North Head Avenue of Honour Print Page

This cobblestone avenue was created as a memorial to local soldiers killed in World War One. Originally lined with Norfolk Island pines which were planted in 1933, it was intended to provide a circuit around the east of North Head, but the return section does not appear to have been completed.

The Manly Council as a first step in its scheme of tree-planting in Park Hill North Head decided to make the main roadway an Avenue of Honour to the memory of fallen soldiers and on Saturday the first section was opened by the Postmaster General (Mr Parkhill). There was no way in which the advantages of the park could be more greatly enhanced Mr Parkhill said than by the Avenue of Honour. It was a gracious thought of the Manly Council to set aside a portion of the park for the erection of noble trees as symbols of noble deeds.  The soldiers who fell in the Great War were valiant and steadfast. They gave their lives for the common good and in so doing won for themselves the praise which grew not old. Their sepulchres were not the places where they lay buried but the hearts in which the glory of their lives survived in fragrant and everlasting remembrance. The epitaphs on monuments were not their only commemoration for there abode in each breast an unwritten memorial implanted in the heart rather than graven in stone. 

Trees were planted by Mr Parkhill, Mr Buttenshaw, Mr A E V Reid MLA, the Mayoress (Mrs Cross) Mrs Buttenshaw and Mr C Daunt (for the president of the Returned Soldiers League). The trees were Norfolk Island pines each one in memory of a soldier from the Manly district who fell in the war.  Names of 232 of these soldiers have been received. The avenue is 100 feet wide and the trees are 50 feet apart. 
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 11 December 1933.  

Manly aldermen expressed indignation last night when it was reported that 23 of the Norfolk Island pines planted in the "Avenue of Honour" on Park Hill North Head, had been removed. It had previously been reported that 56 trees had been destroyed. The Mayor (Alderman Seller) said the police had patrolled the avenue, but the area was a large one. Evidently people took the trees and planted them in their own backyards. It was an insult to the community that these memorial trees should be removed. It was decided to offer a reward of £10 for the conviction of anv person responsible for destruction of the trees.
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) 30 May 1934.

 

Location

Details

Dedication