The ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS AND DOMAIN collectively are of exceptional national, state and local significance as
(NB: see later entries for RBG alone, DOMAIN alone, CENTRAL DEPOT and DOMAIN OIL TANKS) :

GENERAL values:
- it is one of the earliest surviving colonial botanic gardens in the world and one of the oldest, richest and most extensive early public cultural landscapes in Australia with a substantially intact area and major precincts that are nationally rare from a historic, scientific, aesthetic and social perspective, and which continue to fulfil diverse use expectations by remaining freely accessible and in high demand from a broad community spectrum;

- as it contains three of the most important collections for botanical science in Australia notable for their rarity, diversity, size and scientific value - its living collection which is distinguished by many rare and unusual cultivated plants, the extensive preserved collections of the Herbarium and comprehensive botanical library (scientific/technical and research values);

Additionally the Domain is of historical and aesthetic value on a national level for its ability to demonstrate its dual role as the prime example of a pleasure ground attached to Government House and as a leading example of a public park developed from the mid 19th century (as an early designated landscape for public use (1831) the site was at the forefront of international concerns for the integration of public parks within city planning and development).

PRIMARY values:

- as an important and integral part of the boundaries - from 1792 - of the first permanent European settlement in Australia. It is also an integral part of a large group of early Australian colonial sites located along, and linked by, Macquarie Street, including the largest surviving group of Governor Macquarie-era places in Australia. Individually and collectively these sites have considerable potential to reveal much about the formative town planning, settlement and development pattern of the City of Sydney (historic and technical/research values);

- it contains one of the earliest established botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere (1816); the whole site comprises a broad and idiosyncratic collection of native and exotic plants (8000 taxa and 45,000 accessions) acquired over a period of 190 years for the purpose of scientific study including research for agriculture, ornamental horticulture and industry (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it contains three of the most valuable assets to botanical science in Australia - its living collection which is distinguished by many rare and unusual cultivated plants, the preserved collections of the herbarium and the RBG library archives (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it continues, uninterrupted, a close and direct link with the study, classification and cultivation of the indigenous vegetation of NSW from the time of Charles Fraser (1817) and remaining a core function of the institution and landscape (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- the place has strong and direct associations with many notable early botanical explorers and collectors such as William Paterson, John Carne Bidwill, Ludwig Leichhardt and John Richardson; and with their important plant acquisitions still extant in the living and preserved collections (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it has strong and direct associations with various prominent early directors such as Charles Fraser, Richard and Allan Cunningham, Charles Moore and Joseph Maiden - who were largely responsible for the present overall form of the landscape as well as the content and organisation of the plant collections (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it has strong and direct associations with many distinguished 20th century scientists - such as Dr Darnell-Smith, Knowles Mair, Robert Anderson and Dr Lawrence Johnson - whose research, using the living and preserved collections of the place and building on the work of the 19th century RBG botanists, forms the basis of contemporary knowledge and understanding of Australian plants. The collections remain an important basis for contemporary research in systematic and horticultural botany and plant ecology by various Australian and international scientists (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it is closely associated with the history and development of the principal government residences - as well as the Governors - of New South Wales; and it remains an integral part of the historical and visual landscape of Government House and of the archaeological remains of the First Government House (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- it is a nationally important representative example of a largely intact high-Victorian/Edwardian subtropical Gardenesque landscape design - retaining elements of the earlier Macquarie-era 'estate park' - with the capacity to indicate evolving landscape design styles in Australia over the past 200 years (historic & aesthetic values);

- it retains many important components of the various phases of its layout - including paths, fences, bedding areas, plantations, views, monuments, statuary, fountains, walling, steps, other landscape furnishings and gate houses - that give the landscape its distinctive visual and botanical character (historic, aesthetic & technical/research values);

- both the overall place as well as particular areas within it are highly valued by the community - for strong personal associations and memories, and for providing a sense of identity and continuity of use. The place has been, and continues to be, the focus of important historic events in the cultural and political life of New South Wales (social & historic values);

- it fulfils an important role as a part of the quintessential setting for nearby architectural landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House, St. Mary's Cathedral and Aurora Place - all having, individually, exceptional aesthetic value. The Tarpeian Rock is a prominent, dramatic and significant sandstone cliff landscape feature of the Domain facing Bennelong Point and the Sydney Opera House, cut for the extension of Macquarie Street and an example of 19th century romanticism (aesthetic value);

- it is an integral part of Sydney's scenic harbour landscape (aesthetic value);

- it remains a potent source of inspiration for artists and writers since the inception of the colony; and as a setting for public art (historic, aesthetic & social values);

