Historical information

View to south-east from Shire of Eltham Soldiers' Memorial Park showing the carriageway from the road to top of Memorial Park. Accompanying notes state that the entry gate was put in place in May 1921.

Eltham and Whittlesea Shire Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate Fri 21 May 1920 p 2 reported:
Kangaroo Ground Memorial Park
"It was decided to arrange for a working bee on Saturday, 29th inst., for the purpose of forming and gravelling the track leading to the Park, and of carrying out other necessary works."

A history summary of the Shire of Eltham Soldiers’ Memorial Park
• The summit at Garden Hill was a popular tourist lookout and picnic spot from the 1880s. Virtually the entire Shire of Eltham and beyond could be viewed from this location.
• A local farmer, Mr Walter A. D. Wippell is credited as being the first to propose the idea of a war memorial park and offered £50 towards the purchase of the land.
• The earliest public reference to this project is to be found in the local Advertiser newspaper edition of August 9th, 1918. A report of the August Council meeting records the Eltham Shire President, Cr. Robert White, saying: "some time back it was proposed that the Council obtain and place on an Honour Board in the Council Chamber [at Kangaroo Ground] containing names of the lads who had enlisted. Just recently however, it had been suggested that a more fitting memorial would be the obtaining of a piece of land on the summit of Garden Hill, Kangaroo Ground, and the formation of a memorial park in which a monument could be erected to represent the whole of Shire. If a couple of acres could be obtained a gentleman had promised to donate 50 pounds, and another one would fence it, and other contributions, he was sure, could be obtained."
• Councillors were favourable of the proposal and the President, Shire Secretary and Shire Engineer were deputised to wait on Messrs Mess Bros. (the owners of the Garden Hill farm) and ascertain if they would gratuitously give the land. The Mess Bros. land adjoined the farm/stud of Mrs Fanny White (Cr Robert White’s mother), daughter of Andrew Harkness who established their property on Garden Hill around 1846.
• Access to the land came in February 1919 when several Councillors and the Shire Engineer surveyed the actual two acres of '5 chains along the road and 4 chains deep'. The Engineer volunteered his services free to do this task. The Mess brothers however demanded £100 per acre but eventually agreed to take £50 per acre.
• Entry from the Kangaroo Ground-Yarra Glen road was seen to be a problem and Mrs. White, who owned the land beside the park, was asked to donated a triangle of her property to allow this access.
• By September 1919 returned soldiers were employed by the Shire and volunteers were called to clear the hilltop by ploughing up the rocks and clearing the area, the fencing was put into place and in May 1921 the Council erected three gates, within an archway, at the entrance to the drive and pathway to the summit.
• Public subscriptions were sought through the Advertiser newspaper to beautify the site. The views of the Curator of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens were sought as to the ‘class of ornamental trees most suitable for planting in the Park area”.
• The Memorial Park or Shire of Eltham Soldiers’ Memorial Park was officially opened by Mr. W.H. Everard, M.L.A., 3 September 1921.
• In 1922 plans were made to place a War Memorial in the Park. Funds were donated by the Council of £250 and a challenge to the community, to match this money with contributions was met.
• On Anzac Day 1923, 1,000 people gathered on the summit in the park for a memorial service. A much smaller group of about 50 people gathered around a newly constructed cairn and flagstaff in the afternoon of Anzac Day 1924 amidst rain and a squally southerly wind, the morning service being cancelled.
• A meeting for those interested in establishing a War Memorial monument within the park was held in January 1924 and the Eltham Shire War Memorial League was formed and a design competition decided upon.
• The Shire of Eltham War Memorial tower was built in 1926 at a cost of £1,023 and 5 shillings with locally quarried stone donated by Dr Ethel and Professor William Osborne. It was formally known as the ‘Shire of Eltham War Memorial’ and was unveiled on 11 November 1926. The large bronze inscription above the entrance to the tower states:
SHIRE OF ELTHAM
WAR MEMORIAL
THESE MEN DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY
1914 IN REMEMBRANCE THIS TOWER WAS BUILT 1918
• The Caretaker’s hut was built in 1927 with left over from the tower construction.
• A returned soldier was appointed to act as caretaker for the memorials. Tiny Carrol, a huge man, was the first caretaker and lived in the stone hut. There was a push to have alterations made at one stage to provide additional rooms for a married caretaker but was rejected.
• A new Caretaker Cottage was built in 1951 at a cost £2,500. The cottage had been subjected to raids by thieves three times during construction until a guard from the Returned Servicemen’s League was posted until its opening.
• The War Memorial tower was re-dedicated by Sir Dallas Brooks on 8 November 1951, unveiling new bronze plaques containing the names of those who fell during the Second World War. Sir Dallas also officiated the opening of the new Caretaker’s Cottage.
• A toilet block was built in 1965.
• A further dedication of the Shire of Eltham War Memorial tower took place 11 November 2001 to recognise the men who fell in subsequent campaigns up to and including Vietnam.
• Four land titles are involved:
o The purchase of the two acres from owners Ruth Gosling, Alexander Mess, James Johnson Mess and Joseph Mess is recorded in two actions, the first being the payment of £100 for the two acres, the second showing that the Shire of Eltham did not get a transfer of title until 14th January 1952.
o The access land donated by Mrs. Fanny White is dated 26 February 1924. A further need to widen the entry came after the deepening of the road cutting and another land donation was given by Sir Herbert Gepp, title dated 15th May 1952. This would have been about the time he sold off the former White ‘Garden Hill’ property.
o The land reserve to increase the area and possibly allow a circuit road to be put in place on the western side of the park was purchased by the Shire of Eltham, title dated 16th February 1973.

Significance

Rare photograph of the entrance to the Shire's Memorial Park during early stages of development prior to the erection of the Shire of Eltham War Memorial

Physical description

Sepia photograph printed with white border with slight crack lower left hand corner and three significant vertical cracks fanning from lower centre edge to upper edge
Digitally enhanced version to minimise impact of cracks