Manuka, Australian Capital Territory
Manuka is an area in the Inner South district of Canberra, Australia covering parts of the suburbs of Griffith and Forrest. Manuka Shops, Manuka Oval, Manuka Swimming Pool, and Manuka Circle take their name from the park in the area.
Origin of name
The precinct is named after Manuka Circle, the street which forms the northern boundary of the precinct. Manuka Circle was on Walter Burley Griffin's original plan for Canberra and named after the Leptospermum scoparium, a flowering tree native to New Zealand and south-eastern Australia. The name Manuka is pronounced by most local Canberrans differently from the tree after which both street and suburb are named: . The common name of the tree species comes from the Māori word for it, mānuka, and is sometimes written with the macron included, as mānuka, in New Zealand English.When Griffin drew up his plans in 1912, there was still some optimism that New Zealand might join the Federation of Australia. Griffin's plans included eight avenues radiating out from Capital Hill named after the capitals of the six states, the capital of the Northern Territory and the capital of New Zealand. Before the name Wellington Avenue was gazetted it was realised that New Zealand was not going to become part of a federation of Australasia and the name was replaced by Canberra Avenue. Griffin planned that the state capital city avenues were terminated with a park named after the generic botanical name for a native plant from that particular site; for example, Telopea Park is named after the waratah, the floral emblem of New South Wales, and is at the end of Sydney Avenue, named after the capital of New South Wales. Another remnant of Griffin's nomenclature was the Wellington Hotel, formerly on the corner of Canberra Avenue and National Circuit which was demolished in 1984 and replaced by the hotel known in 2005 as "Rydges Capital Hill Canberra".
History
Business allotments for Manuka were included in the first auction of city leases in December 1924. At the same time leases were sold in the city, Braddon, Kingston, Forrest and Red Hill. Lessees were required to erect buildings of approved design on the blocks within three years. The decision to develop business centres at both Kingston and Manuka, which were within of each other had been made in the absence of Sir John Sulman, the chair of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee. He later recorded his disapproval of the decision. Sulman had designed Manuka and it was intended to be the principal commercial centre on the south side.The decision to allow the development of Eastlake meant that in Manuka investment lagged and building was slow. Eastlake was preferred by residents as a business centre because of the bigger shops and closer proximity to more homes, as well as being closer to the previously only substantial shop in the Territory, which was near Canberra railway station. The opening of the Capitol Theatre, and the convent school associated with St Christopher's Catholic cathedral, allowed the Manuka businesses to develop competitively.
Manuka includes several areas that are listed by the ACT Heritage Council:
- St Christopher's Cathedral Precinct, which has been the centre of Catholic worship and education in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn since 1928.
- St Paul’s Church on the corner of Canberra Avenue and Captain Cook Crescent, which the Heritage Council considers to be an excellent example of an Inter-War Gothic church with Art Deco influences. The church was designed by Sydney Architects Burcham Clamp and Son and dedicated on 6 August 1939.
- The Manuka Oval and Caretaker’s Cottage, which began to be developed as a sports ground in the early 1920s and began to be developed as a formal enclosed oval in March 1929. The Heritage Council considers that it is "significant for its continual use as a Canberra sporting facility, retaining an array of features such as the historic tree plantings, the oval, the Caretaker's Cottage and the later scoreboard which tell the story of its development as a popular sporting venue."
- Manuka Swimming Pool on Manuka Circle, which was completed in 1930. The ACT Heritage Council considers it to be "an important component of the body of 'Federal Capital' style public buildings associated with the establishment of Canberra as the National Capital."
- The Canberra Services Club at 14 Manuka Circle, which the ACT Heritage Council considers to be historically significant for its association with the provision of hospitality to service personnel by Canberra volunteers during World War II. Lady Gowrie, the wife of the Governor General, played a major role in establishing it, including fund-raising. The Services Club burnt down in April 2011, but it has been decided to rebuild it.
- The former Griffith Child Health and Welfare Centre at 30 Manuka Circle, which was opened in 1937. The Heritage Council considers it to be important as the first permanent baby health centre in the ACT.