Cultivating Identity: The Gardens at Gracemere
A Description of a Landscape of Memory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1321816600003342Keywords:
Gracemere homestead, gardens, cultural artefact, genteel domestic garden, identity, homeland landscapeAbstract
The gardens at Gracemere homestead established by the Archer family in the mid nineteenth century represent an extant example of historical subtropical gardens in Queensland. They are, for this reason, highly significant gardens within the Queensland context. However, this paper sets out to describe and appreciate their form, not within this context, but as a unique statement of identity. The gardens at Gracemere can in one sense be seen as embodying a dialogue with the past – they are at this level a cultural artefact created consciously in emulation of the Archer family home, Tolderodden, in Norway, and consciously or unconsciously as an expression of nineteenth century European middle class notions of the genteel domestic garden. This proposition rests on notions theorized in the literature on landscape and memory/landscape and identity; that identity – personal, class, national – is often inextricably bound up with nostalgic memories or histories of a homeland landscape.
References
McDonald, Lorna. Over Earth and Ocean, The Archers of Tolerodden and Gracemere, (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press 1999): 3–22.
Op. cit.
There is no evidence that Colin Archer's design for the homestead at Gracemere was based on the design of Tolderodden. Indeed, whilst typical of pioneer slab constructions in some respects, the homestead is unique in much of its design and construction details. Its design is highly responsive to the need for shading and ventilation necessary in subtropical homes. A good description is given by Ian T. McDonald in the Australian Council of National Trust's publication, Historic Homesteads. Neither is there evidence to suggest that the actual layout of the gardens at Gracemere replicated those at Tolderodden although further research may prove the contrary.
There is, at the moment, no evidence to suggest that the actual layout of the gardens at Gracemere replicated those at Tolderodden.
McDonald, op. cit.: 151.
McDonald, op. cit.: 164.
Note here Colin Archer's reference to the ‘back’ of the house in his description earlier in this paper.
Schama, Simon. Landscape and Memory, (Bath: Harper Collins Publishers 1995): 10.
Schama, op. cit.: 15.