- despite various interventions over the last 200 years it is still possible to appreciate the basic form of the pre-European landscape - the two ridged promontories enclosing the central gully (aesthetic value);

- the place demonstrates changing fashions in horticulture, garden design and ornament, and the practice of botany through its landscape and architectural design and art as it has continued to be developed, reshaped and embellished by successive directors and overseers (historic & aesthetic values);

- the trialling of various plant species - for example Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), brush box (Lophostemon confertus) and Hill's fig (Ficus microcarpa var. Hillii) - within the place has subsequently influenced their popularity and use throughout Sydney and beyond (scientific/technical/research and aesthetic values);

- as a landscape it has also been the setting for earlier important structures such as the Exhibition Palace, Fort Macquarie, the Crimean War period fortifications, the temporary Federation pavilion and for which some archaeological evidence may remain (scientific/technical/research values);

- from an early date the place developed, and continues to develop, a didactic role of increasing knowledge and understanding about plants through displays, public lectures, tours and social events based on the living collections and the landscape setting (social value).

THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, SYDNEY is of exceptional national, state and local significance:

as one of the earliest surviving colonial botanic gardens in the world and one of the richest and most extensive early public cultural landscapes in Australia with substantially intact major precincts that are nationally rare from a historic, scientific, aesthetic and social perspective.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney has SCIENTIFIC significance:

- as it comprises an eclectic collection of native and exotic plants acquired over almost two centuries, for the purpose of scientific study including research for agriculture, ornamental horticulture and industry (scientific/technical/research and historic values);

- for the extraordinary breadth of the living collections for botanical science in Australia - its living collection which is distinguished by many rare and unusual cultivated plants, the extensive preserved collections of the Herbarium and comprehensive botanical library (scientific/technical/research values);

- as it contains three of the most important collections for botanical science in Australia - its living collection which is distinguished by many rare and unusual cultivated plants, the extensive preserved collections of the Herbarium and comprehensive botanical library (scientific/technical and research values);

- for the long standing close and direct link with the study, classification and cultivation of the indigenous plants of NSW, Australia and the South Pacific region, which remains a core function of the scientific institution and the Gardens (scientific/technical and research values);

- for the archaeological potential and remains of former Aboriginal and European occupation on the site. The Gardens are part of the clan territory, or country of the Gadigal people. As an integral part of the first permanent European settlement, they are the site of the first contact and the earliest European agricultural and horticultural site in Australia (scientific/technical and research values);

- for its natural significance as the habitat of several animal species considered to have high local conservation value including a colony of the threatened grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus). Examples of native vegetation remain, as does the basic form of the pre-European landscape with two ridged promontories enclosing the central gully (scientific/technical and research values);

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney have HISTORIC significance:

- as the site of the first Government Farm activities in Australia, an attempt to support the vulnerable new colony in 1788. After the establishment of the Government Gardens c1816-17 it remained a prime site for the trailling of important economic botanical crops including the introduction of Busby's vines in 1830;

- as part of the Vice Regal Domain and for its association with prominent individuals especially Governors Phillip, Bligh, Macquarie & Mrs Macquarie, Darling, Denison and Brisbane;

- as the earliest established botanic garden in Australia, one of the earliest established botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere and among the earliest surviving colonial botanic gardens in the world;

- for the strong and direct associations with prominent early directors such as Charles Fraser, Richard & Allan Cunningham, Charles Moore, Joseph Maiden, who were largest responsible for the overall form of the Gardens' landscape, as well as the 19th century content and organisation of the plant collections;

- for its strong and direct associations with many distinguished 20th century scientists who have developed and codified knowledge and understanding of Australian plants through their researches using the Garden and Herbarium collections. These include Joseph Maiden, William F Blakeley, Lawrence Johnson and Barbara Briggs;

- as the study of the Gardens' living and preserved collections has formed the basis of much of the contemporary knowledge and understanding of Australian plants. This knowledge built on the extensive work by the 19th century government botanists and the plant acquisitions, whose collections are of notable early botanical explorers and collectors. These include William Paterson, Charles Fraser, Allan & Richard Cunningham, John Carne Bidwill and Ludwig Leichhardt; and their Aboriginal assistants, whose collections are extant in both the living and the preserved collections;

- as the landscape layout, horticultural dressing as well as embellishment with statuary, fountains, memorials and structures, are indicative of the evolution of landscape styles in Australia, the landscape has evolved from a small botanic garden of a traditional functional design within the Governor's Domain or 'estate park' of the Macquarie era, to the high Victorian Gardenesque which gradually replaced the 'park' and which forms the framework of the existing landscape;

