Description
The trees are generally located within very small gardens, planters and courtyards adjoining the main vehicular entry and car parking areas.
The single Cook Pine (Araucaria columnaris), located near the main vehicular entry on Roslyn Street, is a dramatic specimen standing 30 metres+ in height. A stunted, gnarled specimen American Bull Bay Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), located in an adjacent courtyard, would also date from the same period. This highly ornamental, exotic evergreen tree is an important component of many early planting schemes.
A Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa) dominates the vehicular entry area adjacent to the sandstone residence ‘Kenilworth’. This tree is 20 metres in height with a canopy spread of 16 metres. This is a fine specimen of substantial proportions.
The Tulipwood (Harpullia pendula), located at the southern end of the car parking area, is a relatively uncommon, but highly ornamental native rainforest species from the north coast of NSW to north-eastern Queensland. This tree stands 12 metres high with a canopy spread of 12 metres.
The Hill’s Weeping Fig (Ficus microcarpa var. hillii), located in the car parking area near the main building, is a massive specimen and one of the larger examples of this species in this precinct (26 metres in height/ 25 metres canopy spread and 2 metre diameter base). This tree is likely to be associated with a later phase of planting, possibly during the early Inter-War period.
Other component species include Lombardy Poplars (Populus nigra var. Italica), Camphor Laurels (Cinnamomum camphora) and a damaged Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa) on the upper slope. A single massive Coral Tree (Erythrina x hybrida) also occurs near the car park entrance on Roslyn Gardens. Generally, these component species are considered to be important contextual elements and supportive of the scheduled listings.
Significance
St Lukes Hospital contains an outstanding collection of trees which date from the mid-to late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The site is scheduled in the City of Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012. All of these trees have individual and group significance at the local level in terms of their aesthetic, visual, historic and social values. The Tulipwood is further significant for its botanic and rarity values, although it has commonly been used as successful street tree planting in recent years.
Historical notes
St Luke’s Hospital is of historic and aesthetic significance. It was one of the first denominational, non Catholic, hospital in Sydney and has provided health services and nursing care to the people of Sydney for over 90 years. The built form of St Luke’s Hospital is a historical essay on one site, on the development of hospitals, and their architectural styles, during the twentieth century. The site contains substantial buildings of note designed by prominent architects including Burcham Clamp, Joseland and Gilling, and Fowell McConnell and Mansfield. The site contains substantial remains of early Victorian Houses Trebatha, Kenilworth and Lulworth and covers part of the early Barker and Macleay Estates and retains some trees and landscape elements from this Victorian period. Kenilworth was built c.1869 for Henry Williams of Sydney on Lot 4 of the Roslyn Hall Estate subdivision.
The eclectic composition including a tall Araucaria accent, native rainforest species and other broadleaf exotics is typical of the late Victorian period and is likely to have been influenced by Charles Moore (Director, Sydney Botanic Gardens 1848-1896).
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