The pond, situated next to the grandly-designed Government Buildings in Albion Square, was an embarrassment for Nelson’s early settlers.
They wanted to be seen as a progressive, enlightened, and modern community. The pond was swampy and stagnant.
The country was in the midst of an economic depression in March 1887 when Nelsonians formed a committee to determine how best to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Options like educational scholarships, an endowment of a nurse for an Old Peoples’ Home, and a statue of their Queen, were all mooted, as well as turning the eel pond eyesore into a public garden.
Because time and money were short, the committee chose the public garden option because it could be dedicated on the day, but they wouldn’t have to pay for its development immediately.
On June 21, after raising the British flag and firing a 21-gun salute on the Church Steps, hearing speeches, singing anthems, receiving medals, attending a church service then eating lunch, the excited community progressed to Bridge St to hear the mayor declare the eel pond would be transformed into a grand park named ‘The Queen’s Gardens’.
Over the next decade, councillor Francis Trask drove the development.
Work started in 1888, but the pond remained a muddy eyesore as council struggled to retain clean water. After sealing the pond’s bottom and sides with tar, they were successful.
The gardens officially opened in 1892, with more speeches and planting of commemorative trees, during the Nelson settlement’s own 50th jubilee celebrations.
Trask’s wife, Emily, gifted the ‘Cupid Fountain’ and pool in 1895, which replaced the planned band rotunda.
When originally installed, one lion’s mouth was not connected to the water-pipes, so only three lions have ever spouted water.
Soon, there were other gifts: pheasants, weka, kiwi, peacock, Chinese geese and parakeets, requiring an aviary to be built. It also housed a hedgehog. Later there was even a cage of monkeys!
In the early 20th century, military items appeared. The Troopers Memorial (remembering Nelson soldiers who died in the Boer War), Pitt Gates (dedicated to a Nelson military commander), a Turkish pontoon, (captured at Suez during WW1), a WW1 German field gun, and two cannon, (one the time signal from Britannia Heights) all appeared over a period of 20 years.
A fernery, rose garden, ducks and swans, a gazebo over the water and decorative waterwheel turned by water from the old Alton St mill-race that fills the pond have all been added, along with excellent signage explaining the garden’s vegetation.
Huangshi Chinese Garden (2007) was developed using Chinese architecture, plantings and some established trees to recognise our sister city relationship.
Nelson’s Queen’s Gardens now has a Category 2 registration as a Victorian Garden of Significance (Heritage NZ).
If you visit the gardens Queen’s Birthday Monday, 7 June, between 1pm and 3.30pm, you’ll meet a passionate botanist, Mayor Trask, his irrepressible wife, a Boer War nurse, a WWI soldier, a 'friend' of Colonel Pitt, and a caretaker at the fledgling Suter Gallery who’ll all be sharing more stories about the garden's landmarks.
You might even glimpse Queen Victoria herself.
This is all part of a Nelson Historical Society event postponed from the Heritage Festival.
The Nelson Historical Society meet on the second Monday of each month from 7.30 to 9pm St Stephens Church, Tahunanui Drive. $2 at door. More information on Nelson Historical Society’s Facebook page.
