Description
This property is dominated by a high-rise apartment block and bitumen carparking areas. The remnant significant trees are restricted to very small residual spaces near the property boundaries.
The mature Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), located near the south-eastern boundary is an outstanding specimen of considerable size and scale. This native evergreen rainforest fig is significant as an individual specimen with local aesthetic, visual and biodiversity values. This tree’s massive bulk creates an important buffer between the property’s multi-storey apartment block and the adjoining Rushcutters Bay Pre-school Kindergarten. In this context, the fig makes a significant contribution to the local landscape character as well as the broader foreshore open space of Rushcutters Bay/ Reg Bartley Oval (refer to listings in this Register). Due to the high value placed on views and density of high-rise apartment development, there are very few larger specimen trees remaining in private gardens or public spaces in this harbour-side location.
The Holm Oak (Quercus ilex), located in a small planter below Roslyn Gardens street level. This species was widely planted in association with native figs throughout the City of Sydney, particularly Moore Park/ Centennial Park areas during the latter part of the nineteenth century (refer to listing for Moore Park (Centennial Parklands) in this Register).
Two native, self-sown Port Jackson Figs (Ficus rubiginosa f. rubiginosa) further add to the visual and aesthetic quality of this streetscape. These figs have voluntarily colonised niches in the lower sandstone outcrops and sandstone retaining wall adjoining street level. These specimens are of medium size and scale (12-15 metres in height) with massive aerial roots descending to the lower carpark level and overhang adjoining properties 51 Roslyn Gardens ‘The Tor’ and 69 Roslyn Gardens ‘Trebartha’. Although not individually significant in this context, these figs display a distinctive landscape character and memorable sense of place throughout the City’s sandstone precincts, especially within Elizabeth Bay, The Rocks, Pyrmont and Glebe.
Significance
The mature Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), is an outstanding specimen of considerable size and scale. This native evergreen rainforest fig is significant as an individual specimen with local aesthetic and historic values. This tree’s massive bulk creates an important buffer between the property’s multi-storey apartment block and the adjoining Rushcutters Bay Pre-school Kindergarten. In this context, the fig makes a significant contribution to the local landscape character as well as the broader foreshore open space of Rushcutters Bay/ Reg Bartley Oval (refer to listings in this Register).
The Holm Oak (Quercus ilex), is a particularly large specimen for this species. The expansive canopy of this hardy, evergreen Oak extends over the footpath and roadway, significantly enhancing the aesthetic and visual character of this streetscape and providing a valuable foil to adjoining high-rise development. This tree is further significant as an individual specimen with local historic values.
Historical notes
It is believed that the Holm Oak (Quercus ilex), specimen dates from the mid- to late nineteenth century and may be a garden remnant of Macleay’s Elizabeth Bay House estate prior to subdivision (between 1865 and 1882). The mature Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) to the eastern side is likely to have been planted after the apartment development. It is not visible in the 1943 aerial photos of the site, but given its size is likely to have been planted soon after this date. The two Port Jackson Figs growing in the rock wall are also difficult to discern from the 1943 photos.
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