Gardens at Wombat Park, Daylesford - a legacy from goldrush and from Edwardian days

The story of Wombat Park (Midland Highway Daylesford) began in 1854 when grazier William Stanbridge built a modest, timber homestead and began planting a magnificent garden. His collection of exotic trees was to be described in the local paper as superior to any that could be seen in any private or public garden in the state of Victoria. The extensive and varied garden is still one of the jewels in the crown of Victoria’s garden heritage.

 Wombat Park in autumn

Elm avenue

William Stanbridge was a Member of the Legislative Assembly who became wealthy from the 1850s gold rush. By 1860 Stanbridge had built a substantial brick stable and coach house complex and by 1872 a second homestead (which was relocated to Daylesford in the 1930s). He had also laid out a garden in the rich red volcanic soil. In what is now known as the Old Garden, later owners uncovered beds surrounded by quartz gravel paths and box hedges.

At the turn of the C20th, Stanbridge’s daughter Florence and her husband built a splendid Arts and Crafts style house and created, with landscape gardeners Taylor and Sangster, what has become known as the New Garden. The entrance to the 160-hectare estate is a long romantic avenue of spreading English elms that dates from Florence's time, as does the famous crenellated tapestry hedge, the largest and oldest in the country. These are both listed on the National Trust Register of Significant Trees.

The pleasures of English style country life on the croquet lawn, under the shade of a deciduous forest and meandering pathways that seamlessly link the gardens and the farm, are much appreciated today.

The Arts and Crafts style home today.
There is a 1913 photo in the National Library of Australia that shows these same gabled roof, windows, chimneys and covered entrance that were built for Stanbridge’s daughter.

When the Mackenzie family bought Wombat Park in 1996, they took on a wild and beautiful place. Since then, Isabel Mackenzie, with gardener Stewart Henderson, has overseen and implemented the steady restoration of the structure of the whole garden. At the same time, they lovingly preserved a unique past.

While the Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens are open all year around, the family garden is only occasionally open to the public. So join Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens for a delightful day in the country with delicious food, wine, coffee and a superb range of plants from Lambley Nursery. View one of Australia’s most impressive and historic private gardens, experiencing the vivid autumn colour, historic plantings, National Trust Register listed trees and the sweeping scale of the Sangster and Taylor designed Wombat Park. All proceeds from the opening will support the restoration of the historic fern gully and cascade at Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens in Daylesford. It will be open from 10 am – 4 pm on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2015.

Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens
The conservatory and Wombat Hill House Cafe are in the background

Many thanks to Barbara Strange for sending me this material.