- as the path system, walling and layout of the Middle Garden is one of the earliest surviving garden layouts in Australia. Although once the accepted mode for botanic gardens, especially systematic gardens - the rectangular grid layout, its importance enhanced by continuous maintenance over almost 2 centuries, is increasingly rare worldwide;

- as the design of the Lower Garden is an exceptional example of a 19th century landscape design displaying a major engineering feature in the sea wall and network of ponds. It exhibits Picturesque, naturalistic and Gardenesque design traits in its curvilinear pathway system with beds at junctions, the tradition of lawns for floral display now centred on the Choragic Monument (and views to Farm Cove and Government House);

- As the Garden Palace Grounds records historic layers in the remnants of the landscape design from the International Exhibition, including large scale terracing, the 1880s adaptation as a Victorian pleasure garden with associated Gardenesque layout, and early 20th century additions, particularly the Governor Phillip fountain;

- the Gardens are an integral part of a wider area that contains a large group of significant colonial sites and the oldest officially established Domain in Australia (1792). This historic area provides considerable potential to reveal much about the formative town planning, settlement and development pattern of Sydney;

- as it demonstrates the changing fashions in horticulture, garden design and ornament and the practice of horticultural botany, through its landscape, as it has continued to be developed, reshaped and embellished by successive directors and overseers (aesthetic & historic values);

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney have AESTHETIC significance:

- as part of the quintessential setting for one of the finest ensembles of public facilities including the Botanic Garden, Sydney Opera House, Government House, Conservatorium of Music and Sydney's scenic harbour at Farm Cove, that is outstanding in a national context and possibly internationally;

- as a largely intact designed landscape that is a place of beauty and peace in contrast to the hard edge of the surrounding city;

- as it contains buildings of refined design of the Victorian and Federation period such as the Macquarie Lodge (1848), Victoria Lodge (1863-5), the former residences of workers, overseers and directors and the 1878/1899 Anderson Building erected during the tenure of Colonial Architects Mortimer Lewis and James Barnet and Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon. The Gardens also contain contemporary buildings of some significance representative of developments in Modern Movement architecture in Australia;

- as a source of inspiration for artists and writers since the inception of the colony and as a setting for the display of public art (aesthetic & historic values);

- as the place retains many fine components of the various phases of its layout including paths, fences, bedding areas, views, monuments, statuary, fountains, walling, steps and other landscape furnishings, these giving various compartments of the landscape distinctive visual and botanical character;

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney have SOCIAL significance:

- as they are highly valued by the community and are in high demand from a broad community spectrum. They fulfil diverse use expectations by remaining freely accessible. The Gardens as a cultural precinct provide a setting for recreation and relaxation, entertainment and events attracting over several million visitors and tourists every year;

- as from an early date developed, and continues to develop, a didactic role of increasing appreciation and conservation of plants. It performs this important educational role through displays, public lectures, tours and special events based on the living and preserved collections and the landscape setting;

- as the Herbarium contains one of Australia's most important collections of preserved plant specimens that is highly valued by the national and international scientific community for contemporary research into systematic and horticultural botany and plant ecology;

THE DOMAIN

The Domain is individually of exceptional value to Australia, NSW and Sydney:

- as an important and integral part of the boundaries, from 1792, of the first permanent European settlement in Australia. It is also an integral part of a large group of early Australian colonial sites located along, and linked by, Macquarie Street including the largest surviving group of Governor Macquarie-era places in Australia. Individually and collectively these sites have considerable potential to reveal much about the formative town planning, settlement and development pattern of the City of Sydney (historic value);

- for its close association with the development of the Royal Botanic Gardens and of botanical study in Australia, as the location of early (1788) agricultural, botanical and horticultural enterprise and, since 1848, through the joint management of the Domain and Gardens under one directorship (historic value);

- as a notable venue in the landscape of public protest, both collective and individual, as a place of assembly for the demonstration of concern, opposition and disquiet and in particular, to challenge Government policy and authority (historic and social value);

- as the home, from the 1870s, of the Domain orators - synonymous with free speech, a platform for a vibrant tradition of public speaking of all creeds, beliefs, life styles and political persuasions in the tradition of London's Hyde Park corner (historic & social value);

- as evidence of the erosion and alienation of public space under pressure of urban development and of dominance of transport issues in the history of planning in Sydney and a focus for debate concerning the value of public space and the rights of citizens;

- for its association with sporting history in Australia, as a venue for a wide range of sporting activities including the provision of sports facilities for city workers and firms' teams, the home of first class cricket in NSW from 1857-1871 and, in 1846, as the venue for the first swimming championship known to have been held in Australia. It is also known as the site of the first swimming championship known to have been held in Australia. It is also known as the site of the first formalised swimming in Sydney - an activity that continues at the site - and of the first public playground (gynasium)(historic & social value).

