photo #1 above show the current limits of the carriageway planting.

2. Article by David Jones, Deakin University
Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Volume 26. Pages 287-299, 1998. Published online: 20 Jun 2012
Abstract
The Adelaide Parklands, in South Australia, represents an internationally significant planning concept applied in practice. Around this concept a myth has evolved about the care and management of the Parklands that has often thwarted good intentions. While the Parklands possesses this importance it was also subject to the first large-scale landscape design proposal for public domain in South Australia (SA) in 1880, if not in the country as a whole (figure 1). The Report on the System of Planting the Adelaide Park Lands (1880), prepared by John Ednie Brown (1847–1899) FLS for the City of Adelaide, represents a significant proposal that has been overlooked in its position and contribution to Australian landscape architectural history.