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Statement of Significance

The Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour is a combination of 281 Dutch elms (Ulmus X hollandica) and Huntington elms (Ulmus X hollandica 'Vegeta') planted in pairs approximately 20 metres apart. It is the second largest Avenue of Honour in Victoria and is largely intact. It was included on the Victorian Heritage Register in 2010. The Avenue of Honour and additional elm avenues at the western and eastern ends have been registered by the National Trust since 1982.

The Avenue of Honour is a cultural landmark located on the eastern side of the Bacchus Marsh township and extends for approximately 2.9 km along Bacchus Marsh Road, from Pearce Street in the west to the flag poles on either side of the road approximately 300 metres before the Lerderderg River. The dedicated Avenue of Honour sits within a longer avenue of elms and provides a continuous, impressive visual link between the town and the river. The Avenue of Honour is a key landscape feature of the district and is characterised by the curved road with the overarching canopies of the mature elms.

The Avenue of Honour was planted in the afternoon of 10 August 1918 to commemorate locals who volunteered to serve in World War I. The tree planting was a community effort attracting one thousand spectators, with workers from the Darley Firebrick Company and other volunteers digging the holes and erecting tree guards in readiness for the planting. After a bugle call 281 elms were simultaneously planted with each tree representing an individual volunteer soldier. In a display of egalitarianism, the name plaques associated with each tree were arranged in alphabetical order along the Avenue. This kept families together and symbolised the idea that each individual's contribution to the war effort was equally important.

The name plaques have undergone changes over the years, and some are missing. In 2009 the plaques were removed for restoration and remounted in 2010. The 84 remaining original plaques are in varying condition are held in storage at the Shire Offices.

The Avenue has been subject to many threats to its integrity, most notably the Woolpack Road extension project, which resulted in the inclusion of the Avenue in the Victorian Heritage Register. As of 2020, the Avenue has again been proposed as a site for a new road in a planning study by Regional Roads Victoria.

The Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour is of historical, aesthetic and scientific (research and botanical) significance to the State of Victoria (see VHR statement of significance for more information). While not of State-level social significance, the Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour is of high local social significance for its relationship with the community as a living memorial to those who enlisted in World War I.

Photo Credits: Sarah Wood, National Trust staff and volunteers