The Botanical Gardens are the pride of Ballarat. Principal tree plantings from 1860 give the gardens their character today.

The Sequoiadendron Avenue is listed on the National Trust Significant Trees Register. Planted from 1863 to 1874, the enormous trees are a dominant landscape feature. Other landmark trees include the Turkey Oak at the entrance to the Prime Ministers Avenue, the Druids Oak at the rear of the Craft Cottage, the huge Bluegum dominating the Sensory Garden and the Weeping Elms near the wishing well.
PICTURE: RM

The discovery of gold at Clunes and Ballarat in 1851 changed forever the future of this district from an isolated squatter settlement to, at one stage, the richest urban area in the world. In 1858, two years after the municipality was formed, a decision was made to convert the Ballarat Police Horse Paddock into a botanical garden, and at the same time construct a road on the west side of Yuille's Swamp (Lake Wendouree) to be known as Wendouree Parade.

A competition for a design for the garden was won by Messrs Wright and Armstrong who received a prize of ten pounds ($20.00). George Longley, trained in horticulture at Lowther Castle, England was appointed at a salary of three pounds ($6) per week to convert Wright and Anderson's design into a reality. Contractors were employed to clear trees from the site at I /- ( I 0 cents) per tree, and soil was carted from Yuille's Swamp at 7.5 pence (6 cents) per dray load. Longley's first abode was a tent pitched approximately on the site of the Robert Clark Centre. Under the guidance of the Committee of Management, established in 1 858, works progressed and the 1860's saw the establishment of the principal tree plantings that still give the Gardens their unique character. Plants and seeds were received from the Melbourne and Geelong Botanical Gardens and Longley set about a substantial propagation program in a nursery ground that he laid out in 1859.

The 1870's saw the establishment of the Ballarat Fish Acclimatisation Society, the construction of a simple zoo and the commencement of a large timber batten fernery. The fernery was extended in stages until its completion in 1898, when it became a "uniquely Ballarat" structure with its outstanding fern collection, cool grottos and fish ponds. Remnant footings remain exposed in the gardens west of the current fernery.

Thomas Rooney and John Lingham succeeded George Longley in 1898. They in turn were succeeded by Thomas Toop, an English trained gardener, who controlled the Gardens for over 30 years. The Thomas Beaumont Lawn is named in recognition of the fifty four years of service given by Tom Beaumont who, having worked from boyhood in the gardens, became Curator in 1947, a position he held until his retirement in 1978. He won world fame for his ability to grow tuberous begonias.

The Floral Clock was presented to the citizens of Ballarat in 1954 by the Ballarat Begonia Festival Committee and was moved to its present site from Sturt Street Gardens in 1980.

The Adam Lindsay Gordon Cottage was relocated to its present position from Bath Lane near Craig's hotel in 1934. After falling into disrepair, the Ballarat Y's Men's Club undertook its restoration in the early 1990's. In 1992 the cottage was opened by the Ballarat Crafts Council as an outlet for locally produced crafts.

The Sensory Garden was developed in 1992 with the assistance of the Zonta Club of Ballarat. In the period 1994 to 1995 a detailed conservation analysis and masterplan was undertaken to ensure that future management and development within the Gardens would be in accord with the shared objectives of the community, National Trust, Council and the Historic Buildings Council.

The Robert Clark Centre, which opened in 1995, is the result of a $2 million bequest from the grandson of Mr Robert Clark, the co-founder and proprietor of the Ballarat Courier. Mr Bob Clark decided to find a project which would serve as a permanent memorial to his Grandfather, resulting in The Conservatory and the Resource Centre.