(Conybeare Morrison, 3/2003, amending Britton, Morris & Annable, 2000)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________The gardens and Domain also have exceptional HISTORICAL significance as:

- the second oldest Botanic gardens in the southern hemisphere (officially established in 1816), Rio de Janeiro being the oldest;
- the site of the first attempts at agriculture in the colony in 1788 and a rare example on a world scale where a modern nation's first attempts at feeding itself can be traced and seen;
- the site of Governor Phillip's farm within the middle garden, still evident in the way the axes of the current beds and paths follow the original furrows;
- a core remnant of Governor Phillip's original Government/Governor's Domain (1792);
- an important part of Governor Macquarie's plan for Sydney;
- the first extensive open space designated in Sydney, and representative of a small group of early 19th century public spaces in Sydney;
- a site of early public recreation since 1831, in continuous public use since;
- evidence of remnant native vegetation remaining from the time of white settlement of the Sydney area.
- retention of many important structures and memorials from early Colonial times when the gardens formed part of the original Governor's Domain (such as the c.1812 Macquarie wall and gateway, Mrs Macquarie's Road, fountains, statues, gates, a varied collection of buildings both public (eg: herbarium) and private (eg; Victoria Lodge gate house, Superintendent's residence/Cunningham Building, Old Herbarium/Anderson Building));
- a beautiful and varied collection of plants, statuary, fountains, monuments, and structures representative of Victorian cultural attainments and garden embellishments;
- demonstrating a very early example of providing public access to open space or parkland (1831 cf 1850s in England);
- their being the site of the first zoo in Australia;
- their being the site of the 1878 International Exhibition, and Garden Palace, a major event for Sydney and the first such exhibition in Australia, featuring works of art and industry. (Westcott and Broadbent, AHC, modified Read, S., 2003)

The gardens and Domain demonstrate strong or special ASSOCIATIONS with the life and works of persons, groups of persons of importance in NSW's cultural and natural history, including:
- their association with the work and influence of key figures in the European scientific world such as Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Hooker and Joseph Dalton Hooker at Kew Gardens, London;
- their association with the life and works of past Domain overseers, including David Wilson, August Kloster and James Jones, many of whom made significant contributions to the development of the Domain and other public areas in Sydney designed by the Directors of the Botanic Gardens and their staff;
- for their rich heritage of memorials as elements of urban design, including the Domain's Henry Kendall memorial seat, the Palace Garden Gates and wall, the Cunningham memorial island and obelisk, the monument to the forces of the Desert Mounted Corps wall, the Captain Arthur Phillip fountain monument and the sunken garden memorial to the Pioneers;

The gardens and Domain have AESTHETIC significance for the following reasons:
- as a palimpsest of one hundred and fifty years of colonial and Victorian garden design with some very fine late 19th century landscaping;
- for demonstrating a mixture of early 19th century garden design styles with Colonial style geometric beds in the middle garden and picturesque romantic style features such as serpentine paths and island beds in the other areas;
- their design as a public pleasure garden, containing many enclosed scenes enhanced with decorative foliage and water forms and providing many enframed views across the harbour;
- for the public role key Directors such as Moore and Maiden played in propagating and promoting rainforest tree and palm species and good design in garden making in the planting of public streets, parks and institutional grounds around NSW;
- their continuing educational role in demonstrating high standards of ornamental horticulture to the public;
- as an important major defining landscape and recreational asset of Sydney;
- for the Domain's role as a contributing and defining element providing continuity in the series of public parklands extending from Hyde Park to the Royal Botanic Gardens, important in the open space network of the City of Sydney;
- because of the reciprocal visual relationship between the Gardens and Domain and the historic buildings group along Macquarie Street, Hospital Road and St. Mary's Cathedral. These buildings are part of the setting of the Gardens and Domain, and the Gardens and Domain in turn form a parkland backdrop setting for these buildings, which is appreciated by their users and the public;
- for including a number of individually significant structures of high aesthetic value such as the Art Gallery of NSW, the Domain Lodge and a group of statues and memorials including the Robert Burns statue;
- for their rich tradition of gently curving walls, including the two Macquarie walls, the Farm Cove sea wall, the Woolloomooloo gates and wall, the Government House western terrace walls and the walls that originally contained the Domain (GML, 1999).

