St Ann's Academy | Arboretum

PLACES

Chapel

Humboldt Gates

click on map for
larger view

Arboretum: Meditative Garden

Battleship Fountain
c. 1940

n article from the Victoria newspaper states, "this garden will be a veritable arboretum from which lovers of tree and shrub may glean new ideas ... while the pupils of St. Ann's Convent will have a most delightful and interesting garden in which to wander in the hours of recreation." (Victoria Colonist, April 1912) The unknown writer of this piece is commenting upon the westernmost section of the grounds of St. Ann's Academy, now known as the "arboretum".

Gazebo

This section of the property was once marshy ground, linked by a creek to the tidal mud flats that dominated the region around Victoria's harbour, James Bay. Earth and rock fill, brought from construction sites around the city, were used to build up the ground in preparation for formal gardens between 1909 and 1912. Father Vullinghs, the co-ordinator of the landscape architecture, proceeded to obtain a long list of trees, most of them foreign to the Victoria landscape, to plant along the pathways.

In addition to a wide range of botanical curiosities, decorative elements were used to entertain and delight garden visitors. Two gazebos, latticed summer houses on raised earth, were erected opposite each other. These octagonal pavilions, open on one side, were bathed in sunlight before the young trees grew to their mature forms and shaded the garden. Girls occupied these gazebos for study, teas, sewing, needlework and recreation. Gazebo roofs rise like little pointed caps above the trees in old photographs. Rustic concrete urns and large stones were used to mark the intersections of the geometrically laid paths.

Battleship Fountain
Winter, 1999

The unusual Battleship Fountain was added by Father Vullinghs to his garden design of 1911. A moat, which was filled with water from a stream bed and thick ivy, depending on the time of year, encircled a large, jagged rock atop which a concrete and stone man-of-war rested. Complete with cannons that shot water, this seemed an unlikely garden ornament, particularly for an area that many would come to use as a meditative garden. This ship was part of a theme for the formal gardens, likely intended to inspire children's play, and included a lighthouse and a rockery with model trains and a lake, represented by glass. (ASSAVE Brabant Scrapbook cited in 5 Year Plan)

A sundial was erected in memory of Marjorie Napier, a student who had died of pneumonia shortly after her first communion. The parents of the girl acquired a piece of stone from the remains of St. Anne de Beaupre, Quebec, from which to carve the base. The direction of north was indicated with a fleur-de-lis, and the dial was made from copper, with the words "I mark none but sunny hours." (from Reminiscences of St. Ann's) This original sundial now marks the hours at Queenswood.

Click here for more on the Arboretum

Contact St. Anns Academy at stanns.academy@gems2.gov.bc.ca
Contact the Webmaster at zeroone@zeroonedesign.com