Glebe Park, Heritage park in City district, Canberra, Australia.
Glebe Park is a 4.7-hectare public park in Canberra, bounded by Coranderrk, Ballumbir, Akuna and Bunda Streets and the National Convention Centre. It holds nearly 700 trees, including just over 500 English elms and about 100 English oaks. Formal landscaping completed in 1989 added fences, gates, paths, a rotunda and a playground.
Robert Campbell allocated about 100 acres to the Anglican Church in the early 1840s as a glebe, whose revenues supported parish expenses. Glebe House was built in 1871–3 as a rectory for St John's, using bricks made from nearby swampland clay. The Commonwealth resumed the land in 1912, and the house served as a guest house until its demolition in 1954.
The space got its name from its original purpose as church land, a meaning still visible in how the grounds are laid out today. The ten named gates throughout mark important people and locations connected to the region's early European settlement.
The park is open year-round and easy to walk through, with several entrances and flat paths for exploring. For larger group gatherings or organized events, permits are required, so check ahead if you plan anything beyond casual visiting.
The elms in the park descend from plantings made by Reverend Pierce Galliard Smith, rector of St John's for 51 years until 1906; some survivors date from a century ago. Of roughly 700 trees, just over 500 are English elms and about 100 are English oaks.
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