The gardens and Domain have SCIENTIFIC significance as:
- Australia's oldest scientific institution (1816);
- continuing centre for scientific research, particularly in systematic taxonomic botany;
- historic centre for economic botany and experimental horticulture, being a key place for exportation of Australian native plants (most active period of exporting to Europe was up until 1820), and for the importation, acclimatisation, propagation and dispersal of plants establishing many of Australia's horticultural and agricultural industries, such as the wine and olive industries and experimenting with many others (opium poppies, eucalypt oil distillation);
- their demonstration of the extensive international colonial exchange network of botanic gardens in promoting plant exploration, discovery, taxonomy, propagation, dispersal and cultivation;
- their association with the work and influence of key figures in the European scientific world such as Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Hooker and Joseph Dalton Hooker at Kew Gardens, London;
- their association with the work and influence of key figures in Australian botany such as Alan Cunningham, Charles Fraser, John Carne Bidwill, Charles Moore, Joseph Maiden;
- their rich (c110 species) and early (1860s) collection of temperate and subtropical climate palms, considered one of the finest in the world;
- their fine collection of trees from the South Pacific and other Pacific regions, including of the Araucariaceae family (eg: the Araucaria and Agathis genera) and figs (the genus Ficus).

The gardens and Domain have SOCIAL significance for the following reasons:
- they demonstrate a very early example of providing public access to open space or parkland (1831 cf 1850s in England);
- their long and continuing role in providing pleasure, edification and interest to the public while at the same time representing key social values such as law, order and social status;
- their recreational use by the community over a long period and the domain which has traditionally been the centre for political and religious discussion and meetings and continues to provide venues for large public gatherings and entertainment;
- their being the site of the first zoo in Australia (1860 aviary);
- their being the site of the 1878 International Exhibition, and Garden Palace, a major event for Sydney and the first such exhibition in Australia, featuring works of art and industry;
- their continuing role in public education through lectures, demonstration plantings etc on the value and diversity of plants, their beauty, range, uses and cultivation, and more recently on nature conservation and biodiversity issues;
- their continuing educational role in demonstrating high standards of ornamental horticulture to the public;
- as a significant site for political and religious discussion and meetings, democratic debate and the expression of dissent, in the Domain;
- as demonstration of the importance placed upon accessible and inalienable public space in Sydney, which dates back to the 1830s;
- as a habitat to a threatened fauna species, the grey headed flying fox (bat).

The gardens and Domain are identified in the Archaeological Zoning Plan for Central Sydney as an Area of Archaeological Potential, with the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of NSW's cultural or natural history. It is an area potentially rich in archaeological remains, dating from Aboriginal occupation and the earliest years of the establishment of the colony.

(AHC, Henty, Broadbent; modified Read, S., 2003)

CENTRAL DEPOT
The Central Depot is of historical significance for its previous use as the kitchen garden associated with Government House (1813-1870) and its ongoing historic use as a centre for plant propagation, cultivation and display serving the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. It contains several rare late 19th and early 20th century glasshouses, and retains evidence of their original heating systems. The Central Depot is of research significance for its archaeological potential (CLSP, 2005, p27).

The archaeology within the Central Depot belongs to all of the identified time frames of the overall statement of archaeological significance for the Botanic Gardens. The early remains of the first farm, and the Macquaries' landscaping of the Domain all built by convicts, are of exceptional State heritage significance. Other archaeological evidence, glasshouses and the boiler room equipment and such, associated with the development of the Botanic Gardens can contribute to the story of Gardens and has high Local archaeological significance. (Casey & Lowe, 2005, p.21).

DOMAIN OIL TANKS (Preliminary SOS):
The Domain oil tanks are:
1) a relic of the various construction activities associated with the war effort and with the operation of Garden Island as the headquarters of the Australian Navy (criterion (a) historic);
2) associated with the Department of Defence and its operations during World War 2 (criterion (b) association);
3) demonstrative of mass and reinforced concrete construction methods developed by the Metropolitan Water & Sewerage & Drainage Board (MWS & DB) for water (and other liquid) storage purposes in the early 20th century (criterion (e) technical/research);
4) the only example in Sydney of underground wartime fuel storage tanks (criterion (f) rarity); and
5) representative of tanks constructed by the MWS & DB for the storage of fluids in the early 20th century and reflect the then latest development of a construction design dating from the mid 19th century (criterion (g) representative).
(Godden Mackay Logan, 2003).

Source:

NSW Heritage Branch

Location:

Farm Cove, Sydney, NSW

Longitude:

150.575356

Latitude:

-33.719523